So it takes a machinist to show the 3D printer community how to level a print bed. Great work. I bought this printer after I saw how well it worked for you. Just got it this week, hope to have it running soon. I'm sure this will be one of my first prints. Can't wait to see what you do next!
I've been doing it for ages. And another change is to demolish the crude bed system and rebuild it more to proper CNC spec. The bed gets effed up mostly because it's so badly made.
I am sure you will be pleased with the printer. The print quality is great. Better than I was expecting and has enabled my to use it for pattern making.
Actually the preferred method is auto leveling with a sensor on the head. Obviously the bed should be pretty close before you do this. I find my perfectly level bed changes with ambient temperature etc.
Awesome! no bla bla! Genius! THE BEST VIDEO ON THE SUBJECT AROUND! I've watched so much more or less interesting, more or less "scientific approach", YOUR VIDEO IS THE MOST HELPFUL and easily instructive. Thanks a lot!
Look into using the M0 command between leveling steps, that's what I've been using to level my bed. M0 is basically a wait for user command, you'll have to click your knob to continue but this way you're not racing to make adjustments. I also run my version around twice since adjustments affect opposing corners.
Adjustments only change opposing corners if you are measuring a point other than directly above the bed leveling screw. If you modify the GCode to set the points to be directly above the leveling screws, you should be able to just go around once.
Since adding a sheet of 3 mm glass and some sprint centring posts from thingiverse I rarely have to level my Ender 3 bed. From experience you get more consistent results if you always approach the level point from the spring loose side. IE the adjustment compresses the spring.
I also did this but then I found a better way. I do it like this: Drive the head on top of each adjustment knob, at each knob i set head to Z = 0 mm (gcode command) and adjust the knob so the head just touches the surface. Ready to print.
Here is code for the Creality CR-10 Mini. It's better as it raises/lowers the head height vs. dragging it side to side. The dial indicator values can change if not raised/lowered. G21 ;metric values G90 ;absolute positioning M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode M107 ;set fan off G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops ;move to starting corner for paper ;--------------------------------- G0 F3500 X25 Y20 Z0 ;move to paper setting corner G4 P15000 :wait 15 seconds to set first corner with paper slip ;move extruder head up to clear indicator ;---------------------------------------- G1 Z30 ;move indicator vertical to clear bed G4 P2000 ;wait 2 seconds G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length G1 F5000 ;dial indicator setup ;-------------------- G0 F3500 X25 Y60 ;Move dial indicator to each corner in turn G0 Z21 ;lower dial indicator G4 P15000 ;wait 15 seconds to set indicator to zero G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move ;move to corners ;----------------- G1 X276 Y228 ;back right corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X276 Y60 ;front right corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move G1 X25 Y228 ;front left corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move G1 X276 Y60 ;front right corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move G1 X276 Y228 ;back right corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move G1 X25 Y60 ;front left corner G0 Z21 ;lower indicator G4 P50000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move ;recheck home position ;--------------------- G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed G1 Z21 ;lower indicator and recheck zero G4 P2000 ;wait 5 seconds G0 F9000 Z30 ;lift indicator ;End GCode M104 S0 ; set extruder temperature off M140 S0 ; set bed temperature off M84 ;disable steppers
Quick and nice indeed. I found a nicely quick way for leveling the heat bed of my Anet A8: I have a water level with two perpendicular gages in it here. I first put it on the top frame of the machine, and checked what the positions of the bubbles were. Then I took the level, laid it onto the heat bed and adjusted the screws so that the positions of the bubbles were exactly as I saw them before. Then I sorted the rest of the leveling in the usual piece of paper as a feeler gag.method. All screws were within a full turn of the correct position. The entire job was done in some 5 minutes. Anyway, I need an indicator now. That method is too elegant to ignore.
Thank you for linking the bracket you used/made. My printer has the same head and I found your video trying to come up with Ideas to mount my own indicator.
Great and simple solution! Your bed may be level now, but at 0:12 you can clearly see that the belt driving the carriage is not parallel to the x-axis. This will generate non linear errors in the x axis dimensions near to the ends... You should correct that. I've seen that on a lot CR-10 videos now, guess it's a design flaw of the printer...
That's a good observation! I have measured the machine and calculated there is a 0.015 error over 300 mm, not much. It could be easily fixed though it just needs a spacer printing to go between the print carriage and belt.
