Reddit reviews [Gulfcoast Robotics] Borosilicate Glass for Wanhao Duplicator i3 Anet A8 MP Maker Select 3D Printers, 4mm Thick.

I have this one, works great. A quick wipe of iso alcohol on the bed before a print does WONDERS. :)

https://www.amazon.com/Gulfcoast-Robotics-Borosilicate-Duplicator-Printers/dp/B07B2YLWF9/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3R1DVT6ST84HS&keywords=duplicator+i3+glass+bed&qid=1555892960&s=gateway&sprefix=duplicator+i3+glass%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-3

Seconding everything people have said here and want to add the following.
A glass bed with 10mil PEI from CS Hyde will do wonders for bed leveling.

Upgrade your Y plate as soon as possible, the stock one warps over enough time making bed leveling nearly impossible.

All metal hotend such as the micro swiss is amazing, no more clogged PTFE tubing, easier to clean if it does.

Z brace is a must, also print a fan cooler like the Diicooler on thingiverse. Replace the stock part cooling fan with a nice radial fan, plenty on amazon, make sure its 12v. This helps prints come out cleaner.

Yours should come with thumbwheels, if not, print some, bed leveling is easier with it.

Print some spring cups as well, keeps the springs straight and not bending when leveling the bed.

DO THE MOSFET MOD TO MAKE IT SAFE!

Watch this vid and do his printed mods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpcm4XEbP1Q&t=752s&list=PLyIdpN_zILcknsQzSZSiWhQ685NxkWsvD&index=2

Also, stay far far FAR away from Shaxon filament! It broke my hotend, check my post history to see the red glob of death I dealt with. I have had very good luck with eSun PLA.

Links for bought parts:
Fans: [here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MJU6JR2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Glass plate: [Here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2YLWF9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Hotend: [Here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E1HANLS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

Y plate: [Here (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B251KBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

MOSFET: [here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HEQVQAK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)] and wires [here(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017U6PGLO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)]

What I did was I got a nice thick borosilicate glass plate from amazon, the one with the corners cut off so it fits the bed perfectly without the heated bed bolts interfering. Then I got a sheet of PEI with 3M adhesive on the back. I cleaned the glass with alcohol and then carefully applied the PEI so there weren't any air bubbles.

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This is the glass:

https://smile.amazon.com/Gulfcoast-Robotics-Borosilicate-Duplicator-Printers/dp/B07B2YLWF9/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2640M0KDOPOV&keywords=borosilicate+glass+plate&qid=1555903635&s=gateway&sprefix=borosilicate+glass+pl%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-5

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And this is the kind of PEI:

https://smile.amazon.com/Gizmo-Dorks-Preapplied-Laminated-Adhesive/dp/B07GSJSDWR/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=PEI+sheet&qid=1555903728&s=gateway&sr=8-4

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I have gone through a handful of these borosilicate sheets, and have had one or two that were warped. All of them were thinner than the Gulf Coast Robotics one. Theirs is bang on flat and way tougher, hands down the best. When you apply the PEI, make sure you do it very carefully as to not create any bubbles underneath. I started on the center of one edge and slowly applied from one side to the other, peeling the backing off as I went. Press it down from the center out as you lay it down and you shouldn't get any bubbles. Lots of very tiny bubbles are to be expected and work their way out after a while (Im talking really tiny). As for attaching the glass to the bed, a set of four binder clips are perfect. Don't bother with the thermal pads some people suggest, they make it a pain to remove the glass in between prints and don't really do anything.

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This is a great way to have a removable build surface that everything sticks to. I have since moved up to a Prusa MK3, so I get to enjoy the luxury of the magnetic PEI build plate. You could get a similar thing going, BuildTak sells a magnetic build surface that you apply to the heated bed. The drawback of this is that if your bed is warped at all, the magnetic sheet does nothing to correct it. The thick glass on the other hand makes everything nice and flat.

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I should add that to put the glass sheet on, you will have to move your z endstop switch down. There are several mounting holes on the printer to do this already so its really not that hard, you just have to experiment. The glass is about 4mm thick so you have to adjust for it.

Couple of thoughts -

• Preheat the bed to the print temp before leveling. On my MSP, the bed rises considerably depending on whether it's hot or cold.
  
• When leveling, use printer paper. Business cards are too thick, you really want that nozzle close to the bed so it's smooshing that first layer down.
  
• Preheat the bed for several minutes before starting the print
  
  Also, it will cost you some money but replacing the Y carriage and adding a good glass plate help too. I'll edit this in a sec with the links.
  
  Edit!
  
  Glass bed: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2YLWF9
  Y-carriage: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B251KBS
  
  I originally was using thermal pads between the glass and the print surface. Eventually I found I had better results by skipping the pads, peeling off the print surface, and putting the glass directly on the metal bed with small binder clips on the left and right edges. I use Elmer's purple glue sticks for adhesion and rough it up with a sanding block between prints. Make sure your Y axis rods are level, as well.
  
  Good luck!
  
  

So far I've made the following Mods:

Z-Axis Stabilizer
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1549403

Cii Cooler
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2004629

Y-Carriage upgrade
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B251KBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Glass Bed
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2YLWF9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Y and X Belt Tensioners
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1784375

Adjustable Z stop
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2916757

Hi all! I've been pulling my hairs out trying to figure this out.

Printer is MP Maker Select v2.1 driven by the latest version of OctoPrint.

I just installed this 4mm glass bed with a PEI sheet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B2YLWF9/

The glass is held in place by binder clips. The extruder doesn't bump into them and the glass or PEI didn't get knocked loose. The print was well adhered to the bed as well.

The first print (first two pics) had a shift in x and y direction.

The second print was resliced (last three pics) had a shift in the x direction.

I have no idea what's going on because it prints perfectly fine until that point, then seemingly shifts a random amount. Seems like both get shifted around the same time. (+/- 3 layers) I've checked belt tension and they seem tight enough. I don't see how adding a glass bed could cause a X-axis shift, I thought it might only cause the Y-shift.

I've uploaded both gcode files here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15f8mJKpEXk4W7qi-lONCpl3Ih5xEwrr6?usp=sharing

Both gcode files look fine to me when viewed on an analyzer. They were sliced in Cura 3.0.4. Here are my settings:

https://i.imgur.com/aR8jBUK.jpg

Going to print a benchy or calibration cube so I can see what's happening.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking!

Update: The benchy has gotten further along than the first two prints without any shifts.