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I have a Flashforge Creator Pro and on the front of the bed (closer to the door) it seems to print better than towards the back of the bed. I am having an issue where the first layer won't come out in all parts of the print. Once it makes it to the second layer all seems fine. Is my print bed to close to the extruder? This is using ABS if that matters and using the right extruder.
Yes, it sounds like the front of your bed is slightly too close to the extruder. Try re-running the leveling routine and see if things improve.
I ran back through the leveling process and things seem to be better, but may need a bit adjusting still.Quote:
Originally Posted by noiseboy72
Did you level the bed with it heated to at least 70-80c? There is some metal expansion that happens when heated and it tweaks the level a bit. So if it is level cold, when heated it can throw it off some. When leveling always heat the bed, but leave the extruder cold.
Hello again JFKansas, I did not level the bed with it heated. I will have to try that. I didn't think about that being an issue. Appreciate the feedback.Quote:
Originally Posted by jfkansas
Important notes about leveling also. After you have leveled it hot, don't check level when it is cool, it will make you want to level again when cool, but will be off again when hot. You will get into a "chasing tail" scenario.
Only level above the 3 adjusters, don't check the middle. The middle will always be a little lower due to gantry sag and this is normal.
Awesome, thanks for the help. I am still pretty new to 3D printing and still learning.
Also it helps t heat the extruder as well, as that is also subject to thermal expansion.
I find it easier to remove the filament before levelling, otherwise the minimal ooze can stick to your paper/card and cause minor issues.
So basically you level the bed under the same conditions and temperatures that you print with. You have to bear in mind that you are dealing with really small measurements.
Couple of things to bear in mind for first layer.
If there are areas where it does not print, then it's usually because the head is too close to the bed and the filament cannot squeeze out.
So lower the bed a 1/4 turn of the level knob at a time till it prints.
Also change the speed of the first layer print - in your slicer - to around 10-20% of the full print speed. The slower you print the better it will generally stick to the bed.
I find that on bigger prints, quite often half the print time is taken up with the first layer. But it's worth it as it sets a solid and secure base for the rest of the model to print on and you can consequently print the other layers that bit quicker.
I will give that a try.
Unfortunately the Slicer (Flashprint) I am using doesn't have the option to slow the first layer speed like you said. I may be getting Simplify3D soon though.
I have sens got it to print great after leveling the bed again.
Thanks Aardvark for the comments.
Justin,
Have you tried the slicer Cura? Its a very good slicer considering it's free
Regards,
3DEX
I have not, but I have heard of it. I will look into Cura and maybe try it out on a print or two.
Thanks,
Justin
I disagree with this. Thermal expansion of the hot end is why you are setting a gap with a piece of paper or a feeler gage. It's also unsafe to be mucking around leveling with a 450 degree hot end.
Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark
Well all I can say is that I've always calibrated with both bed and nozzle heated - which is what it says to do in the flashforge instructions. And it works.
I believe it's also what geoff recommends.
When i say always, I mean after getting the machine and spending a week getting it working - I think heating both bed and nozzle when calibrating was the breakthrough in a somewhat frustrating week. was 3 years ago, and it's how I've calibrated ever since :-)
Justin, flashprint is actually quite good and does allow you to set the speed of the first layer.
Load model, then click the print button - you need to have expert settings selected:
You need to view the image full size - because of these bloody adverts the forum shrinks everything, including the pics.
Attachment 10225
you want first layer maximum speed.
For abs I'd probably go for 10mm/s or lower. (well i wouldn't as I don't like that stuff - but you know what i mean :-)
I also like to keep my travel and print speeds the same. As it stops artifacts caused by sudden speed changes and acceleration.
Ah, I didn't recognize that there was an expert mode. That will help out greatly in tweaking some settings that could allow for better prints. Thanks for making me aware of that.
Only the bed being heated affects bed "leveling". As it heats it expands and this tweaks/twists the platform. The nozzle being heated just affects start gap which you want to be net zero after everything is heated. There is no way to get the nozzle gap set with a feeler gauge or paper with it heated since there will be no gap left. You will be left with too big of start gap.
On top of the unsafe situation, when the nozzle is hot it will also be drooling filament.
Makes sense.
well sort of. I did say to remove filament before levelling :-0)
And I do calibrate very tightly. 90gsm paper, that barely slides between the nozzle and bed.
All i know is it works. I also adjust the z gap from the slicer - simplify3d has a setting in the g-code tab that lets you adjust the z gap.
Since this was pointed out to me, I use it a lot. Some filaments need a little more smooshing than others, and I can adjust this in the slicer.
The only times I ever need to level the bed is if I've tried an experimental filament that needs a higher bed temp.
So far with printbite, I've got everything to stick at either 60 or 70c - and the 10c difference doesn't seem to make any difference as far as calibration goes.
Like I say, it's how I do it and it does work.
Ya I'm sure it works, just extra steps to do a pretty simple process. Goes against my principle of if you are spending more than 1-2 minutes to check and maybe adjust levell/gap then doing something wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by curious aardvark