Bed Leveling on a Cartesian printer

fcwilt

Hi,

In reading the documentation on manual bed leveling it states that I need 3 or 4 adjusting screws.

My printer (an FT-5 with all of the 713 add-ons) has 8 adjusting screws - 4 at the corners, 2 in the middle of the sides parallel to the Y-axis and 2 near the middle of the sides parallel to the X-axis (I have no idea why they are not in the middle).

Anyway so what do I do?

I could chose two corners and one in the middle of the opposite side.

I could chose the four corners

Or do I use all eight despite what the documentation states?

Thanks.

Frederick

mrehorstdmd

Wow! They're sort of taking "more is better" to a whole new level. How does FolgerTech recommend you adjust all those?

dc42

The maximum number of adjusting screws supported is currently 4. I can increase it to 8 in the next build if that would be useful.

If there are 8 adjusting screws on the bed, that suggests to me that it must be quite flexible.

fcwilt

@dc42 Thanks for the feedback.

This is my first non-delta printer and I am still learning.

The plate is supported by springs on each of the 8 adjustment screws.

So perhaps there are 8 to insure good support?

For leveling I thought that 3 made the most sense since 3 points define a plane but perhaps that would not provide enough support?

The 4 corners make sense when it comes to providing decent support while still being easy to adjust the plate to level.

The additional ones I don't fully understand. The plate is one of the 713 pieces and is 6mm aluminum. It will flex if you adjust the middle screws. Perhaps the plates aren't completely flat to begin with?

And why two of the "middle" ones aren't in the exact middle is also beyond me.

Like I said this is a new type of printer for me and I have much to learn.

Thanks.

Frederick

Phaedrux

If it's 6mm plate could you just remove 5 of those 8 screws and use the remaining 3 to level it properly?

It might be worth it to check some of the Folgertech user groups and see what other users are doing.

If you still wished to use all those screws for better bed support and didn't want to wait for official automatic bed leveling support you could use a macro to move the nozzle around to the various points, and then adjust the screw until the bed touches the nozzle. With 8 points though it would probably take a few passes over each to get them into agreement.

0_1533101620947_0_Auto Bed Level Assist.g

Here's what I currently use for just 3 points, but you could easily modify it for your purposes by duplicating the positioning sections with your own screw coordinates.

fcwilt

@phaedrux said in Bed Leveling on a Cartesian printer:

If it's 6mm plate could you just remove 5 of those 8 screws and use the remaining 3 to level it properly?

It might be worth it to check some of the Folgertech user groups and see what other users are doing.
Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. That is quite the g file you have devised there. I have never contemplated anything quite so comprehensive.

I did create 8 macros to move from adjustment point to adjustment point and used them to adjust the screws manually. It took a few passes but it came out rather well.

I now want to print a simple test cube to see how things are working.

I also want to investigate fitting some sort of Z-probe.

Thanks again.

Frederick

Phaedrux

Yeah it seems a little crazy to see it at first but it really makes re leveling a snap. I have another one I run after that to measure the probe trigger height and then another to run mesh grid compensation mapping. Just follow the prompts on the screen and it does everything exactly the same every time.

WalterSKW

I do have an older FT5. I use only the 4 leveling screws on the edges.
I still have the 4mm original ALU-bed and it's fine to me.
I suppose the 713 machined bed is at least 6 or 8mm thick and should have no issue at all.
Hope this helps.

fcwilt

Hi,

I contacted 713 and they suggested just using three of the adjustment screws, two in the corners and one in the middle of the opposite side.

So I'm going to try that and see how it goes.

Frederick

wilriker

@fcwilt It took me a while to realize that "713" is some kind of brand name and not the total count of upgrades for this printer and you installed all of them.

Phaedrux

@wilriker Same here.

https://713maker.com/

Then I realized I'd seen them before for their RailCoreII kits.

fcwilt

@wilriker said in Bed Leveling on a Cartesian printer:

@fcwilt It took me a while to realize that "713" is some kind of brand name and not the total count of upgrades for this printer and you installed all of them.

My bad for not being clear.

713 is not a common name but I thought it was well known in the FT-5 world.

Frederick

wilriker

@fcwilt No reason to apologize... It was a fun moment when I finally realized it.

wilriker

@fcwilt said in Bed Leveling on a Cartesian printer:

And why two of the "middle" ones aren't in the exact middle is also beyond me.

In thought about that part of why two of the holes are not in the middle of an edge. It might be that is to realize a mounting style quite similar as @mrehorstdmd does (described in his blog). The only reason why this would be offset from the middle compared to Mark's solution is probably because the bed of a Cartesian is moving back and forth (compared to just up and down) and to reduce the pivoting around these two points by simply offsetting it from the center of mass (not sure if this sentence is fully understandable).

fcwilt

@wilriker

Thanks for the feedback.

When I asked about the placement of the holes 713 replied that they matched the original part made by Folger Tech.

But since 713 said to use just three adjustment screws it is a non-issue.

I made some very simple test prints and even without any tweaking of settings and such they are better than what I have been able to get out of my deltas. Not a whole lot better but noticeable.

Frederick