Forget about PEI beds - we've got PEY now!

You can get the printbed I showed in the video from AliExpress:
(The names really seem to have nothing to do with what material they’re made from, they’re just different textures as far as I can tell.)

Product links are affiliate links - I may earn a commission on qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you)

Models shown:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:23 Sponsor
2:55 Unboxing
5:57 Setup
7:10 PLA prints
8:10 PLA results
10:08 PETG prints
10:24 Explanations on how these beds work
11:37 PETG results
12:35 ASA prints
12:55 Conclusion

[MadeWithLayers]

Is there anything you found on Aliexpress that piqued your interest? Let me know below!
You can get the printbed I showed in the video from AliExpress:

(The names really seem to have nothing to do with what material they’re made from, they’re just different textures as far as I can tell.)

[VoltexRB]

All of these PE(random letter) print beds are just marketing terms. All of these are Polypropylene material, their whole adhesion comes from texture, unlike with PEI. Those have been in multiple discussions on r/3dprinting in the last year and someone made a mass spectrometer analysis on them somewhere.

[PeteRondeau]

I'm gonna hold out and wait for PEZ

[madbuldog]

Forget about 3D printing, these are perfect for what I'm looking for. Been on the edge between getting holographic foils or tapes, as substrates for silicone molds. But these are just perfect for casting silicone molds. I'll just 3D print the outer edges of the shape/mold and without even separating them from the build plate I can just pour in the silicone. Awesome find, thank you, and yes at least the PEI back of these will still be useful for conventional 3D printing.

[jenniferavery]

shout out to this man for segmenting the sponsor so it is easy to skip

[ethanbunch]

I have two of these beds and honestly I love them. Some print settings to help people out:
Initial layer speed:10mm/s
Bed temp:5-10 hotter than normal
Z offset:- .02 to -.03 less than normal (closer to bed)

After this ive set any skirt lines to one layer and ive had no issues! They leave a satisfying flat surface to prints and the textures are insanely cool. Ive also been able to swap from one side to the other without re adjusting z offset. A great addition to your toolbox of printing goodies!

[jaymzx]

I have the 'carbon fiber' and wacky geometric ones. I used to hate them until I discovered you need to print a little hotter (50c) and lower your Z by -0.04 (I use the 'Textured PEI' bed slicer setting with my Bambu, which does this). It provides more adhesion and squish into the bed pattern.
The other thing is washing the heck out of it with dish soap right before printing. I've had consistently better results with all materials washing with dish soap.
Your mileage may (will) vary.

[TopFurret]

Got a PEY holographic star plate off Aliexpress recently. Had to crank up the bed temp to 70 to get decent adhesion. It's pretty subtle in normal non studio lights but a lovely touch imo.

[_Agent_]

I printed a tabletop game console enclosure a while back. All the visible surfaces were bed facing. Some of those patterns would look great in that application! Thanks for showing these.

[DEVLiquiD]

I have been printing with these build plates for as long as they have been on the market . The first build plate I got worked great for about 3 prints and then after that i could no longer get anything to stick, so after 2 months of trying to get my money back I got an email from the company telling me I was using it the wrong way. They said to never use isopropyl alcohol to clean the build plate because this is why its not sticking . All you have to do to prep the bed is to clean the build plate with dish soap and hot tap water, and dry with paper towel . Now everything i print sticks 100% . I do not understand why this works but after over 400 prints, there still working as if there new. Hope this helps. I use PLA, PETG, ABS, EPA-CF with 100% success, and I now own 12 of these build plates.

[olafb.]

I think these sheets are a nice addition. Nothing essential, but it can make stuff stand out a bit.

[WhiteWolfos]

I'm glad to have thrown this idea to a manufacturer. 😁 Since they were just starting doing textures in aliexpress i told them why not Holo pattern?? It has a glass transition like chocolate so it should in theory capture holo. I'm obsessed with holos and sure enough in a month they started producing holo! Now i see all sorts of holo patterns 😊 ofc, more holo patterns wouldn't hurt 😅

My other idea, is a "moving" texture that looks like it shifts at different angles. Similar to 5D shift and in theory, it should also capture into the first layer. Haven't shared this one though. It may be more prone to damage if the nozzle is too low.

[overtorquednut]

Sounds perfect for two dimensional prints, like wall decorations. Thanks for the video Thomas!

[Nolano]

I really did not expect the textures of these beds to transfer so well, and even be shiny and stuff on the part. Neato

[Jacob_Does]

i know i'm a bit late to this, but combine buildplates like these (specifically the holographic ones) with prints that are multicolor using one nozzle against the builtplate. you suddenly go from something thats just multicolor to holographic. my first thought is deck boxes for card games, but you could use some of those folding models to make holographic dice like Make Anything did awhile back.

[ethansdadd]

Great video! Sometimes it's so hard to pull the trigger on things like these, and it's so nice that you tried them out first.

[Coltography]

"These come pre-packaged in a trash bag for you" LOL

[eugened]

Thank you for sharing your findings. I do a lot of user-facing textures and find that these will be useful in introducing some variety!

[bepstein]

SO GLAD you covered these. I've been seeing them for a while now and have always been curious about them!

[theatomproject]

I often 3D Print "extruded" letters for interior signs. These would be perfect to use for the face of the letters to produce a unique look. Imagine walking in your company conference room and not only seeing your company logo on the wall, but upon further inspection of the letters you can see hologram shapes... Not for everyone, but worth it to have a few laying around for a little extra pop on a project. Even people knowledgeable in 3D printing might question how it was done... that alone is almost worth it.