How i level my heated build plate
Hi there makers :)
ThatNerd again, this time i thought i'd share the technique i use to level my bed. It takes a bit of fiddling but once you have it you should have to level your bed again for a fair few prints. I have to level my bed once or twice a week, and my printer is on usually about 16-20 hours a day printing.
Now if this is your first bed levelling i.e. brand new machine, then first use your adjustment screws/thumb wheels till the bed looks pretty level but below the height on the nozzle, so with the stepper motors disabled you can move the print head across the bed without it coming into contact with the printers bed.
If you are using a printed heat bed, you should pre-heat the bed that the temperature you'll be using it at. This way any stress in the bed which will make your bed warp after its heated up evens out a bit and leaves you less prone to the bed warping during a print. I use 50 degrees for pla prints, so here my print bed is heated to 50 degrees.
*Please be aware that if you are using a heated bed, to move it via the BOTTOM metal plate and not the heated bed itself, you could burn yourself at higher temps if your printing with abs, nylon ect. I have removed my beds handle to make it easier to take pictures, but please print yourself a handle. I'll link one on thingiverse that i use at the bottom of the post.*
You can use a few things to level the bed, a thin business card, piece of plain paper, heck i've used the instruction sheet that came with the printer, but if you want repeatable accuracy then you need to get yourself some feeler gauages. Dont worry, they can be had for cheap, links to amazon at the end of the post.
You're goal here, this is of course just my opinion, is 0.1-0.11mm distance from the nozzle to the bed. My feeler gauges came with a 0.1mm gauge, so this is what i use.
Now, i do diagonal corners for levelling. Just to keep it simple, when i say front side of the build plate, i mean the side of it closest to you at the front of the printer. I start at the front left, placing my feeler gauge flat on the bed and using light pressure on one finger to keep it flat, also by using just one finger, you can more easily feel the subtle feeling of the nozzle riding along the feeler gauge.
As your sliding the gauge under the nozzle with one hand, use your other to adjust the thumb wheel. Remember to take your hand off the thumb wheel as you move the gauge to feel the resistance, you could be pushing/pulling the plate ever so slighty by keeping your fingers on the adjustment thumb wheel. I go by hearing aswell as feeling, the right distance with a 0.1mm feeler gauge should should like a very light scratching noise, and it should feel like it is just touching the nozzle. If you feel bumps as you move your gauge under the nozzle, the bed is too high. If you lower the bed and you cant hear or feel anything from the gauge, you've gone a hair too low.
Once the front left is close to where you want it, move to the back RIGHT corner. Repeat the process by sweeping your 0.1mm feeler gauge under the nozzle, making sure your not pushing down on the bed.
Keep doing this untill the scratching noise is barely audible, notice in this clip how after every adjustment on the thumb wheel, i move my hand away from the bed slightly, as to not influence it while im sweeping my feeler gauge.
When this corner is close, go back to the FRONT left as this will have moved a little. Now work your way between the FRONT left and BACK right corner untill they are level. Now move to the front RIGHT corner, and repeat the process between this corner and the back LEFT.
So, in order i level between front left, and back right first. No reason, just how i roll.
Then once these 2 require very little adjustment between them, i move between the front right and back left, untill these require very little adjustment also. You could keep going all day, but once you need little adjustments between corners, you can call it done :)
I do hope this has been helpful, using this technique i can level my bed and not worry about it when i do a long print, such as a 24+ hour print. If its not level layer in the print the nozzle may touch parts, or worse snap supports which would lead to ugly prints, maybe even a print failure.
Please remember, this is just how i do things. Your results may vary, please do not take my word as fact, just my opinion :)
So there you go makers, level your beds until your hearts content :)
Happy making!
