aluminum plate 5083G as build surface

So I want to upgrade my build surface to an aluminum plate, however being in Australia I'm finding it hard to find cast aluminum tooling plate. I did however find this

[www.ebay.com.au]

I know its a bit thick but they do have 10mm and even 5mm sometimes. Will something like this do or will I see no advantages over my current pitcher frame glass bed

I have a 460 x 600 x 4mm build plate and it heats pretty slow but love that it has no hot spots so it was a nice upgrade to prevent ABS warping.

Really not sure about any thicker though 5mm would be okay, but sure it will be a tough one to heat up need to insulate under the bottom good for sure.

I use a silicone heater stuck to the bottom with a thin layer of insulation under it. For electronics I use a Solid state relay to cycle it with the Ramps 1.4 using the bang bang setting since the extra metal is too slow really for the pid loops.

Thaks for that, I was more interested about the grade of aluminium than the thickness but it is a good point to consider, the thicker it is the longer to get to temp.

Most suppliers of 5083 say not to exceed 65°C, being a heated bed I would be looking to almost double that at the start of my prints. I'm wondering if the heat will cause it to deform too much, if so then there is no real point.

What grade Aluminium do you guys use, I know most people say tooling plat, but that's a bit vague.

i dont believe that tooling plate has a grade like rolled plate does. tooling plate is cast, stress relieved then milled flat, while your typical aluminum plate is just rolled. you may be able to take a piece of a 6061 or 7075 and have it surfaced at a machine shop, but i dont know what it will do with repeated heat cycles.

tooling plate has a few trade names

Mic 6® (a registered trademark of Aloca Inc)
Alpase K100-S® (a registered trademark of TST, Inc)
Alca 5™ (a trademark of PCP Canada)
Vista Metals ATP 5™ (a trademark of Vista Metals Corp.)
Alimex 5083

try searching those specifically

im in the US and i buy my tooling plate from [www.midweststeelsupply.com], maybe email them and see if they will ship internationally?

Edit:

looks like calm aluminum [www.calm-aluminium.com.au] is a distributor for vista metals which market there tooling plate as ATP 5

also my 9"x10"x.25" bed with a 500watt 110v silicone heater takes about 5min to get to 100C with no insulation.

Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2017 03:44PM by tolar250.