I have been thinking about how to make a drop in bed system, with swappable print surfaces. I believe I just figured it out but have to design it tonight when I get home. The idea is to have the heater fixed to a new platform, where the current built plate is. On top of that, the print bed will drop in and be removable when done. Goals are: Not lose any X and Y print area, and only a few mm of z travel.
My idea is to redesign the current bed corners and make them and the heater plate / build plate holder one piece. This will eliminate the “tab” used to hold the bed in place, which frees up the top for a drop in build plate. The heater will then be removed from the build plate and attached to the heater plate. I’d also like to permanently fix the “home” corner of the bed to help make leveling easier. I plan on reusing the glass / PEI print bed.
That’s an interesting idea. I know a lot of other folks use binder clips as a means to hold glass or PEI sheets on the bed.
I haven’t thought much about it, but it would be convenient to be able to pop off the PEI sheet to remove prints. Maybe some sort of permanently attached ABS clips that allow a 1/16" sheet of PEI to slip in and out.
My binder-clipped 1/16" PEI sheet has been working pretty well, to my surprise, for a couple months now. When printing semiflex I remove it to print on the PET underneath. Its hard to imagine a temporary bed mounting system more effective than binder clips but I’d probably use it if you came up with one.