mic 6 vs 6061 alum for build plate

[bubbasnow]

i have been talking to a local guy and he wants to maybe use mic 6 instead of 6061. doesnt anyone have any feedback?

[Polygonhell]

Most aluminum is rolled, so it isn't actually flat, mic6 is cast and guaranteed flat to within some specified threshold.
If you put a piece of 6061 on a flat surface, you'll be surprised how not flat it is.

[mhackney]

+1 with Polygonhell, I've "been there, done that".

The only issue with using the Mic 6 is that it will be much thicker than you really need. The downside to this is it will take a lot longer to heat up that extra mass. One option is to power the Onyx with 24volts. My 1/8" aluminum plate with borosilicate top heats to 85°C in 2 minutes with 24 volts.

regards,
Michael

[bubbasnow]

so i got my first quote, its 240 for the mic 6, and 220 for 1/4 6061... is this reasonable?

[mhackney]

You have to be kidding? $240 for a round aluminum plate, that's insane. Send me $150 and I'll make you one!

[mhackney]

Did you know that I posted a DXF file of my heat dissipating plate that has a cutout for the electronics pad and the hole layout for attaching it to your machine. I suspect they are charging you for design time at > $100/hr.

[bubbasnow]

it was my first quote, hopefully the others are more reasonable...else i might have to take you up on that. no i supplied him that .dxf from your site

[mhackney]

Great! Glad you found that and I was kidding, I wouldn't gouge you for that much! Check out water jet shops, in Mic 6, water jet is very cost effective. The Mic 6 in 1/4" would be about $50 for a 12" square. Knowing what I know now, I would make the disk 12" D and not attach it with screws, rather use binder clamps to clamp the glass build surface (if you use one), the Al plate, and the Onyx.

[bubbasnow]

yea so he is going to use a cnc, with included the holes and the notch that was cut out for the heatbed connections. maybe if i buy the material i can just find someone to cut a circle for me.

[cjdavis618]

I just bought some Mic6 1/4" in 14" squares from a guy on ebay and paid $40 for 2 of them shipped. Already got it in and planning on putting it on the printer. There was quite a bit more on there also from other vendors pretty cheap, so I would buy it there and then have it milled out. Anyone with a decent size bedmill should be able to get it cut for you quick. Even better if they have a waterjet.

Just trying to decide how I want to cut it. I'm being lazy and I don't want to setup the router on the torchmate is the problem to mill the aluminum. I'm thinking I will just use the bandsaw and a circle jig. Something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59G5bMrqRo

As long as the plate is decent tolerance, I am not worried about how shiny the edges are anyway. If I am really being anal about it, I will just run the edges over the belt sander really quick.

[bubbasnow]

I just bought some Mic6 1/4" in 14" squares from a guy on ebay and paid $40 for 2 of them shipped. Already got it in and planning on putting it on the printer. There was quite a bit more on there also from other vendors pretty cheap, so I would buy it there and then have it milled out. Anyone with a decent size bedmill should be able to get it cut for you quick. Even better if they have a waterjet.

Just trying to decide how I want to cut it. I'm being lazy and I don't want to setup the router on the torchmate is the problem to mill the aluminum. I'm thinking I will just use the bandsaw and a circle jig. Something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59G5bMrqRo

As long as the plate is decent tolerance, I am not worried about how shiny the edges are anyway. If I am really being anal about it, I will just run the edges over the belt sander really quick.

I hope the surface flatness is within tolerance...that's what scares me about shipping

[mhackney]

I've bought lots of Mic 6 from eBay and other vendors with no problems. If you re concerned, order from OnlineMetals - 1st class service and good process. It will be dead flat, no worries.

[bubbasnow]

kk i just ordered the 1/4 thick 12x12 square!

[cjdavis618]

I just bought some Mic6 1/4" in 14" squares from a guy on ebay and paid $40 for 2 of them shipped. Already got it in and planning on putting it on the printer. There was quite a bit more on there also from other vendors pretty cheap, so I would buy it there and then have it milled out. Anyone with a decent size bedmill should be able to get it cut for you quick. Even better if they have a waterjet.

Just trying to decide how I want to cut it. I'm being lazy and I don't want to setup the router on the torchmate is the problem to mill the aluminum. I'm thinking I will just use the bandsaw and a circle jig. Something like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H59G5bMrqRo

As long as the plate is decent tolerance, I am not worried about how shiny the edges are anyway. If I am really being anal about it, I will just run the edges over the belt sander really quick.

