Using flex plates: my lessons learned

[cliffyk]

I have a plain ol' Mars (a silver one) on which the platen had been powder-coated and had a typical glaze-like powder-coated semi-gloss finish. I did initially have non-adhesion issues but soon realized it was that semi-gloss finish that was the problem and sanded it lightly (just enough to break the glaze) with a random orbit sander and a 320 disc. Have not had any adhesion issues (over- or under-) since them (nearly a year now)--other than when using that god-awful water based crap.

Thank you for your thorough report!