Well, the error shouldn't be linear. It should be a relatively huge error on the left side compared to middle or right. If you like, print a standard cube (e.g.10x10mm) on the far left side and on the middle and compare its x dimensions. And yes, fix should be easy. A spacer bracket that raises the belt would be enough.
myfordboy dual Z upgrade helps a TON with keeping X axis gantry level and improves quality especially with taller prints. People that have issues with dual z upgrade are usually due to improper install, bent lead screw, not allowing a gap in the z coupler for stepper motor shaft and lead screw(they shouldn’t touch inside coupler)
Good solution!!! And you can also see the terrible amount of altitude variation from the glass tray itself. When the meter is dragged only on the glass, the oscillations indicated on the pointer are enormous.
Nice video. When you adjust one corner, another corner can go up or down. You should have a code that test each side like 3 times and also have middle check to.
Tech123 correct me if I'm wrong as I'm still a noob!!! To check the middle, couldn't we disable the steppers and manually move the print head over?? My machine is still in transit and just ordered the dti and plan on doing this myself
Something to note with this method is Dial Gauge Weight deflection aka the X axis bars deflect or bend in Z- and when you take off the dial you are out of measurement, in my case 0.12 from the weight of the indicator alone.
As a machinist, I wondered why bed leveling is such a big deal? Just get a dial indicator... Well, your video answered the question. "Paper" method relies in 0.05" paper which means dial indicator is easily 10-20 times more accurate. Questions: What is the accepted height variation of the glass between corners (in thousands)? And doesn't the printer have some way to lock the height adjustment knobs? Thanks!
In practice most printer beds are not truly flat so it's a comprise on the height. You have to adjust for the best results.Some printer have auto bed level which will probe the bed in 9 or 16 places before a print. It stores the settings and then the Z height is adusted automaticaly as it is printing. With experience though you can adust a standard bed for to get good adhesion and if you don't move the printer it stays as set.
I have just completed my auto leveling sensor on a very modified AnetA8, the manual adjustments after months of printing drove me crazy. Some screw threads are even damaged already. But this here....looks absolutely great! Because of the just installed additional sensor to my light weight E3D v6 extruder, the printer now has to carry more weight again. I could have avoided that by using this manual technique. However... to be honest, I don't want to adjust the leveling manually at all anymore. The printer is sitting somewhere in a dark corner on the floor. And every now and then it's printing out something. Even when it's sitting around for 4 weeks I had to re adjust the bed.. no thanks to manual leveling. Auto leveling actually works absolutely brilliant if done right.
To level my Ender 3, I use a 'feeler gauge', autohome the nozzle and move it +0.3mm. I use the 0.275mm feeler gauge. This provides good adhesion, it requires a flexible bed to easily remove parts.
any machinist would automatically think of this from tramming mills.. for some reason , it never caught on with the 3d printing crowd.. Seems like its hard for most people to bed level because they really don't understand what theyre doing..they know what theyre doing , but don't understand it , and there is an important difference.. ( like tramming a mill table versus tramming just the vice )
So if I level the bed once and get it all correct and proper, then I can dial in that guage and mess with the bed level for the sheer hell of it and i can get it back accurately is what I'm getting from this. Looks like I'm buying one of those dials.
Hi there,I found your video very interesting,however when it came to leveling the bad I could not understand how you got a measurement when the print head and paper was off and below the bed?
The first corner is height is set with paper like you would normally do on all corners. When the DTI is set in this first position it is a known height above the bed so if all the other corners are set to this, the bed will be level.
The print nozzle is out of view in that camera angle (could have been done a bit better or captioned it so). He's paper testing under the print nozzle.
I have 4 dial indicators for my metal work - lath mill etc. So I printed this and just now realized yours is metric and regular indicators don't fit. Dooap Well I guess I'l have to get one now. And I was going to use my profesional Mitutoyo .0001 indicator to get real fine. I'm not going to spring for a .001 mm one though. Anyway thanks - printed real nice.
Most of the better ones have a little thumbscrew to lock the ring. You must loosen the thumbscrew first! The cheap ones, not so much. The 'ol "Yeah gets what yea pays fer!" LOL. Personally, I'd disassemble it and clean out the slot, then use a light lithium grease on the ring, and also on the gear assembly inside. You KNOW they didn't bother to do that for that price. BTW - @myfordboy; Awesome video, THANKS! I'll definitely use this procedure on my CR-10S when it finally clears customs. Now, for a PSA: I know it's hard to believe, and probably one of the most wrongly repeated rumours in history, but WD40 is NOT a lubricant!! {Don't shoot the messenger, I thought it was too for most of my life} Lots of people mistakenly use it as one, but it's a WATER DISPLACEMENT chemical that also can be used to free frozen parts. The problem is that people don't know it's not a lube and fail to clean it off and apply a proper grease or oil, depending on the item. "Well, I've used it all my life and my Daddy did too!" Uh... OK, it's STILL not a lubricant! LOL Squirting more on when things start to bind up is STILL not lubricating it. WD40 will act as if it's a thread cutting oil, it does NOT prevent the parts from wearing. You should always remove WD40 once you've freed a part and then oil or grease properly. :-) STILL an awesome video!
