Has anyone found a glass-smooth build plate for the X1C anywhere? I’ve searched, and can’t find one. I used to use a glass bed on an old printer, and like that shiny surface for certain prints. But I can’t find any such thing for my X1C.
I thought about using Kapton film, applied carefully. I have a roll of wide material, maybe enough to cover the whole build plate. That’s a bother though!
I just found this one… I’ve never bought a glass plate, $89 seems pricey…
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1510374564/glass-print-bed-for-bambu-labs-x1-x1c
Wondering how glass handles the nozzle scrape/cleanup before printing.
That is a GOOD question. I found that on this reddit post… it’s an old post but I think some of the responses are pretty recent. Someone on there mentions finding them on Amazon too.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/13hpl2k/flat_glass_plate_for_x1_perfect_fit/
I’m guessing flexing to remove models would be out… 
It would work one time! 
You are absolutely on the right track. Kapton is the way to go.
I’ve got a lot of experience with this and purchased the following PEO build plate. Unfortunately, it was available for only a limited time but you might find it elsewhere on Aliexpress. The key word search is “Specular” which gives the mirror finish you are looking for.
Here’s how “glassy” the plate looks in my printer with the LED riser lights turn up full.
That image was a test I did showing that one can use a sparkly tape to achieve a sparkly surface. I printed the disk over the two surfaces on the PEO plate. Here’s what the final product looks like and compared to one printed on a PEI plate. Click to zoom in to see that the filament structures are very visible on a specula surface. The filament was PLA.
Save your money though because after I purchased that plate, I then had a happy accident with Kapton tape and figured out that this was a better deal.
As you already surmised, you can get the same effect with just plane tape. Kapton of course is best. I found this nearly full size sheet of Kapton for cheap. I used it on my smooth plates and it performs identically to the specular PEO plate I have if not better. By better I mean it released easier while still allowing for good 1st layer adhesion.
I use that plate multiple times a week and I’m still on the first of 10 sheets, although it is starting to show it’s age with all the nicks I have in it from being too aggressive with the plastic scraper.
Here’ what my build plate looks like with the same sheet I’ve been using since last July. I overlaid it onto my engineering plate but truth be told, I think it would work on any smooth plate. No worse for wear but I have 9 sheets left. Although it is not nearly as mirror-like as the PEO plate, one cannot tell the difference once the filament is laid down.
Their is a trick to applying these sheets well. Go up onto YouTube and do a search on “DIY Window Tinting”. Just follow the same technique. I used Windex as my float agent and then used a rubber squeegee to smooth out the bubbles and then finally a credit card for the more stubborn ones. Then I monitored it while it set up to make sure no more bubbles came up.
Here’s one guy who shows a demonstration of applying that filament using dishwashing soap and water as the float agent. I used Windex solely because if that’s what professional car tinters use, it must be good enough to withstand the heat of a car and to be honest, I found it worked very well. You need that layer of liquid to make it easier to apply and lift again as you squeeze the bubble out but of your really skilled you probably can just apply it directly, the Gizmodorks film has an adhesive backing if I recall.
I tried Garolite too but it did not produce nearly as nice a surface as did the Kapton tape. Here’s a link to that discussion with images of what garolite surface looked like. Super simple DIY garolite G10 build plate for X1C - #12 by Olias
There’s a glass build plate on temu for roughly $20.67:
https://share.temu.com/lPXvfPd6pkC
It claims to be for X or P, and it also claims to be “flat and smooth”. The dimpling may not work for you though if what you want is ultra-smooth.
Would cutting a piece of float glass to the right dimensions work? Or go old school with a mirror. That would probably be cheapest. Maybe it wouldn’t crack if you heated and cooled it very gradually. Surely somebody here has tried it and knows.
You could avoid putting it over that part, if you use an underlying build plate below it. That what I did in my garolite build plate, and it worked out. Fortunately, the g-code doesn’t assume that area and the rest of the build plate are at the same height. Whether that remains true into the infinite future, I can’t say. With garolite there’s nothing to break. With glass…
Wow, thanks for that detailed reply!! I have a smooth PEI plate, I think I’ll try applying the film to one side of the plate. That floating application process is a good suggestion. The film is adhesive, and otherwise pretty tricky to apply.
It’s possible. I’ve used float-glass build plates with my old Prusa Mendel clone, and am competent at glass cutting. The nozzle wiping area would be tricky to manage. I used to do stained glass work, so might be able to cut glass in a way to provide a wiping area. Not at all sure how well that will work. It would be interesting as an experiment though.
If you have a roll of Kapton kicking around, try this first. Take a small sample of the tape and apply it to the build plate, that’s how I started. Try the experiment I showed above where you print an object over the tape boundary to show the difference between the two surfaces.
Initially I was concerned that over time, the adhesive would permanently bond due to hear. What I love about Kapton tape is it comes off clean so if you should change your mind, you can easily revert the plate back to the way it was. In fact, all of my purge strip runways on my smooth build plates have a strip of 1/2" Kapton to make the purge strip easily removable. This is particularly important with sticky filaments like PC and PETG.
It’s relatively easy. You just put the glass over an old build plate, but leave the wipe area uncovered by the glass. The wipe area is the tab is the back that sticks out. What’s non-obvious but true is that the two surfaces do NOT need to be co-planar. The bambu g-code finds them both independently of one another. That’s because in both cases it jacks itself up to about an inch above the surface and then lowers itself down until it finds it. You can prove this to yourself by just watching what it does over a typical bambulab build plate.
To achieve this I went towards wham bam PEX sheets, but come to find out you’re actually not supposed to use them new and glossy - that it’s an off label use that the company specifically warns against - because you’re supposed to use the included sanding pad to sand it yourself into some non random scuff non pattern for it to remain useful, it’s honestly a scam but a lot of people swear by it and love wham bam. I don’t. But I have and do use a pex plate when I want gloss smooth finishes, of course it’ll raise in the corners.
Another is the 3D texture sheets that leave one of the patterns like stars and such, there’s a sort of funhouse one that leave a gloss finish and minimal distortion that also does the trick that I like and is easier to use than wham bam: Amazon.com: JUUPINE 3D Printer H1H Build Plate for Bambu Lab A1/X1C/X1/X1E/P1P/P1S 3D Printer,257x257mm Spring Steel Plate,Double Sided Flexible Sheet Removable Platform (Light Beam H1H +Phantom H1H) : Industrial & Scientific
For how long does that build plate remain glossy? I’ve heard those decorative sheets don’t last all that long, but you would know for sure.
I didn’t bother to scuff my Wham Bam plate before using it and got this print. Had to reprint it on the textured plate as I didn’t think the Landy needed quite that much shine on only one rear fender.
I ordered from the Amazon link you provided. Thanks. Do you use glue on the kapton surface?
The Kapton I linked to has an adhesive backing. It’s essentially a square section of a roll of tape, precut.
In such a configuration, does the X1C Micro Lidar perform as expected?
Back in the day, you just used a pane of glass on your ender! Cut and break it to size with a scoring tool and bobs your uncle. Art stores had framing glass for dirt cheap in 1ft squares
I would remove just about the entire startup gcode routine if you attempt this on a Bambu printer. That step where it scrapes the nozzle into the tab would be game over for glass.
