Super simple DIY garolite G10 build plate for X1C

Thats one of my favourite functions of the G10 plates, I’ve been using my BL plates for a few jobs recently and having a b1tch of a time getting them off.

(here I am complaining about too much adhesion :roll_eyes:)

Printing black filament on black garolite is very hard to observe on the built-in camera with the default lighting. It’s all too dark to see any detail. I definitely need to upgrade the X1C lighting before I run into trouble.

I received my Lightspeed garolite build plates today. This will speed things up considerably, because now I can remove a build plate as soon as the print finishes and put in a fresh plate, ready to start printing right away.

Edit: now printing to the white Lightspeed plate. It’s not smooth like the garolite I had been experimenting with. It has a subtle texture to it that probably helps in getting prints to stick to it.

The installation instructions only call for it to be cleaned with warm soapy water. There is no mention of scrubbing with a blue Scotch-Brite pad, or anything of the sort. Printing now… We’ll see how well it sticks.

I have a very different experience of the stellar white than yours…

I have 3 Lightyear plates - a black first gen preorder that had a surface deformation issue from a high stress Polycarbonate part that warped badly, and adhesive attempts to hold it down caused the warping part to pull hard enough on the build plate to give it a permanent hickey.

The free warranty replacement plate is a black gen 2 and has been trouble free.

I also have the new white plate and it is either a first or second run batch. The plate has worked beautifully and like the black plates has an outstanding magnetic pull to the Bambu bed. The only issue I have had with this plate is that I inadvertently rubbed off part of the QR code doing the initial wash with a nylon scrubbing sponge. To address this, I had some Wham Bam replacement high temp stickers laying around and placed one of those over the original screen printed one that I messed up. I have had no warping issues, lidar issues, or any issues to speak of. Parts adhere great, I wipe down with IPA between prints, and swap out plates between parts to let the previous part cool completely before removing.

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For small size prints I’ve not had any problems as yet. The only issue I’ve encountered so far is with pulling up at the corners on really big prints that almost cover the entire plate. An example of that would be:

I’m not sure whether that’s due to my inexperience on how to cope with that particular problem or something else. Maybe it’s unavoidable, or at least common, no matter what build plate you try it on, because the corners are so close to the edges.

Next time I’ll try it with the mouse ears.

Reporting back: I tried it again, but this time with mouse ears. No problems this time.
It held perfectly flat. I am pleased.

Edit: I didn’t have to use any adhesives or anything extra.

The lidar does seem to complain when scanning grey filament against the black Lightspeed. I don’t think I’ve seen it complain with the white Lightspeed, but I’m not 100% sure. I’ll attempt to pay closer attention going forward.

I’m way late to the party here, but I want to ask a couple.
I am new to Bambu, I have only had a P1S now for 2 weeks. For the first week, everything was awesome, just hit print and walk away. I’ve been printing strictly PLA to get familiar with the new style machine. This lasted about 4 days, every single print since, failed, it would not stick to the plate, no matter what I did. I tried washing with dawn between, cleaning with IPA, hairspray, brims, fan speed, different filament, nozzle, everything I could think of. With all my Crealitys, my best luck was glass, the black ultra flex magnetic, and G10.

The only luck I’ve finally found is a raft (which I’ve never used) and slowed everything until the 5th layer, down to 50 mm/s. I’m still having to wash the plate every other print, but no hairspray or anything.

Is this normal? Does the G10 and glass work as well with the P1S? I’m just looking for options, and praying I can speed back up to default settings.

Been using g10 for a while. Works great. If its ever giving you issues, wash it with a scotch bright pad. lightly.

lightyear ftw

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Just a stab in the dark, but I’d hazard a guess that moisture got into your filament. The hypothesis fits the timeline you have. You could easily test it with either a new role of filament or by drying the filament you have.

If you get desperate and just want it to work, regardless of cause, you might try a bed adhesive. Heating your bed to a higher temperature can also help as a workaround until you sort out the ultimate cause.

G10 seems to work well with all filament types, but if the ultimate cause is wet filament, it likely will fail with G10 too.

Good luck!

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I often use a TK99 plate - same material different colour.
The one thing I learned early is that out of the box they need a decent cleaning.
Without that printing will be a nightmare.

After that the stuff just fails to disappoint.
Once you calibrated things for it and saved as matching profiles switching between metal plates and FR10 is a breeze.
I find no use for adhesives or trickery
Right first layer temps and speeds and prints just come out fine.
YES, for some shapes and filament types it is best to include a brim.
Won’t take too long, won’t waste too much filament but will help to prevent the occasional lifting off at corners.