Only problem is that you need to be able to print this tool with an already leveled bed? If not then the 3d printer will print the tool wrong and won't hold the dti properly? I have a cr10s pro v2 :/ Don't think that dti bracket will fit for me.
I honestly don't know why people pry their prints off the bed while it is still on the CR-10. If you gently take off the bed, you don't have to level your bed all the time. Haven't had to level mine in roughly 3 months. (Roughly 50 prints since then)
I am using 0.06, 0.1 or 0.2 layer height depending on the finish I want. Wall thickness 0.8, top and bottom 0.8. Print temp 195 bed 60 100% flow 6.5mm retraction 60 print speed 80 travel speed. Infill 10- 100%
Hey!! this is an awesome idea! I have a ender 3 which uses the same hotend and everything but just a smaller bed size. how can i make it so i can input my bed size so i can make my bed level? Thanks!
Towards the end of the code the G1 lines give the travel distance. eg G1 X280.000 Y300.000 moves X 280mm and Y 300mm. Change the values to suit your bed size. You could try half the values given then see how much short it is then add on the required distance.
Great idea, did it with a mitutoyo dial indicator. The basic idea is really cool, but in the end it didnt work for me. The problem was the program. After setting up the initial nozzle height (one sheet of paper thick) the z axis goes up to make room for the indicator. And stays in z +25 mm or so. You then level the bed in that "virtual plane". While that idea is genious and should work in theory, it didnt in reality. I achieved a perfect level of +-0,05 mm across the entire bed. Ran the program multiple times, then I started a print afterwards. The nozzle was too high everytime, the molten filament didnt even stick to the bed. Any suggestions how to make it better?
could you do this without using the g code on an ender 5? Basically, setting z stop screw so z trips with nozzle off bed higher than printing height, tightening bed screws 2/3-3/4 way with print head off bed like 10mm, put dial indicator on the hot en, prehat bed, disable steppers and tramming bed all around until bed level. Then reset z stop screw so that nozzle is back to correct height for printing?
You could do that but moving the indicator by hand will give false readings, you only have to push a little harder and the needle would move. I would not want to keep moving the Z stop either.
Will this code work for the Tevo Tornado? Thanks. Such a great idea. I seem to be forever having to level the bed UGH! Also, how did you set the level for the first one? Looks like the paper was below the bed.
I learned something recently: you say "perfect level bed" but that's not true, leveling is something different from tramming (tramming is effectively what you are doing here)
Hi Fordboy, Thanks for the vid. But, Could you please rewrite the gcode to work slower. It goes so fast I can't get it done. 60 secs each move would be great. Thanks again.
The instructions for CR10 are here myfordboy.blogspot.com/p/creality-cr-10.html To use on an Ender3 the G1 values need changing to suit the smaller bed. Give me a few days and i'll add something to the instructions for the Ender3.
So how once you level the bed do you get the nozzle perfect height from the bed? For example I can screw my print bed all the way down and level it from there or screw it all the way out and level it from there, I can still level it although it will be way off in height?
Start with the bed low and home the extruder. Set the bed height in that position with a sheet of paper between bed and nozzle. Run the leveling gcode., set the rest as shown in the video.
I see you have been playing with the low cost cnc tools that is now available. I've found that the 3D printing community is a little behind the the machining community on how to do things efficiently. one of the first things I did was to set my printer to a 5/8in steel plate I had. have not had to level it since.
Jimmy's Tractor the moment loads must be tremendous with the heavy plate. I went in the opposite direction using copper clad circuit board and not only does it heat better than the glass, it doesn't jump all over the table like an out of balance washing machine. I even find I can turn print speeds up faster than 20-25%. I use Part-all PVA on my bed. Works like a charm and easy peel. Try it.
+David Ashenbrener I sanded whatever coating was on the Anet A8 with 600 and then use 3M 94 Adhesion Promoter. I don't use a glass plate, but the y axis uses the highest current.
what bed leveling program are you using ? my autolevel on my cr-10s does not level like yours at all; it goes from front left to back left and then to right back, and then to right front and then finally to center.
I understand how this approach will level the bed relative to the nozzle. However, because you initially set the distance between the lower left corner of the bed and the nozzle using the paper, and then later go back and change the hight of the same corner, how can the distance between the bed and the nozzle remain correct? If the paper fit perfectly before you started the leveling, I don't see how it could remain like this after this procedure (unless you set a z offset in the firmware afterwards).
