MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Hi All,
I have always wanted to check out the height variation or level to the nozzle at different positions on the heat bed build area. I have recently found that my Z height on the first layer was not consistent on the build plate and wanted to find out why. My 1st layer print on the build plate was squished more at the front right corner and the Z-axis mess bed leveling fine tune adjust would not compensated enough to make it correct. I ordered a ,008" at .0001" increment dial indicator along with an adjustable clamp mount.
The Z-axis mess bed leveling fine tune adjust on the MK3 provides for +-50 microns (+-.00197" almost two one thousandths "+-.002" of an inch).
I had some time last night after a few prints to try out the dial indicator along with the adjustable clamp mount and the results were not good. I did find that the build plate was indeed higher at the front right as suspected. The amount of variation was far greater than I had hoped for but expected based on the machine. I found that the front right side was high buy about .008"-.010" (250 microns). This is why it could not be tuned out using the +-50 micron fine adjust control.
I will take pictures and maybe video of what I find over the weekend. I will also need to find a method of measuring the X-axis travel using the gantry to move the indicator and combined X-axis gantry variation. I also noticed that the entire printer frame allows for enough movement that if the printer is not sitting on a PERFECTLY FLAT surface that the frame can be twisted dramatically when measured. Obviously the higher the nozzle is from the bead would show more variation but we are talking 1st layer checks here.
I am doing this checkout to satisfy my personal curiosity and to make my printer better for me. Currently the printer has been giving acceptable results for a 3D printer novice and this machine design but that only last so long as I move forward to get better results.
I will contribute to the thread as I record my results. If you have anything positive to contribute then the forum and I would like to hear it.
Cheers!
MK3 Kit, Designed, built 4x4 CNC Plasma Cutting Table, Motorcycles Bigdogbro's Adventures
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5djrxBeeOKB9_6rHnn6G8A
Re: MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Interesting!
Do you get the same result with the indicator clock as with G-code G80 / G81?
Bear MK3 with Bondtech extruder
Re: MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Z-axis mess bed leveling fine tune
I hope "mess bed leveling" is just a slip-up although it seems ironically appropriate for this topic...
Anyway, I don't have a printer yet, although I am hoping to get one soon (hence my participation on these forums). However, some of the recent posts about bed levels and live z adjustment issues have got me thinking about the "flatness" of the bed. The mesh leveling is a great feature but in order for it to be really useful, the bed level variations have to be within the range of the mesh adjustments. I wonder how a printer owner can ensure that without having to buy extra (and potentially expensive) equipment?
In any case, I am interested in this discussion's development.
Re: MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Ah yep is was a misprint...very funny though.
Well here are my results of attempting to mechanically level the bed. It is now quite level but I am still getting a thinner first layer line at the right front corner even when setting the fine tune settings to lower it. Firmware is my best guess at this point. I'm done for now and will see what happens on new releases of FW.
MK3 Kit, Designed, built 4x4 CNC Plasma Cutting Table, Motorcycles Bigdogbro's Adventures
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5djrxBeeOKB9_6rHnn6G8A
Re: MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Well after a week of printing with the leveled bed I get no better results and noticed that the bed was not level to the upper Z axis stop references the printer uses for a baseline. I removed the bed shims and returned the printer to normal.
However! I still have the 1st layer squish along the right side which cannot be removed by fine mess tuning so I feel the mess leveling is NOT working well as it should. I am running 3.1.1-201? FW and plan to upgrade on the next 3.2.0 with LA and other fixes.
MK3 Kit, Designed, built 4x4 CNC Plasma Cutting Table, Motorcycles Bigdogbro's Adventures
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5djrxBeeOKB9_6rHnn6G8A
Re: MK3 Heat Bed Leveling Check Out
Thanks for the informative video. I too was thinking of using a dial indicator to check on the flatness of the bed. Your wobble of the Z-axis frame demonstrates well the sensitivity of the frame to vibration and is a good indicator that the filament spool should not be mounted on the frame. For the Z-axis alignment, it seems a simple thing to add a shim to the top of one of the x-axis columns to make it bottom "up" to parallel with the bed, though I like your idea of a screw adjustment for one of the column tops.