I hope the surface flatness is within tolerance...that's what scares me about shipping

I'm not worried about it. It came well packed and banded together with a 1" thick piece of acrylic between it. So I am sure it didn't bend. (The acrylic will be fun to play with later so I thought that was an added bonus.)

Even if it is a hair out of tolerance, I can lap it a bit on the surface plate to smooth it out. I'm already doing that with a smaller piece that I had for my sons flashforge cartesian. That factory plate was WARPED like the Starship Enteprise. It'll print much better this weekend once I get time to finish it.

[geneb]

Understand that while the heat plates will go far towards giving you an even temperature, heating them with an Onyx on 12V will take a very, very long time if you're after ABS temperatures.

g.

[Eaglezsoar]

Understand that while the heat plates will go far towards giving you an even temperature, heating them with an Onyx on 12V will take a very, very long time if you're after ABS temperatures.

g.

You are correct, Gene. I have the Mic-6 plate that is almost 5/16" thick and at 12 volts it was unusable because it would never get up to temperature. Using 24V it still takes a while
to get to temperature but once it does it seems to hold that temperature better because of it's mass. I haven't really measured how long it takes to get to temperature but it has to be
about 5 to 10 minutes.

[cjdavis618]

Agreed, I have been using the 24v power supply for a while now and it heats up the bed quick. I will be printing in lots of batches anyway and will keep the bed on through several prints.

[mhackney]

As most of you know, the plates I was selling last year were 1/8" thick. I use 24v to heat up to 90°C in 2 minutes. The "issue" is getting good flat 1/8" stock that does not stress relieve and warp. It was a crap shoot unfortunately.

[cjdavis618]

3/16th is probably a good compromise on this also. I just go overkill if I can. That is the metal junkie in me coming out.. lol..

I like to give things at least an extra 1k lbs if I can.. In fact, now that I have the files for the Rostock in cad, I would like to build a rostock out of steel plate that is 1/4". I've been pondering that for a few weeks now. Overkill, yes. But it would be rigid and stable.

[Eaglezsoar]

3/16th is probably a good compromise on this also. I just go overkill if I can. That is the metal junkie in me coming out.. lol..

I like to give things at least an extra 1k lbs if I can.. In fact, now that I have the files for the Rostock in cad, I would like to build a rostock out of steel plate that is 1/4". I've been pondering that for a few weeks now. Overkill, yes. But it would be rigid and stable.

Rigid and stable indeed and a weight of probably a few hundred pounds. You'll need a few friends to help you lift it.

[Nylocke]

That and if you do a dumb (falls off the table, too much acceleration to the top part and then a sudden stop) you might be bending your aluminum extrusions from all that weight....

[Generic Default]

http://www.sandsmachine.com/alumweb.htm

14$ + shipping.

I think this came up a while ago in a different thread. This is by far the cheapest mic-6 I could find anywhere. The only problem is that the smallest plate is 14 and 3/8th inches diameter, so it will just barely fit on the rostock max. The edges will probably be a few millimeters away from the belts. I regret not ordering one a week ago. If you end up doing mic-6, tell us how it works out!

[Eaglezsoar]

http://www.sandsmachine.com/alumweb.htm

14$ + shipping.

I think this came up a while ago in a different thread. This is by far the cheapest mic-6 I could find anywhere. The only problem is that the smallest plate is 14 and 3/8th inches diameter, so it will just barely fit on the rostock max. The edges will probably be a few millimeters away from the belts. I regret not ordering one a week ago. If you end up doing mic-6, tell us how it works out!

I used the 5/16" x 16 3/4" 4 holes and had a machine shop cut it into a 13" diameter circle and drilled the holes that mated with the Onyx. I enlarged the holes in the Onyx so it had some
freedom to expand a little. Works fine on 24 Volts.

[cjdavis618]

That and if you do a dumb (falls off the table, too much acceleration to the top part and then a sudden stop) you might be bending your aluminum extrusions from all that weight....

That wouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't use steel arms, just the base and top plate would be steel. I would use the tricklaser arms just like I do now. The axis system and other mechanical movements would be the same unless I decide to go with linear bearing blocks. It would create a nice dampening effect for the movement of the lighterweight parts and it would be much more stable with rapids.

It was just a fleeting thought anyway but so was 3d printing at one time. I know some of the best printing FDM machines are based on steel tube frames.

[Nylocke]

I'm also guessing those "best printing" are $$$$$ because of this steel frame