You just run the procedure a couple of times. The first corner will change when the others are set. Run through again and bed will be level. Standard bed leveling method.
@@myfordboy Well, then it makes sense. I got the impression that you only did the paper test once, and then finished the leveling using the indicator only.
Well observed, thanks for mentioning it. I lost my original animation and redid it. Next video is already uploaded and scheduled but I'll correct it for the next one.
The Damn dti I got in the mill doesn't fit into the original bracket :( another print to the scrap bin. Is there a way I can edit the original stl to open up just a bit bigger? I snapped the one i just printed on accident trying to sand and force fit haha
You could try printing it just a bit larger. The proper way would be to import the STL into a CAD program and edit it, or get the cheap DTi it was designed for.
Would this be a segment of code for an ender 3? that has a 220x220 xy bed "G0 F3500 X10.000 Y60.00 Z10.000 M117 ;zero DTI G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to set DTI to zero G1 X200.000 Y200.000 G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G1 X200.000 Y60.000 G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed G1 X10.000 Y200.000"
I dont understand the step when you were putting the paper under your nozzle. Are we supposed to adjust the distance between the nozzle and the bed after removing the paper?
You home the extruder and adjust the bed with a slip of paper until it just grips it. Set the DTI to zero at that position. go to each corner and adjust the bed until it reads zero at each position.
So it takes a machinist to show the 3D printer community how to level a print bed. Great work. I bought this printer after I saw how well it worked for you. Just got it this week, hope to have it running soon. I'm sure this will be one of my first prints. Can't wait to see what you do next!
I've been doing it for ages. And another change is to demolish the crude bed system and rebuild it more to proper CNC spec. The bed gets effed up mostly because it's so badly made.
I am sure you will be pleased with the printer. The print quality is great. Better than I was expecting and has enabled my to use it for pattern making.
Actually the preferred method is auto leveling with a sensor on the head. Obviously the bed should be pretty close before you do this. I find my perfectly level bed changes with ambient temperature etc.
I uploaded the wrong STL file to Thingiverse but changed it 2 hours later when I realised . Please check if you have the correct file.
Robonza
autoleveling vs manual leveling.
As a machinist This Is EXACLY how i planned to do my cr10 s 5.
And YOUr design to hook up the dial IS perfect. THANK YOU and gredtings from finland
Awesome! no bla bla! Genius!
THE BEST VIDEO ON THE SUBJECT AROUND! I've watched so much more or less interesting, more or less "scientific approach", YOUR VIDEO IS THE MOST HELPFUL and easily instructive. Thanks a lot!
Look into using the M0 command between leveling steps, that's what I've been using to level my bed. M0 is basically a wait for user command, you'll have to click your knob to continue but this way you're not racing to make adjustments. I also run my version around twice since adjustments affect opposing corners.
Adjustments only change opposing corners if you are measuring a point other than directly above the bed leveling screw. If you modify the GCode to set the points to be directly above the leveling screws, you should be able to just go around once.
In my Eyes the best solution, needs no power, no wires. Genius!
Brilliantly simple and elegant at the same time!
Don't forget cheap
Since adding a sheet of 3 mm glass and some sprint centring posts from thingiverse I rarely have to level my Ender 3 bed. From experience you get more consistent results if you always approach the level point from the spring loose side. IE the adjustment compresses the spring.
I also did this but then I found a better way. I do it like this: Drive the head on top of each adjustment knob, at each knob i set head to Z = 0 mm (gcode command) and adjust the knob so the head just touches the surface. Ready to print.
you are the smartest person on youtube. thanks for this!
That is just perfect. Got my CR-10 last week and are struggling with the leveling. Will test this :)
Thanks
TR Norway.
Here is code for the Creality CR-10 Mini. It's better as it raises/lowers the head height vs. dragging it side to side. The dial indicator values can change if not raised/lowered.
