Where can you buy a powder coated build plate for your Prusa Mk3?

Why powder coated PEI?

PEI has been used as a 3d printing surface for a while now; you may have even seen them. They tended to be a yellowish, almost tobacco stain colored, plastic that you would stick to your print bed. Then, when magnetic build plates came along, companies started coating their steel plates with it to give you an excellent surface to print on.

PEI tends to stick most filaments without the need for glue, or hairspray and works exceptionally well on PLA and ABS, the two most used filaments in the 3D printing community. Sometimes though, PEI is just a little too smooth and can stick a little too firmly to certain materials and so powder coating was born.

A powder-coated PEI build plate has a rougher surface texture than standard PEI and allows the print to hold when the surface and filament are warm while releasing the print more easily when cooled.

Why the Layerlock?

There are several reasons to choose the Layerlock build plate. It is affordable, and the quality is extremely high. The Powder coating is even across the plate, and the metal is thick enough to hold firm while still having the flexibility needed to remove large prints without needing a scraper.

The powder coating is on both sides of the Layerlock which lets you use different filaments or releasing agents without getting them contaminated and, from a purely aesthetic point of view, it has a beautiful rainbow sheen that looks brilliant when you are taking pictures of a really cool print.

Prusa has been trying to come up with its own powder coated build plate, and some people were lucky enough to get them when they got their MK3 printers. For the rest of us, though, the time it is taking to fulfill orders is just too long, and there are competitors out there that are worthy of your time and money.

Matterhackers has plenty of powdered coated PEI plates in stock for the Prusa, and other printers so why wait? Buy one today!