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Build Plates

Build Plates

The build plate is arguably one of the most important parts of any 3D printer, as you can’t very well print without it. They come in many variations, with different surfaces, thermal characteristics, and price tags.

The primary function of a build plate is to provide a perfectly (or almost perfectly) flat surface for the bottom layer of your print. The second function is usually to provide an adhesive surface for the extruded plastic to form a temporary bond with during a print, or a surface onto which an adhesive can be applied.

In short, the build plate is a flat surface that printed objects will stick to during a print. Without this, your printer would need some sort of stasis field to hold a print in place while your printer fabricates objects in midair. As cool as that sounds, that sort of technology doesn’t exist yet (unfortunately), so we’re all stuck printing on glass and the like.