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;set fan off
G28 X0 Y0 ;move X/Y to min endstops
G28 Z0 ;move Z to min endstops
;move to starting corner for paper
;---------------------------------
G0 F3500 X25 Y20 Z0 ;move to paper setting corner
G4 P15000 :wait 15 seconds to set first corner with paper slip
;move extruder head up to clear indicator
;----------------------------------------
G1 Z30 ;move indicator vertical to clear bed
G4 P2000 ;wait 2 seconds
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F5000
;dial indicator setup
;--------------------
G0 F3500 X25 Y60 ;Move dial indicator to each corner in turn
G0 Z21 ;lower dial indicator
G4 P15000 ;wait 15 seconds to set indicator to zero
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
;move to corners
;-----------------
G1 X276 Y228 ;back right corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X276 Y60 ;front right corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X25 Y228 ;front left corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X276 Y60 ;front right corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X276 Y228 ;back right corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
G1 X25 Y60 ;front left corner
G0 Z21 ;lower indicator
G4 P50000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G0 Z30 ;lift indicator prior to move
;recheck home position
;---------------------
G4 P5000 ;wait 5 seconds to adjust bed
G1 Z21 ;lower indicator and recheck zero
G4 P2000 ;wait 5 seconds
G0 F9000 Z30 ;lift indicator
;End GCode
M104 S0 ; set extruder temperature off
M140 S0 ; set bed temperature off
M84 ;disable steppers
yup the dragging really got me as well :'D
Quick and nice indeed.
I found a nicely quick way for leveling the heat bed of my Anet A8: I have a water level with two perpendicular gages in it here. I first put it on the top frame of the machine, and checked what the positions of the bubbles were. Then I took the level, laid it onto the heat bed and adjusted the screws so that the positions of the bubbles were exactly as I saw them before. Then I sorted the rest of the leveling in the usual piece of paper as a feeler gag.method. All screws were within a full turn of the correct position.
The entire job was done in some 5 minutes.
Anyway, I need an indicator now. That method is too elegant to ignore.
Thank you for linking the bracket you used/made. My printer has the same head and I found your video trying to come up with Ideas to mount my own indicator.
Great and simple solution! Your bed may be level now, but at 0:12 you can clearly see that the belt driving the carriage is not parallel to the x-axis. This will generate non linear errors in the x axis dimensions near to the ends... You should correct that. I've seen that on a lot CR-10 videos now, guess it's a design flaw of the printer...
That's a good observation! I have measured the machine and calculated there is a 0.015 error over 300 mm, not much. It could be easily fixed though it just needs a spacer printing to go between the print carriage and belt.
Well, the error shouldn't be linear. It should be a relatively huge error on the left side compared to middle or right. If you like, print a standard cube (e.g.10x10mm) on the far left side and on the middle and compare its x dimensions. And yes, fix should be easy. A spacer bracket that raises the belt would be enough.
myfordboy dual Z upgrade helps a TON with keeping X axis gantry level and improves quality especially with taller prints. People that have issues with dual z upgrade are usually due to improper install, bent lead screw, not allowing a gap in the z coupler for stepper motor shaft and lead screw(they shouldn’t touch inside coupler)
Good solution!!! And you can also see the terrible amount of altitude variation from the glass tray itself. When the meter is dragged only on the glass, the oscillations indicated on the pointer are enormous.
Nice video. When you adjust one corner, another corner can go up or down. You should have a code that test each side like 3 times and also have middle check to.
Tech123 correct me if I'm wrong as I'm still a noob!!! To check the middle, couldn't we disable the steppers and manually move the print head over?? My machine is still in transit and just ordered the dti and plan on doing this myself
Give new technology to somebody with creativity and good things will happen
Give a machinist a CNC to dick around with and magic happens :P Wishing I had bought a 3d printer years ago!!
Fantastic alternative to the glitchy electronic bed levelling systems. Thanks .
Something to note with this method is Dial Gauge Weight deflection aka the X axis bars deflect or bend in Z- and when you take off the dial you are out of measurement, in my case 0.12 from the weight of the indicator alone.
As a machinist, I wondered why bed leveling is such a big deal? Just get a dial indicator...
Well, your video answered the question.
"Paper" method relies in 0.05" paper which means dial indicator is easily 10-20 times more accurate.
Questions:
What is the accepted height variation of the glass between corners (in thousands)? And doesn't the printer have some way to lock the height adjustment knobs?
Thanks!
In practice most printer beds are not truly flat so it's a comprise on the height. You have to adjust for the best results.Some printer have auto bed level which will probe the bed in 9 or 16 places before a print. It stores the settings and then the Z height is adusted automaticaly as it is printing.
With experience though you can adust a standard bed for to get good adhesion and if you don't move the printer it stays as set.
I have just completed my auto leveling sensor on a very modified AnetA8, the manual adjustments after months of printing drove me crazy. Some screw threads are even damaged already.
But this here....looks absolutely great!
Because of the just installed additional sensor to my light weight E3D v6 extruder, the printer now has to carry more weight again. I could have avoided that by using this manual technique.
However... to be honest, I don't want to adjust the leveling manually at all anymore. The printer is sitting somewhere in a dark corner on the floor. And every now and then it's printing out something. Even when it's sitting around for 4 weeks I had to re adjust the bed.. no thanks to manual leveling. Auto leveling actually works absolutely brilliant if done right.
