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Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)

Posted by jjfawkes 
Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 09:22AM
Hi,
I read most people are suggesting MIC 6 type ALU for heatbed, unfortunately, I cannot purchase it here in Europe, and shipping is too expensive.
I have found a local factory sells this type of ALU alloy: EN AW 5754 H22

Do you think it's a good alternative to MIC6, will it withstand prolonged heating without bending?
Would 6mm thickness be enough or should I go for 7mm ?

My plan is to attach a silicone heating pad under the sheet, and build it similar to Vulcanus printer: Vulcanus 40 heatbed

Thank you
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 09:43AM
Why don't you read their doc ? Takes 5 sec to find their "tooling plate" offering.


"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 09:50AM
I did a brief comparison of physical properties, and this alloy's strength is lower than MIC6, so I am worried whether it can be used or not.
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 11:36AM
Strength is not a particularly important property for a 3D printer bed plate. You won't be subjecting it to large forces.


Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 12:02PM
Digital_dentist, which are the most important properties I should be looking at in this case?

Thanks
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 01:43PM
I'm no DD, but what's most important is that it is cast not wrought. If it is cast it will expand essentially uniformly when heated; if it is wrought it will warp as it is heated. That description looks to me like wrought plate not cast, unless there's a cast variant of the same alloy also available.

There is cast tool plate in 5000-series alloys available at least in the US and Canada by the trade names ALCA-5 and ATP-5; they are good alternatives to MIC-6. That might help you expand your search.
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 02:45PM
If it is for a bed, as I said before, you need a piece of Al tooling plate like this . Just a quick search on their site gives this.
[www.aalco.co.uk]

Contact them and get a quote.


"A comical prototype doesn't mean a dumb idea is possible" (Thunderf00t)
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
January 02, 2019 09:53PM
The thicker the plate, the less it will warp, and the flatter it is likely to be to begin with. If you can find a piece of rolled plate that is flat enough to begin with, for something like a 250x250mm plate, I'd imagine 6mm would be sufficient. I'm actually using an 1/8" thick rolled plate for my 350x350mm bed. It warps about 0.1mm out of level when heated to 70C, but that's OK for my needs.
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
February 07, 2019 05:31AM
I'm a bit confused about cast plates... I searched this forum, but still I don't get it.

I can see that gonzohs is selling aluminium EN AW 5083, but not sure about the others.

Flatness In gonzohs datasheet is 0,4 mm which is not acceptable for 3D printer I guess. Am I correct?

I found this datasheet from aalco also. Those tolerances are even worse, but I'm not sure is that related to tolerances before or after milling.
On aalco web a lot of materials (Alloy Group II) has same tolerance. i.e. flatness for 3-6 mm thick material max deviation over 2500 mm length is 7,5 mm. Alloy Group II should be: 2014, 2017A, 2024, 3004, 5040, 5049, 5251, 5052, 5154A, 5454, 5754, 5182, 5083, 5086, 6061, 6082, 7020, 7021, 7022, 7075.

Should I expect same tolerances on 5000 and 7000 series? TDD's plate is MIC6 which should be similar to 7000 series, and I can see it is flat enough for sure.
Re: Aluminum sheet type for heatbed (Alternative to MIC6)
March 18, 2021 12:54PM
You can source alloy 5083 milled tooling plates in Europe using www.aluminyumburada.com . I placed the link for you.
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