1.8 Build plates
Module 1 · Part 3: Your print, step by step · Lesson 8 of 14 · about 4 min
Your print doesn't stick to the printer itself. It sticks to a removable, flexible steel plate held onto the heatbed by magnets. When the print has finished and cooled, you lift the plate out with the print still on it.
The two plate types in the room. Left: a Textured PEI plate, gold with a rough surface. Right: a Cool Plate SuperTack, smooth and black, labelled PLA/PETG
The room has two types of plate: Cool Plate SuperTack ("SuperTack" for short in this course) on the four upper-row X2Ds, and Textured PEI on all the other printers. If you have only passed Module 1, you only use SuperTack plates, because the upper row is all that Module 1 covers. Textured PEI has its own rules, in Module 2.
There are plenty of plates in the rack by the door.
Handling
Hold plates by the edges. Oil from your skin on the surface stops prints from sticking.
The plates are double-sided, and you may print on either side. Flipped over, the tab at the front ends up on the other side, which is fine. Whichever side faces up, the back edge goes to the back: push the plate against the stops there before printing.
A build plate being lowered onto the heatbed of an X2D, towards the stops at the back
Cleaning
✅ Hard rule. Wash the plate before you print, with warm water and plain dish soap.
⛔ Hard rule. Never use hand soap or acetone on any plate.
Hand soap contains moisturisers and oils that stay on the surface, because that is what they are made to do. Acetone and other solvents damage the plate coating. Use the sink in the wet room, which has dish soap and paper towels. Rinse the plate, then dry it with a paper towel or let it air-dry. Whoever prints washes the plate first, so every print starts on a clean plate. You don't wash your plate after printing.
⛔ Hard rule. Never use IPA (isopropyl alcohol) on a SuperTack plate.
Glue
⛔ Hard rule. Never put any kind of glue on a SuperTack plate.
PLA grips a SuperTack plate very well while printing, which is exactly why it is on the beginner printers: your print stays put without any help, and corners are less likely to lift. It also holds at a lower bed temperature than the Textured PEI plates need. The bed heats up faster and uses less energy, and with less heat radiating from the bed, fine details near the bottom of your print cool and set better, so they come out cleaner. You will see Bambu Lab Liquid Glue in the room. It is for the Textured PEI plates, and Module 2 explains why.
No silk PLA on the upper row
⛔ Hard rule. Never print silk PLA on an upper-row X2D. The one exception is Bambu PLA Silk+, which is made to work on SuperTack plates.
Silk PLA gets its shine from other polymers mixed into the PLA, and every brand uses its own blend. Some of these blends can ruin a SuperTack plate. Bambu PLA Silk+ is made to be compatible with SuperTack, so it is allowed on the upper row. Every other silk PLA is not, including Bambu's other silk filaments. Silk PLA is still sold as PLA, so check the exact name before you buy. Once you have passed Module 2, you may print any silk PLA on the lower-row X2Ds and the H2S printers.
Removing a print
Two hands bending a build plate to pop a printed panda off it
The room's plastic-bladed scrapers on the pegboard, with the holder of spare plastic blades beside them
✅ Hard rule. Wait for the plate to cool, then flex (bend) the plate to release the print. If you need a tool, use only the plastic scrapers and plastic-bladed tools in the room, and use them carefully.
⛔ Hard rule. Never use a metal blade or scraper on a plate. It ruins the plate permanently.
Flexing the plate works for almost every print. The plastic blade is for loosening a stubborn corner, not for chiselling.
A worn blade? The scrapers' plastic blades are not single-use. Each has two edges, so turn it round and use the other edge first. Only when both edges are too damaged, swap in a new blade from the spare-blade holder next to the scrapers on the pegboard.
If a print is still stuck to a SuperTack plate after it has cooled, and the printer is still yours, put the plate back on the bed and set the bed to about 50 °C on the touchscreen. That usually releases it. If it still won't come off, ask in Slack. Don't use a solvent or a metal tool.
Image sources: plate being flexed, from Bambu Lab's X2D first print guide.
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