Managing Steel Sheets on Prusa 3D Printers
The Prusa MK3, MK3S, and MINI all use removable steel sheets as a printing surface. Removable sheets have several advantages over their older non-removable predecessors: by removing and flexing the sheet inwards or outwards, parts pop off much more easily, and when the sheet wears out, it is easily replaced. They're held down to the heat plate with rare earth magnets, so they don't move around during prints but are very easy to swap. Sheets come in two flavors: smooth PEI sheets, and textured power-coated sheets (I personally use the smooth sheets for PLA, and the textured sheets for PETG). Since I basically manufacture WLAN Pi cases on my small farm of three Prusa MK3S printers, I have several sheets running around (three textured, one smooth). To be clear, this is Joseph Prusa's print farm, not mine, but it was cool to visit with one of my printed WLAN Pi cases. One natural attribute of spring sheets is that they vary slightly in thickness, so they each require a