Looking to make a custom sized heated build pcb - help??

Hey Couby, if you have some basic hand tools, you can work MDF easily. It is softer than plywood.

I print out full size drawings of parts, then tape them to metal or wood panels so I can cut out the shapes easily.

Eric, thanks! Yes the Y motor is in the chamber at the back. It is close enough to the rear panel I might be able to cool it that way. I'm going to mount it in place with aluminium plates, that will help.

Like you say, the extruder will be getting hot, but we will see how it goes. Some people are getting good results with nylon at lower bed temps.

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Yvan

Singularity Machine

@AVRkire

Great! 5 or 6 heat beds in total will make this order more reasonable

@Couby

Ok, I have looked more closely at the shipping fees and this is what I found. Basically when you are shipping internationally there tends to be a high flat rate and low fuel surcharge. If you were to order just the three heaters, the shipping cost would be about $90. However, the flat rate of $120 will cover up to 3.5kg which is enough to ship 3 heaters plus 3 bed mounting sets (6 large laser cut sheets of MDF). Also, the $120 shipping will arrive within 4 days while the other shipping method will arrive in over a week. Also, if you were to order 3 bed mounting sets, I would be able to get a better price for the larger MDF stock so I could sell these to you for $65 per set (2 laser cut MDF sheets) for a total of $195 for the three sets. I could also throw in some extra springs/wing nuts that I have kicking around so you'll get 3 complete 3 point bed leveling set ups Also, this makes my time spent on drawing up the bed mounting sheets more worthwhile as you will get 3 sets instead of 1 for the same amount of my time

So these are your best options:

1) You order just 3 heaters, pay a $90 shipping fee, and design/cut out the MDF sheets yourself.

2) You order 3 heaters and 3 bed mounting sets, pay a $120 shipping fee, and I do all of the work

Let me know what you think.

@Yvan

I am glad that I could help you with your design If the Y motor is close enough to the back you could probably just take it out of the chamber entirely to get better cooling and avoid the added complexity of an active cooling system.

Eric

Hi Eric,

I'll go for option 1.
I also need to learn cutting MDF sheets, so I'll try...
Thanks a lot for your time studying option 2.

Hey Couby, ok that works. It also makes my life a bit easier It is valuable to spend time learning to do this kind of stuff yourself so this was probably the best way for you to do it.

If anyone else is interested in a custom silicone rubber heater please let me know ASAP as I would like to make this order soon

Eric

Ok, I am looking to make the order for you guys ASAP but before I can order anything I am going to need some info from you guys. Yvan, Couby, and AVRkire: You guys are the only ones who responded so I will be making the order for the three of you. What exact specs will you want for your custom heat bed (note that you guys can all order bed with different specs). I need to know the Voltage, Power, Dimensions (l and w), Lead length (I would get 1000mm as the lead length does not influence the cost), Thickness (1mm or 1.5mm), and quantity. Note that I can throw in a 32V 30A fuse for an extra 6 bucks each if the fuse on your electronics board cannot handle the increased current/voltage. Once you guys post your required specs in this thread, I will PM each of you asking for your exact shipping info. Once I receive this I will PM each of you with the total price and my PayPal info (I will need the money to make the order). Don't worry! I won't run away with your money I am doing this to help you guys out so I am not actually making a ton of money off of this Once I make the order, I estimate about 3 weeks before I receive the shipment, and another few days for me to send it too each of you. I will use the most economical fast shipping available so it may take about another week to arrive at your location (less for Yvan since he is so close).

Let me know what you guys want

Eric

Ok Eric.

So here the requested specs :
- Voltage 24V,
- Power 400W max,
- Dimensions (l and w) 310 x 310 mm (as you suggested for a complete 300x300 printing area),
- Lead length 1000mm,
- Thickness 1mm,
- quantity 3,
- one 32V 30A fuse for my RUMBA.

Is there one thermistor integrated ?

Thank you for your help .

Hey Couby, thanks for the info Now I will just wait for the others to post what they want.

As for the integrated thermistor. I have never ordered a heat bed with an integrated thermistor for these reasons. First of all, if the thermistor is inside the heat bed, it will give you very inaccurate readings. The temperature within the silicone padding will be much higher than on top of your glass sheet. In addition, there will be some thermal hysteresis between temp changes within the silicone pad and temp changes on the surface of the glass. If the thermistor is inside the silicone pad it will not pick up these changes so the surface bed temp will likely fluctuate quite a bit.

Eric

Here are my specs for one single heater:

- Voltage 120V
- Power 400W max
- Dimensions (l and w) 300 x 300 mm
- Lead length 1000mm
- Thickness 1mm

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/17/2013 01:13AM by Yvan.

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Yvan

Singularity Machine

Hey Yvan,

Thanks for letting me know. I see you have opted for the 120V AC heat bed. If you are going to run the bed off AC power using a SSR, wouldn't it be more worthwhile if you went the whole nine yards and got a 1000W heater? Seeing as you are not limited by the power supply, there doesn't seem to be any constraint on your power draw.

@AVRkire We're waiting on you Let me know what you need.

Eric

The answer to Eric's question(after we talked this over on the phone with him), is that I am a bit concerned about 1000 watts in a small enclosed cabinet. So I will stick to 400 watts for now and see how that goes. I also want to look into some kind of thermal safety shut off feature.

It would be nice to have that for hotends to, so they don't self destruct...

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Yvan

Singularity Machine

Hey guys, AVRkire still hasn't responded so I am going to try PMing him to see if he is still interested. I hope he still is interested as ordering 4 heaters is a very small order

Last call. If anyone else is interested in a custom silicone rubber heat bed please let me know ASAP.

Eric

Have you tried posting in the "RepRap Marketplace and Job Shop"?

There is activity in the "Plastic Mendel Parts for Sale" and a lot of it is not plastic parts for Mendels! Also, there is some activity in the "For Sale" section.

You could also post a quick video of yourself on youtube, explaining how you can get these heaters, and how people can choose different specifications. That way you would be less of an invisible man.

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Yvan

Singularity Machine

Hey Yvan, that's definitely an idea, but I am not really doing this to make a ton of profit. In fact, I was only going to order these heat beds for you and Couby (and AVRkire if he is still interested) to help you guys out with your printers. It takes too much of my time to order these heaters from my manufacturer and get them shipped out that it really isn't the best way to make money. Also, this kind of custom manufacturing business is difficult to scale. I am off to university in a couple of weeks so I really wouldn't have time to make large quantities of custom orders.

Thanks for the marketing tips though It may be useful when I finally start selling my new all metal hot end design.

Eric