Feeler Gauge set - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BERGEN-Professional-Metric-Imperial-BER5811/dp/B006B3OHNQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499078373&sr=8-3&keywords=feeler+gauge
Bed Handle for the duplicator i3/monoprice maker select V2.1:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2238684
Twitter: @ThatNerdChannel
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGUusf62uOq2N7xUoLtLq5A
ThatNerd again, this time i thought i'd share the technique i use to level my bed. It takes a bit of fiddling but once you have it you should have to level your bed again for a fair few prints. I have to level my bed once or twice a week, and my printer is on usually about 16-20 hours a day printing.
Now if this is your first bed levelling i.e. brand new machine, then first use your adjustment screws/thumb wheels till the bed looks pretty level but below the height on the nozzle, so with the stepper motors disabled you can move the print head across the bed without it coming into contact with the printers bed.
If you are using a printed heat bed, you should pre-heat the bed that the temperature you'll be using it at. This way any stress in the bed which will make your bed warp after its heated up evens out a bit and leaves you less prone to the bed warping during a print. I use 50 degrees for pla prints, so here my print bed is heated to 50 degrees.
*Please be aware that if you are using a heated bed, to move it via the BOTTOM metal plate and not the heated bed itself, you could burn yourself at higher temps if your printing with abs, nylon ect. I have removed my beds handle to make it easier to take pictures, but please print yourself a handle. I'll link one on thingiverse that i use at the bottom of the post.*
You can use a few things to level the bed, a thin business card, piece of plain paper, heck i've used the instruction sheet that came with the printer, but if you want repeatable accuracy then you need to get yourself some feeler gauages. Dont worry, they can be had for cheap, links to amazon at the end of the post.
You're goal here, this is of course just my opinion, is 0.1-0.11mm distance from the nozzle to the bed. My feeler gauges came with a 0.1mm gauge, so this is what i use.
Now, i do diagonal corners for levelling. Just to keep it simple, when i say front side of the build plate, i mean the side of it closest to you at the front of the printer. I start at the front left, placing my feeler gauge flat on the bed and using light pressure on one finger to keep it flat, also by using just one finger, you can more easily feel the subtle feeling of the nozzle riding along the feeler gauge.
As your sliding the gauge under the nozzle with one hand, use your other to adjust the thumb wheel. Remember to take your hand off the thumb wheel as you move the gauge to feel the resistance, you could be pushing/pulling the plate ever so slighty by keeping your fingers on the adjustment thumb wheel. I go by hearing aswell as feeling, the right distance with a 0.1mm feeler gauge should should like a very light scratching noise, and it should feel like it is just touching the nozzle. If you feel bumps as you move your gauge under the nozzle, the bed is too high. If you lower the bed and you cant hear or feel anything from the gauge, you've gone a hair too low.
So, in order i level between front left, and back right first. No reason, just how i roll.
Then once these 2 require very little adjustment between them, i move between the front right and back left, untill these require very little adjustment also. You could keep going all day, but once you need little adjustments between corners, you can call it done :)
I do hope this has been helpful, using this technique i can level my bed and not worry about it when i do a long print, such as a 24+ hour print. If its not level layer in the print the nozzle may touch parts, or worse snap supports which would lead to ugly prints, maybe even a print failure.
Please remember, this is just how i do things. Your results may vary, please do not take my word as fact, just my opinion :)
So there you go makers, level your beds until your hearts content :)
Happy making!
Feeler Gauge set - https://www.amazon.co.uk/BERGEN-Professional-Metric-Imperial-BER5811/dp/B006B3OHNQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499078373&sr=8-3&keywords=feeler+gauge
Bed Handle for the duplicator i3/monoprice maker select V2.1:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2238684
Twitter: @ThatNerdChannel
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGUusf62uOq2N7xUoLtLq5A
Water Hack Burns 2lb of Fat OVERNIGHT
ReplyDeleteOver 160,000 men and women are losing weight with a simple and SECRET "liquid hack" to burn 2lbs each and every night while they sleep.
It's painless and works all the time.
This is how you can do it yourself:
1) Get a glass and fill it up half full
2) And now do this awesome HACK
so you'll be 2lbs skinnier in the morning!