Slick, use the tool to calibrate the tool. So simple an MP can figure it out.
might be a cheap but its an standard tool in machinery. i used that daily.
Such a great idea! Had never thought of that despite having one!
To level my Ender 3, I use a 'feeler gauge', autohome the nozzle and move it +0.3mm. I use the 0.275mm feeler gauge. This provides good adhesion, it requires a flexible bed to easily remove parts.
Old school and I love it. Subscribed now
Nice. I'll definitely do this at some point. Thanks for sharing.
I thought of doing this! I even. Considered remaking the bed and machining a flat piece of aluminum or stainless. And get rid.of the springs.
So obvious. Great idea.
Do you often find that you are the best machinist in the room. I bet you do.
your printer lays a thick fat line, mine does only a thin line same printer. Are you using a thicker nozzle on this video?
One word, genius
any machinist would automatically think of this from tramming mills.. for some reason , it never caught on with the 3d printing crowd.. Seems like its hard for most people to bed level because they really don't understand what theyre doing..they know what theyre doing , but don't understand it , and there is an important difference.. ( like tramming a mill table versus tramming just the vice )
Simple, clever, efficient ... What else ? thanks a lot
OMG! Music from Myfordboy? Next thing you know, MrPete222 will have some . . . from his brother in Cody, Wyoming.
LMAO well played again this coming from you is well liked but really no surprise .thank's for all you do sir .
I need this so simple yet so effective
So if I level the bed once and get it all correct and proper, then I can dial in that guage and mess with the bed level for the sheer hell of it and i can get it back accurately is what I'm getting from this.
Looks like I'm buying one of those dials.
Please let me know when you get a design for the CR-10s Pro! Awesome love it!
I think you can find one on thingiverse, if not then I can design one and give you the link.
Hi there,I found your video very interesting,however when it came to leveling the bad I could not understand how you got a measurement when the print head and paper was off and below the bed?
The first corner is height is set with paper like you would normally do on all corners.
When the DTI is set in this first position it is a known height above the bed so if all the other corners are set to this, the bed will be level.
Thank you for explaining.
The print nozzle is out of view in that camera angle (could have been done a bit better or captioned it so). He's paper testing under the print nozzle.
Thank you for your time.
Brillant!
muy buena la idea....!!! congratulations....
You are a genius, thanks a lot.
perfectly not, but near perfection yes, great work
I have 4 dial indicators for my metal work - lath mill etc. So I printed this and just now realized yours is metric and regular indicators don't fit. Dooap Well I guess I'l have to get one now. And I was going to use my profesional Mitutoyo .0001 indicator to get real fine. I'm not going to spring for a .001 mm one though. Anyway thanks - printed real nice.
Awesome design.
Great vid. I have a CR-10 s4 & it does not show auto bed leveling. I wonder why. Thank you very much.
How did you get your dti to turn so smoothly. I have the same one, but turning the front number is impossible without force
My ring was a little stiff to start with. I put WD40 on it and worked it round and round for a while and now it's free.
I just did that aswell, before your comment and broke it :) i'll order another one. Nice vid
My dial ring is also almost stuck :-/ Cheap China shit!
Maybe you should get one with a digital indicator
Most of the better ones have a little thumbscrew to lock the ring. You must loosen the thumbscrew first!
The cheap ones, not so much. The 'ol "Yeah gets what yea pays fer!" LOL.
Personally, I'd disassemble it and clean out the slot, then use a light lithium grease on the ring, and also on the gear assembly inside. You KNOW they didn't bother to do that for that price.
BTW - @myfordboy;
Awesome video, THANKS! I'll definitely use this procedure on my CR-10S when it finally clears customs.
Now, for a PSA:
I know it's hard to believe, and probably one of the most wrongly repeated rumours in history, but WD40 is NOT a lubricant!! {Don't shoot the messenger, I thought it was too for most of my life}
Lots of people mistakenly use it as one, but it's a WATER DISPLACEMENT chemical that also can be used to free frozen parts. The problem is that people don't know it's not a lube and fail to clean it off and apply a proper grease or oil, depending on the item.
"Well, I've used it all my life and my Daddy did too!" Uh... OK, it's STILL not a lubricant! LOL
Squirting more on when things start to bind up is STILL not lubricating it.
WD40 will act as if it's a thread cutting oil, it does NOT prevent the parts from wearing. You should always remove WD40 once you've freed a part and then oil or grease properly. :-)
STILL an awesome video!
Only problem is that you need to be able to print this tool with an already leveled bed? If not then the 3d printer will print the tool wrong and won't hold the dti properly? I have a cr10s pro v2 :/
Don't think that dti bracket will fit for me.
