I got an idea in my head I have to try. I bought a 1/2" cutting board that was 12x18" which is perfect to make 2 YZ plates from. It’s solid and doesn’t flex at all and was only around $16 on Amazon. It just arrived today so here in a bit I’m going to give it a whirl using a 3d printed YZ plate as a template. The only concern I have are the screws holding the linear rails as everything else is bolted through it.
Thoughts?
Time will tell, but it seems to be a good alternative to MDF. Very stiff and seems to hold the linear rail screws really well.
If anyone is interested in trying this, here is what I bought. They have it in multiple colors also!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPG8PC7?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
That looks sharp. I like it.
Hey, great idea. I was just about to post asking if 5/8" plywood is OK to use for YZ plates, but after seeing your post here, I’m remembering I have quite a bit of 1/2" HDPE (black) lying around, most is large scraps leftover from a previous paying job, and there’s plenty to pick from for cutting YZ plates.
How thick is the HDPE cutting board you used?
I have some 1/2" HDPE, but I just went to check rigidity on it, and I don’t think it’s rigid enough.
It’s 1/2 inch. Mine is definitely stiff.
Well, I guess I could have gotten away with it. I chickened out and went with some thick MDF I had (scraps from another project).
I’m still working on mine. Waiting on the board, drivers and screen to arrive this week. I think it will work pretty good, but just in case one of the first things I’m going to cut is a new set of MDF YZ plates to have as a backup.
It may be that not all HDPE is created equal. Not sure. Yours may well be more rigid than these sheets I have.
The linear rails will stiffen it up quite a bit too.
That it will.
That’s what she said!
Wait… wrong forum… Never mind…
How about making it with 12mm of acrylic?
Hello @xenon6582, welcome!
Yes, have seen acrylic YZ plates in some builds, for example Laser Cut Steel LR3 Build - #36 by jjwharris
Can find other material ideas at
Personally, I stuck with materials recommended by docs (e.g MDF YZ, Aluminum XZ) to minimize risk of running into issues. Hope that helps, cheers!
Thank you for your reply.
I used 12mm acrylic, I’m quite happy with it. However, I did have issues with the linear rails binding - I haven’t quite figured out why they were binding, and have since just left the rails semi-loose while holding the screws in with Loctite.
A friend of mine suggested that laser cutting the acrylic plate did introduce a warp. I haven’t delved too deeply into it, as my LR3 is functioning.
But it may be something keeping in mind
Would this work for the XZ plates also? The reason I’m asking is I’ve wasted a good bit of plastic trying to print the XZ plates. I keep getting a layer shift and I’m not sure why. My Ender 3 printed a ton of parts really well so far including the core with no layer shifting. I’m wondering if it’s b/c of the 70% infill but I’m not positive. I’ll probably make a new post to discuss the layer shifting issue but I wanted to ask if this could work for the XZ plates b/c then I could just print the stub parts and mill out the XZ as I’ve got a V1 MPCNC Primo that I can use.
