Good source of printer bed material right now

3D Printing
1

Howard Precision currently has cast and wrought plate up to 12" wide 60" long on sale for $1/pound (plus shipping if you don’t live nearby); minimum order $30. This includes Mic 6 and Alca 5 cast plate, both of which are good choices for constructing heated beds. The drops I have purchased from them before have arrived in better condition (impeccable) than custom cuts from Midwest Steel (dented and scratched) and I highly recommend Howard Precision.

https://www.howardprecision.com/random-rack

Note that you have to request a quote, and sometimes someone else got to a drop ahead of you. My experience is that they’ll try to find something similar that meets your needs. Then you have to fax or phone a credit card. (They mostly serve businesses, but have been very helpful and friendly to me as a hobbyist; they just aren’t set up for internet click sales.)

No affiliation, just a satisfied customer.

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I paid $1.82 / pound shipped by UPS. That’s cheaper than scrap at my local scrapyard.

Note if you order that the quoted price includes shipping. The quote won’t say “$1/lb” on it anywhere. Mine just quoted $1.82/lb when the overall shipping cost was divided out among the pieces.

Also if you order more than 70 lbs total, you can ask them to break it into multiple UPS shipments each under 70 lbs to save money over freight costs. At some point freight is cheaper, but it takes several hundred pounds to get there.

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