geoff i agree. my printer came standard with glass. i used it awhile and its ok but i took some temp readings all over the plate and the temps varied about 20 deg or more. i got a 1/4" thick piece of mic6 aluminum. i took some temp readings and there is only a 2 deg variance from any point. aluminum is def better for that. i dont really use kapton though. i glass beaded one side of the mic6 then use hairspray. works well with abs. the kapton works great too but with the plate treated i dont have to mess with the tape. i still get a little curl with either one of them but its not too bad. your not really going to stop mother nature completely.