Replicator 2 Glass Printing Bed Plate Replacement Upgrade Accessory for the Makerbot Desktop 3D Printer - Replaces the Warped Acrylic Print Bed with a Very Flat Glass Plate with Notches to fit into the Makerbot Replicator 2 Printer Bed Tabs and Slots

After more than 500 hours of printing on my MR2's original acrylic bed, I decided to install this glass printing bed as an upgrade. I had better experience than many commenters with the acrylic bed, but it had developed chips and cracks from extensive use -- and I definitely wanted something flatter. (Note: I've also already installed the extruder upgrade that replaces the delrin plunger, as sold by others on Amazon and elsewhere, a while back. I highly recommend that too.) In short, this glass printing bed had no flaws, it was much flatter than the original acrylic print bed, and it leveled out quickly using the standard MR2 procedure. PLA would not stick to it directly, so I cleaned the glass with isopropyl alcohol and prepped the surface with 2 coats of aquanet hairspray. With those adjustments it works like a champ -- am very happy with the results! (Note: the above results are without the use of printing rafts. I try to avoid these whenever possible.) Will print some very-large objects soon and update this posting if the results are different than already described.

The glass bed is very level and fits perfectly in the replicator 2. My only issue is the PLA just balls up, I've tried blue tape and no tape. I've had to go back to the acrylic bed so right now it's a wast of money. I guess if you have the time to mess around it would be a good upgrade for your replicator.

If you are having any trouble with your prints sticking to acrylic, this will make it much worse. It is, as advertised, flat and sturdy (quite heavy, as a matter of fact). However, I found it almost impossible to get a print to stick to the surface. As soon as the head began moving around, the plastic would come up and start wrapping around the extruder. In short, it is what it says it is, but it may not be what you need.

I bought this plate, and have had worse results than with the stock plate that came with my replicator 2. I tried several of the tricks to make it sticky, but no luck. In my opinion, this is not the solution, maybe half at best. I think a heated plate upgrade is the way to go. Save your $90 bucks and go with a heated plate upgrade.

Using acrylic as the material for a build plate in a hot tipped extruder FDM printer is just asking for aggravation. If the tip is set too close to the build plate when leveling the plate prior to printing, the hot extruder tip will melt the acrylic on the first pass and melt whatever is being printed to the build plate, making removal of the printed object impossible without damage to both the object and the build plate. This happened on my very first print; following the instructions to the letter in the manual, the nut/bolt print fused to the plate. Removal caused the outer shell of both objects to rip off and stay on the plate, and the had to be carefully, laboriously chipped away, leaving a damaged surface in the new plate. Additionally, the Rep 2 does not offer support the ends of the plate, and a large build can heat soak the plate and cause it to droop, leaving you with a build plate that is high in the middle and low on the ends, adversely affecting print quality. This is one of the reasons that covering the build plate with painter's tape is recommended.The glass build plate removed most of these concerns. The glass can't be melted by the extruder tip; clean the plate with alcohol before each print, then throw it in the freezer for an hour and the prints usually pop right off. I could go on but suffice it to say a tempered glass plate is a much better build surface. One caveat that relates to the lack of support to the ends of the build plate: Do not store the glass plate on the support table. Glass is a strange material: solid, yet will flow over time under its own weight. If you leave the glass plate on the printer's build table unsupported for extended periods of time ( a month will do it ), you will notice the glass has drooped on the ends. If you get a glass plate, mark the two sides and alternate sides with each build, as well a be sure to store the plate on a hard, FLAT surface when not in use. If the printer fully supported the build plate, this would not be a problem, but the improvement in print quality and easier print removal makes it a worthwhile investment.

The glass is really the best of both worlds. When I first started having issues with the stock plastic plate I went to aluminum. While the aluminum plate was level it seems to cool much faster causing warping at the ends of larger prints. The glass seems to hold the heat really well and the same prints are no longer warping and the plate is level. I have always used the large sheets on blue tape and the adhesion is also better than the two previous boards. I really am amazed at how many large piece problems this guy fixes. Glad to see glass is in all the future machines but they really should have put it in the Rep 2 in the beginning; it is a game changer. Lucky these guys decided to sell some!