Grabber/Support for Glass Bed Plate (customizable) by DrLex

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

After buying three identical glass plates for my heated bed so I could quickly swap them, I figured out that grabbing a 110°C glass plate with bare hands is a bad idea. I don't want to have to rely on a set of “3D printing mittens,” therefore I came up with this design, inspired by initial attempts to grab the plate with some wooden clothespins.
This is a multi-purpose tool that allows to grab a hot glass plate, and place it somewhere to let it cool down without it touching possibly dirty or heat-sensitive surfaces. It is better to avoid that dirt sticks to the glass, than having to clean it all the time while swapping plates.
Use the Customizer button to adapt the shape to your needs. Two ready-to-use models for a 3 mm and 4 mm glass plate are provided.
Tip: first print a 5 mm wide test piece for your customized settings, this will give an idea whether it grabs the glass well, and allows you to adjust the settings before committing to the big print.
I recommend a flexible filament because it will offer more grip on the glass, but ABS will also work fine. PLA might also work because the glass will probably cool down quickly enough before the PLA starts deforming, but try it at your own risk. If you only print PLA and only heat the bed to about 60°C though, PLA will be fine.