Yes this is what i need! Thanks man :-)
Very nice method. Can you explain to me the part of the paper ?? Thanks in advance.
You set the nozzle height in the home position with the thickness of the paper then use the DTI to set all the other corners to the same height.
@@myfordboy Got it, thanks a lot.
The indicator should be targeted right on top of the leveling screws.
This is genius!
this has been a great help thanks!
This is definitely a lot better than guessing lol
Thank you very much nice job you read my mind.
This is fantastic!
Woww! That is a good idea. Btw about the bed plate. Is that a masking tape?
Blue masking tape with glue stick makes sure the print sticks but I now use parcel tape without glue and this works well.
Genious 👌
I honestly don't know why people pry their prints off the bed while it is still on the CR-10. If you gently take off the bed, you don't have to level your bed all the time. Haven't had to level mine in roughly 3 months. (Roughly 50 prints since then)
thanks men i going to print and show you working thanks and can you give us Cura profiles o set up to PLA in CR 10 ?
I am using 0.06, 0.1 or 0.2 layer height depending on the finish I want.
Wall thickness 0.8, top and bottom 0.8.
Print temp 195 bed 60
100% flow
6.5mm retraction
60 print speed 80 travel speed.
Infill 10- 100%
Do you have a remix for the file for a cr10v3 and a ender 3v2? This is genius.
No sorry I do not have those printers.
Bloody awesome. Cheers
Awesome! Thank you.
Hey!! this is an awesome idea! I have a ender 3 which uses the same hotend and everything but just a smaller bed size. how can i make it so i can input my bed size so i can make my bed level?
Thanks!
Towards the end of the code the G1 lines give the travel distance. eg G1 X280.000 Y300.000 moves X 280mm and Y 300mm. Change the values to suit your bed size. You could try half the values given then see how much short it is then add on the required distance.
What were you doing with the paper in the very beginning? Does the home corner need to be already leveled for this to work?
First run auto home and set bed height. Then use dti to set corners to the same height.
Could you please maybe pick one off of amazon that will work with your bracket, Banggood takes forever to send anything. Thank you I appreciate it.
They don't give all the dimensions needed.
Great idea, did it with a mitutoyo dial indicator. The basic idea is really cool, but in the end it didnt work for me.
The problem was the program. After setting up the initial nozzle height (one sheet of paper thick) the z axis goes up to make room for the indicator. And stays in z +25 mm or so. You then level the bed in that "virtual plane". While that idea is genious and should work in theory, it didnt in reality. I achieved a perfect level of +-0,05 mm across the entire bed. Ran the program multiple times, then I started a print afterwards. The nozzle was too high everytime, the molten filament didnt even stick to the bed.
Any suggestions how to make it better?
Turn each adjusting knob by a small amount to raise the bed until the first layer sticks or use some thinner paper.
Very nice, but I don't like it dragging over the bed...
could you do this without using the g code on an ender 5? Basically, setting z stop screw so z trips with nozzle off bed higher than printing height, tightening bed screws 2/3-3/4 way with print head off bed like 10mm, put dial indicator on the hot en, prehat bed, disable steppers and tramming bed all around until bed level. Then reset z stop screw so that nozzle is back to correct height for printing?
You could do that but moving the indicator by hand will give false readings, you only have to push a little harder and the needle would move. I would not want to keep moving the Z stop either.
Wowww nice 👍 👌👌👌👏
Will this code work for the Tevo Tornado? Thanks. Such a great idea. I seem to be forever having to level the bed UGH! Also, how did you set the level for the first one? Looks like the paper was below the bed.
You would just have to change theparameters and it would suit any printer.
I need this ...this is awesome😎... What do I have to run this on my ender 3 v2?
You need to change the value of the G1 lines to suit the bed size.
@@myfordboy thanks i appreciate it💪
I learned something recently:
you say "perfect level bed" but that's not true, leveling is something different from tramming (tramming is effectively what you are doing here)
Hi Fordboy, Thanks for the vid. But, Could you please rewrite the gcode to work slower. It goes so fast I can't get it done. 60 secs each move would be great. Thanks again.
Just change all the G4 lines of code.
As it is G4 P100000 gives 10 seconds, if you want 60 seconds change it to G4 P600000
Thank you very much for your effort! I've ender 3 3D printer, how to run the G-code? how to create G-code file? Thank yo very much!
The instructions for CR10 are here myfordboy.blogspot.com/p/creality-cr-10.html
To use on an Ender3 the G1 values need changing to suit the smaller bed.
Give me a few days and i'll add something to the instructions for the Ender3.
