Super simple DIY garolite G10 build plate for X1C

@NeverDie Believe me brother, this is exactly the kind of direct empirical observation that makes this a community worth visiting. It’s much appreciated. :+1:

This thread has reinvigorated my interest in t Garolite.

Thanks for clarifying that. Have you tried sanding it and to what grit level did it require sanding. I’m also curious, why does it require sanding to bond? For me that is kind of opposite of why I would look at this material.

Here’s a list of what I’m seeking.

  1. PETG or PC easy release
  2. Specular smooth finish
  3. No need of glue as either a stiction source or release-liner

Now if I do purchase a Garolite sheet, I will probably go the route that @NeverDie went and that is to create a DIY version.

Here’s my thought process and I would invite comments.

  1. Custom cut a sheet and bond it to a cheap spring steel plate using thermal epoxy or thermal conductive glue. This is the stuff I used when thermally bonding thermistors to MOSFETs. I’ve never used it on this scale though and have doubts how evenly it will spread. Epoxys are very expensive but easier to apply with a squeegee.

  2. Polish the Garolite surface using wet-sanding, progressive grits until I finish it off with Jewelers rouge polishing compound to achieve a specular surface. Does anyone know if this is even possible with Garolite or will I defeat the whole point and create hyper-aggressive adhesion? Or will it just create a scratched surface with no hope of glossiness.

The holy grail of course is to have a surface that I could simply print to that would accommodate PETG and PC without any other prep and give me that specular finish I seek.

Here are examples of what I mean by specular finish. In this example, I used Bambu PLA Matte. Using Matte PLA is arguably the worst case scenario for achieving gloss but this example shows just how fare one can get a mirror finish using the right plate. Will Garolite achieve this if polished?

Left - PEO specular plate | Middle - Bambu Engineering Plate with hairspray | Bambu original black textured PEI plate for comparison

Note that the PEO plate cannot be used with PETG or PC without using some kind of glue as a prophylactic measure against hyper-aggressive bonding between the filament and the bed. Truth be told, using a glue defeats the whole point because any adhesives interfere with the gloss.