First Layer calibration is hair thin.
All the rest of the xyz calibration went ok. The filament loaded and extruded a bit as the instructions indicate. The first layer calibration appears to print a reasonable layer when doing its initial nozzle cleaning line, but then when it goes into the 'zig zag' pattern the print is hair thin and its difficult to see what difference adjusting a - value to produce a slightly squished print line is making to the hair line that is being produced. When I got up to -1 it seem to be so thin as to not to stick on the bed. So I went back to a Zero adjustment and retried. The print was hair thin again and the little square at the end of the zig zag was just a made us of lines with gaps in-between. All the examples show adjustments in the - levels but this appears not to make the print any better on mine. Should I try a plus adjustment or any hints on what to check.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
Use this method instead. It is much easier to see what is going on.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
An example of an almost good test layer... it's still a touch high as shown by the few remaining gaps between some threads. A good layer one should be a solid welded sheet, with a smooth top surface.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
Thanks all, and I printed the PLA gcode file as per vintagepc. The following is the result (not pretty). Whilst I hope it does indeed make it easier to see whats going on for a more experienced user, sadly to me I haven't got a clue.
The was with the setting at zero for the layer calibration. Before I found adjusting with a - number (I went up to 1 appeared to make the print worse) but seeing my print does this indicate what I should be adjusting or looking to check?
Thanks Tim-m30 for the image of what I should be aiming for as the manuals don't give too much of a clue.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
First layer is supposed to be hair thin (actually 3x hair diameter), to the point it is transparent with many filaments. The purge line at the edge of the sheet is just that, the nozzle spewing filament at almost maximum rate and is way thicker than what real printing uses. You need to get as negative as required for the individual lines to fuse together to a single homogeneous surface.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
Hi, thanks vojtech-p6 for setting me right. When the manual indicated I should be looking for a slightly squished print I was thinking I would be able to actually see a printed line some squish, whereas I could barely see the itsy bit of hairline print.😀.
And now I realise that the Z adjustment can be made whilst a print is being made I now fully appreciate the use of the square print file as mention in the first reply. Indeed I can now see very clearly what is going on and I have now make a successful first print.
Phew, that my 2 day printer build completed and my first print accomplished and thats enough excitement for today so off to bed.
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
Congratulations and I wish you many successful prints!
RE: First Layer calibration is hair thin.
With experience you can get pretty darn close with the built-in method but as you noted, if you don't know what you are supposed to be looking for it's way to fast and small to get it right. What I do nowadays (with a number of extruder teardowns under my belt) is dial it close with the built-in method (or even just wing it on the purge line) and slice my pending print with a brim where I dial it in.