So, I’m still somewhat new to 3D printing. The X1C is my first FDM printer.
I noticed that downloading 3mf files for this printer pretty much everyone seems to have set the textured PEI plate in the project even for projects printed with PLA. I’ve been reading the description in the store and from what I understand is that the main difference seems to be the texture of the first layer. Yes, it’s also printed at a higher temperature than with the cool plate and supports more materials. However, pretty much all of the materials can also be printed with the engineering plate by flipping the cool plate around.
Now, looking at the pictures in the store, I don’t think that visually I like that texture given by the PEI plate better than the smooth finish of the cool plate although I haven’t ever seen such a print in real life still.
Also the PEI plate still seems to require the use of the glue stick so that doesn’t seem to be an advantage either.
Anyhow, given that so many of you seem to be using the textured PEI plate I am thinking that there must be more to it but it’s not clear to me what’s so much better there. Is there something I’m missing and an actual reason why I’d want to order that plate?
to me it is mostly about the different textures. I have good results without glue with both types of plates (PEI and cold plate).
2 Likes
the plate with texture is used to have more adherence to the plate even if with glue you solve any adhesion problem and also to have a particular texture
1 Like
P1P comes with the textured plate so maybe the models you’re downloading were designed by someone with that.
1 Like
So that confirms my suspicion that it’s really just about a matter of taste whether one prefers a smooth bottom layer or a textured one. I didn’t really have issues with bed adhesion so far with the cool plate either, so…
The PEI plate being the default shipped with the P1P may actually explain the fact that it comes across that often.
Thanks a lot folks!
Happy printing 
1 Like
One of the advantages to the textured pei plate is that it does NOT require glue for a lot of materials. I also bought the Wham Bam plate for a similar glue free smooth bottom print.
The Bambu cool plate is a relatively fragile sticker. Even with glue mine started peeling up the first week of use. The Textured PEI is a sprayed on coating that is more durable, and while Wham Bam is a PEX sticker, it is very thick and tough, and actually uses steel wool to prep the surface.
I would estimate 85% of my prints are done on the wham bam, 14% on the textured pei, and the remaining 1% on the engineering plate when printing PC.
1 Like
texture plate is one of the best cause you dont need that s**t glue
As an example of textured vs smooth, I recently printed a Landy from 3dsets.com. The rear fenders (wings) are printed vertically with the rear most surface on the build plate. The first set were printed on a WhamBam plate which resulted in a mirror like finish that in no way matched the outside of the fenders. It was amazingly smooth and very even but would have looked massively out of place compared to the rest of the truck. I chose to reprint them on the textured plate as even the high temp or cool plate would have been too smooth to look right.
This picture shows the difference between the textured plate and the layer lines,
And this one shows the result of printing on the WhamBam,
One of the biggest reasons to print on the textured plate is that it requires no preparation beyond proper cleaning, prints stick reliably and are easy to remove after they’ve cooled. The cool plate needs an adhesion promoter/release agent and the engineering plate may need the same depending on what is being printed. The WhamBam costs nearly $60 but does not need anything beyond proper cleaning.
1 Like