I DO prefer to put some gloves on when it comes to resin plates, same for holo plates…
The filament is usually not a problem, human handling can be.
Even a touch can be enough to leave a fingerprint.
And depending on the filament and temps the next print WILL fail to stick there.
Thankfully the material is meant to be extra tough…

The history of circuit boards....

Back in the early days we actually used a mix of wood and resin/glue.
A bit like today’s MDF sheets just with a glue meant to NOT burn.
Wasn’t ideal of course as it meant using buttons and such to be added like rivets with you had to have electronic components.
You can still find those in vintage tube radios and TV boxes.

The need to sort the wiring problem and to make circuit boards smaller meant getting creative.
A material was required that would allow to deposit or bond with Copper.
Bakelite was already widely used to make all sorts of things - who does not love the vintage Bakelite housings …
As a heat setting ‘plastic’ it was a bit like the Melamine we invented later.
Only that we could mix the resin with wood fibres, paper or whatever we had available, including cloth.
Was great for pins and wrapping wires around them, but so much though for what the plumber did - soldering.

When we invented not just rein that could be heat cured and then stand up to very high temps but also fibre/matting of di-electric materials with similar heat resistance we had a winner.
G10/FR10/TK99 - all basically the same but manufacturers of them often just list them as such while they are specially formulated for the purpose at hand.
Some come with a textured surface - the result of the ‘fabric’ layer(s) not being covered with enough resin or resin/fibre mix.
Allowing for a much better bond with adhesives for cladding walls (splashbacks and such).

Different formulations affect the physical strength, temperature resistance and things like abrasion resistance.
They all share some basics though which make the material ideal for printing applications:
Very stiff and strong
Surprisingly resilient when it comes to abuse and little mishaps
Quite inert and resisting to properly bond as well…
Not to mention that you have a hard time finding solvents able to affect the material.

Today the traditional circuit boards are in decline.
No surprise then that manufacturers found ways to make us happy with their ‘leftovers’.
Polyamide is used for flexible circuit boards and thin ‘cables’.
A ceramic layer on an Aluminium wafer provide circuit boards for LED lights and other high temp applications - cheaper than and resin board…
And don’t forget about the waste issue…

These circuit boards and now our fibre build plates are about as great as they are bad as a waste product.
They won’t really properly degrade in landfill, require high temp furnaces to burned as waste and even then require filters and washing of the gases to not contaminate the air…
The push for more environmentally friendly alternatives is on for a long time.

What about risks?
For normal printing use we have nothing to worry.
Problems only start if you refuse to dispose of a too worn plate.
A drop here and there onto hard ground…
Some badly fused Nylon or PETG print requiring to sand back the surface a bit…
Once those fibres and resin dust are airborne they linger around for a long time.
On the skin they won’t do too much harm but inhaled it can be bad.

Fixing dinted corners or refurbishing a plate

If you ever drop the plate and get a dinted edge that expanded :
Check to where the plate is affected and mark it with permanent marker.
Leave about 5cm around the area and tape off the rest.
Apply a thin layer of spray pain, preferably in a colour in contrast with the plate.
Don’t worry, you can clean the leftovers when done with Acetone…
The paint layer is to protect the plate in the undamaged areas and to give you and indication of when it is time to apply a new coat.
It does help to apply two coats in different colours…

Now grab a large bucket plastic box or such so you can submerge to affected area to sand it under water.
You CAN do it dry, even with a belt sander or such…
But unless you put some meaningful PPE on and use something to extract those dust and fibre particles to prevent them turning airborne…
Plus - the water helps to get a much smoother result.
You can use a cheap diamond sharpening plate/block or just sandpaper glued onto a flat piece of plastic, glass, or Aluminium.
Try to keep the sander parallel to the plate surface!
The paint will help you to see where the angle is wrong and also to see that you only have the paint layer left until the corner is flat again.
Unless the damage goes into the actual printable area you should leave it like that.
If you want some guidance during the sanding you print a ‘corner’ where the plate rests in.
Just print it at the same thickness as the plate or in PLA and slightly thicker to sand it down with the damaged corner.
Finish with 1000 grit or finer sandpaper.
If you require the original shine:
Do NOT use metal or car polish!
You can use those wax blocks for buffing wheels though.
For manual labour, which is not hard after finishing with 1000 grit wet:
Use a plastic polishing compound like the stuff from Autosol for Acrylic.
Unlike the others this stuff is made to come off with soapy water and NOT meant to leave a coating like car polish…
Works great to refurbish a well used plate as well after giving it a fine sanding.

Yes I have tried 7 different new rolls, as well as freshly dried filament, with no change. Hairspray didn’t work either.

@C_G_Creations If you haven’t already, I recommend you start a separate thread to address your problem. I’m sure it’s solvable, but it’s a 20 questions kind of thing, and it would be too off-topic to continue on this thread.

I will indeed, thank you.

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