As anyone who has used a 3d printer knows, leveling your print bed (aka Tramming – aligning the flat print surface so it is equidistant from the print head at all times and locations) is one of the most critical steps to setup and to insure a well produced part. In my experience, it has also been one of the most troublesome, frustrating, and sometimes non-intuitive parts of the process as well. Since I added the Monoprice Maker Select Plus (a rebranded Wanhao 3d printer), almost all of my difficulties have ultimately come down to leveling – a difference of only 0.1 mm can make or break the adhesion and print quality.
So knowing how critical it is to have a level print bed, one would wonder about the logic of having a print bed that is leveled with 4 support feet (since 3 would make a plane, 4 almost always make a “bent” plane). But that is how many printers come from the manufacturers – 4 levels supports, one on each corner of the bed. Naturally, this makes it even more challenging to get the entire bed level to the print head, since they each constantly pull and twist against each other.
As a solution, I opted for a combination – first replacing the print tray with a 3-point support system and utilizing a borosilicate glass surface. In theory, this gives me a perfectly flat surface that is easier to tram to the print head. In reality though, this introduced a lot more sources of error than I expected, and several days of troubleshooting and learning – none of which were related to the glass or carriage tray. In the end, I am much more aware of the challenges, and I think I have a process now that makes it straight forward (and repeatable) to resolve.
I am going to go thru a series of posts covering the details and my process, along with eventually post a full detailed process, if you are curious about the challenge of leveling the print bed.
- Y-Carriage Upgrade – https://amzn.to/2MIrlTX
- Borosilicate Glass surface – https://amzn.to/2NiV5f6 (technically this ended up being about 1 cm short on all sides, but it did avoid the support screws on the edge)
- Silicon Thermal Pad – https://amzn.to/2QCQBOn
Reference my lengthier permanent article for more detail on the process – Leveling (Tramming) the printer