Thats feeekin awesome
So how once you level the bed do you get the nozzle perfect height from the bed? For example I can screw my print bed all the way down and level it from there or screw it all the way out and level it from there, I can still level it although it will be way off in height?
Start with the bed low and home the extruder. Set the bed height in that position with a sheet of paper between bed and nozzle. Run the leveling gcode., set the rest as shown in the video.
That's awesome. Thanks! :D
Bed is level but how does this mean that the nozzle is the correct distance from the bed? What if you have a shorter or longer nozzle?
You set the bed height with a slip of parer with the axis homed. Then the other corners are all set to this reference level.
I see you have been playing with the low cost cnc tools that is now available. I've found that the 3D printing community is a little behind the the machining community on how to do things efficiently. one of the first things I did was to set my printer to a 5/8in steel plate I had. have not had to level it since.
Jimmy's Tractor the moment loads must be tremendous with the heavy plate.
I went in the opposite direction using copper clad circuit board and not only does it heat better than the glass, it doesn't jump all over the table like an out of balance washing machine.
I even find I can turn print speeds up faster than 20-25%. I use Part-all PVA on my bed. Works like a charm and easy peel.
Try it.
+David Ashenbrener I sanded whatever coating was on the Anet A8 with 600 and then use 3M 94 Adhesion Promoter. I don't use a glass plate, but the y axis uses the highest current.
+David Ashenbrener no no no silly. you put the whole printer on the plate.
Awesome!!!
Excellent!
Do those el-cheapo $7.00 gages work?
Certainly do.
Hi I have been searching your channel for a "start" video on the Creality printer you have??? Cant find one??? Rgds Laurie
ua-cam.com/video/iJxNK1enlZ4/v-deo.html
goodwork.
Very fair
This is great and all but you can be level but too high or too low from the bed, are we looking for that squish and that's it?
You set the height from the bed at the home position and then adjust the other 3 corners to the same height.
Ok, so what do you set the height to be when it's at home?
Sorry, just trying to understand this lol.
Just watch the video, all is shown.
Thanks!
Not realy... center of bed when you heat them can be different that corners.
what bed leveling program are you using ? my autolevel on my cr-10s does not level like yours at all; it goes from front left to back left and then to right back, and then to right front and then finally to center.
All the details of mine are here myfordboy.blogspot.com/p/creality-cr-10.html
Standard CR10 has no built in level assist, sounds like the CR10S does.
I understand how this approach will level the bed relative to the nozzle. However, because you initially set the distance between the lower left corner of the bed and the nozzle using the paper, and then later go back and change the hight of the same corner, how can the distance between the bed and the nozzle remain correct? If the paper fit perfectly before you started the leveling, I don't see how it could remain like this after this procedure (unless you set a z offset in the firmware afterwards).
You just run the procedure a couple of times. The first corner will change when the others are set. Run through again and bed will be level. Standard bed leveling method.
@@myfordboy Well, then it makes sense. I got the impression that you only did the paper test once, and then finished the leveling using the indicator only.
Just a note - You are missing a "g" in the myfordboy.bloGspot.com title animation at the end of the video.
Well observed, thanks for mentioning it. I lost my original animation and redid it. Next video is already uploaded and scheduled but I'll correct it for the next one.
what dramatic music. I thought the Terminator was going to appear
The Damn dti I got in the mill doesn't fit into the original bracket :( another print to the scrap bin. Is there a way I can edit the original stl to open up just a bit bigger? I snapped the one i just printed on accident trying to sand and force fit haha
You could try printing it just a bit larger. The proper way would be to import the STL into a CAD program and edit it, or get the cheap DTi it was designed for.
Would this be a segment of code for an ender 3? that has a 220x220 xy bed
"G0 F3500 X10.000 Y60.00 Z10.000
M117 ;zero DTI
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to set DTI to zero
G1 X200.000 Y200.000
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G1 X200.000 Y60.000
G4 P10000 ;wait 10 seconds to adjust bed
G1 X10.000 Y200.000"
If you go to the thingiverse page www.thingiverse.com/thing:2469518/comments and look at the comments marksu has a code for the Ender 3.
I dont understand the step when you were putting the paper under your nozzle. Are we supposed to adjust the distance between the nozzle and the bed after removing the paper?
You home the extruder and adjust the bed with a slip of paper until it just grips it. Set the DTI to zero at that position. go to each corner and adjust the bed until it reads zero at each position.
I do not understand at what time you adjusted the height between the bed and the nozzle
Thats when he used the paper. Thats the point all the others are adjusted to.
god damn is my bed level as fuck now! thanks a ton!
Thanks !!