Perfboard?

Dear All

I have some experience of building Repraps (Prusa and Mendelmax)
though I am still a quite inexperienced

This week I finally was allowed to take an UP! Printer out of its box
(work bought it) and I was under some pressure to demonstrate it
working straight out of the box- which it did
Unlike any of my previous experiences including Makerbot was the
Print stayed firmly in position and the extruder did not dislodge it
The UP! Doesn't use Kapton tape or sticky stuff on the heated bed but
a layer of perforated material it calls 'Perfboard' so when the first layers are
Deposited they press into the many holes of the Perfboard and key in

The questions are does any body know what material 'Perfboard' is and would
It work with Repraps? and where you buy it from?

I would be grateful for any replies even if they are hunches

Many Thanks
Simon

I've heard of it before but, some pictures would help a lot as I've heard a lot of different things called perfboard.

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Old school perfboard was phenolic or fiberglass / epoxy depending on how much you spent. I suspect there was a bakelite / Garolite version before that. More or less, any plastic "stuff" with holes in it is perfboard.

i used to use it all the time when my up! was running, i have been looking for a larger sheet of the stuff for use on 200mmx200mm build tables common on most of our printers, however i'm yet to find anything,
i have however been looking at a clamping systems for use with abs where parts can be clamped down

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For the fiberglass variety try:

Twin Industries perf at Mouser

Not exactly cheap and you have to look at the metric dimensions rather than the US ones.

Given that fiberglass style sheets seem to have limited lifespan, I wonder how long the perfboard will last on the Up! before it needs to be replaced.

BTW. I suspect it may be cheaper to get some PCB's made with loads of small holes in them, from pcb manufacturers in hong kong etc.

rogerclark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Given that fiberglass style sheets seem to have
> limited lifespan, I wonder how long the perfboard
> will last on the Up! before it needs to be
> replaced.
>
> BTW. I suspect it may be cheaper to get some PCB's
> made with loads of small holes in them, from pcb
> manufacturers in hong kong etc.


they actually last a very long time,

with the pcb houses you'll find that the it gets either fairly expensive to drill the amount of holes need or they will just refuse the job

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The real question is weather you want the fiberglass version or not....

@thejollygrimreaper

Ah... I was just looking at the quoted price based on PCB size.
I hadn't factored that they'd refuse the job based on number of holes, but I can see that it would make the production more expensive for them.

rogerclark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> @thejollygrimreaper
>
> Ah... I was just looking at the quoted price based
> on PCB size.
> I hadn't factored that they'd refuse the job based
> on number of holes, but I can see that it would
> make the production more expensive for them.

ideally a laser cut solution would be ideal, but i'm stumped at what could be used

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Used for raw materiel or used for the laser? The raw material is pretty common stuff.

Dear All

thanks for your replies
I have uploaded a photo of the board used by the UP!

It sounds like the perfboard used by the UP! is a PCB material
which should be flame-retardent

Although this stuff might need to be extra heat proofed given that
its constantly being heated


I will keep looking and I'll ask on the UP! forum

Thanks Again
Simon

The heater in your heated bed is likely FR4 based. The fiber glass perf board should be as good as the heated bed. Put another way, they both will work to 100 to 120C.

If you use the perf board, you will have bumps on the bottom of your part. They will need to be sanded off. I'm not sure this is better than messing with glass...

This is the reply from the UP! forum


'Should be made of garolite.

Typical electronics supply store should carry it (e.g. Radio Shack, Fry's Electronics).
You can also buy online from Mouser, Newark, Digi-key, or McMaster-Carr'




Thank you all for your replies