3D Printer Bed Leveling - You Are Doing It All WRONG! Try This Instead!
A Tutorial on How to Level Your 3D Printer Bed with Paper so you will achieve a PERFECT 1st Layer and get AMAZING Bed Adhesion!
✅ Digital Calipers/ Micrometer [AMAZON]: geni.us/UTWTvtO
This tutorial by a 3D Printer Professional goes thru EVERYTHING you need to know so you will achieve amazing First Layer Adhesion and A Strong Base for your 3D Prints. This method will work well with any 3D PRINTER INCLUDING: CR-10, CR-10s, CR-10s Pro or Ender 3 Pro / V2
Includes:
The Best Paper to Use (and its not regular printer paper)
Prep and Set Up of your 3D Printer
The Bed Leveling Technique with Close Up Views
How to Examine your First Layers
*** Ender 3 Pro Printer used in this video is fully stock except for glass bed. Stock Firmware and Stock Cura Profile for PLA. I deliberately keep this printer stock, so you will be able to achieve similar results with your equipment.
⭐ 1st Layer Test Print: www.thingiverse.com/thing:
Filament used in Video:
✅ Sunlu PLA+ (red) [AMAZON]: geni.us/wOAD
✅ eSun PLA Pro (yellow) [AMAZON]: geni.us/wVp28s
** RECOMMENDED 3D PRINTERS AND ACCESSORIES **
Here are a few 3D Printers I own and/or highly recommend...
✅ Ender 3 Pro [AMAZON]: geni.us/g6fQkH6
✅ Ender 3 V2 [AMAZON]: geni.us/QnUA
✅ CR-10s PRO v2 [AMAZON]: geni.us/EUIlCCk
✅ CR-10 S5 (for experienced users) [AMAZON]: geni.us/Fyn3
✅ Artillery Sidewinder X1 [AMAZON]: geni.us/0wID0V
✅ Artillery Sidewinder X2 [AMAZON]: geni.us/0JmB1
3D Printer Gear and Equipment:
✅ Creality Tool Kit and Box [AMAZON]: geni.us/0OCiRwQ
✅ Glass Bed - Ender 3 [AMAZON]: geni.us/BPtHKu
✅ Digital Micrometer [AMAZON]: geni.us/UTWTvtO
✅ Stainless Steel Rulers Set [AMAZON]: geni.us/PAOT
✅ LED Light Set [AMAZON]: geni.us/ArHtaPB
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✅ Panasonic 4K Camera [AMAZON]: geni.us/BlefYL
✅ Neewer Studio Lighting [AMAZON]: geni.us/07iZ
✅ GVM RGB Studio Lighting [AMAZON]: geni.us/yBbcf
✅ Vanguard Alta Pro Tripod [AMAZON]: geni.us/TR63Nt9
✅ Govee RGB Lighting [AMAZON]: geni.us/ocK2aS
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This was THE most sound advice I’ve seen. I spent over an hour trying to level my bed today. After watching this video, I got it done in minutes. THANK YOU!
Glad it helped!
Honestly me too man I was pulling my hair out for 3 days trying to figure this problem out and how to level it best. This helped me get it done in 5 minutes and now back to printing! I was honestly ready to sell this model and buy a expensive printer.
This was by far - THE BEST - explanation/guide on manual bed leveling. THANK YOU.
Out of all the videos, this is the only one that actually helped me. Thank you
Best explanation of leveling bed, thank you
This was super helpful!! Especially the last part where you were showing what too close to too far looks like. Thank you!!!
ok, i am new to 3d printing and your video was the first one that actually helped me get my bed level! when removing the giant flat square i printed to test if I did it right it was like paper! thank you soooooooo much for doing this in a way that someone who isnt overly tech savvy could figure out.
amazing demonstration thank you!
You explained it very good with the test print. I ended on the thermo paper also, mainly because it makes you better feel about the actual distance to the nozzle, but the lower thickness is also positive in my case
Thank you ! This was beyond helpful ! Youre the man
Not only was this a really clear explanation, it was superbly demonstrated as well. Good job.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much I’ve spent days trying to get this thing to work after I got it and this was the FINAL step I was missing bless you
Thank you very much. this is incredible change.
Fantastic content. I'll be doing this in future.....and watching more of your videos. Thank you.
I'm still very new to the hobby and this helped me out a ton! Thanks for giving such a good description of the exact "feel" to look for.
Very welcome!
Nice tip I never seen before, I just used a thermal receipt and it come out perfect when I printed out a 3x3 square. Never had that happen before. Thats going to save some time getting that first layer set up.
Great great suggestion about using thermal receipt. That did the trick for me on my first ever 3D printer. One suggestion that made this all work is that I pulled the thermal paper tight as I ran it under the nozzle. As I was trying this initially I was just sliding the paper under the nozzle and the tension seemed OK. Then something made me realize that I should pull the paper taught. When I did this it showed me that there was still too much gap between the bed and the nozzle. I adjusted the bed closer at that point, went around all four corners of the bed twice making sure to keep the tension on the paper. I'm now printing my first successful object! 😀
Excellent, and thank you for creating the skewed bed at the end to show what's too much and too little, that's quite helpful visually!
Glad I could help.
Dude i thank you so much might be a 2yr old video but you saved help me out so much! instantly subscribed
Made sense from the beginning. Thank you for making it simple.
Glad to help!
On my bed slinger I’ve been using a Filament Friday E-Leveler 2 works great.
This video is outstanding and I'm switched to thermal receipts from now on. THANKS!
Glad it helped!
This is super material! One thing to note is that the difference between a nozzle that is too close and one that is too far from the bed is insanely small! Your gradient example is fantastic, but lots of beginners dont understand the difference is insanely MINUTE. Keep it up!
Thanks for the encouragement!
Absolutely awesome thank u so much my bed is now the best its ever been just got your self a new subscriber !!!
This tutorial had me up and running in around 20 minutes. Finally getting my skirts to come out perfect! Thank you so much!!
Wonderful! Very happy to help!
I would never have thought of using thermal paper for bed leveling! Good information!
My frustration in my first few months had me experimenting to find a solutions. Thanks for watching!
this so much easier to understand... Thanks anyway bro :D
This is a nice video and very informative. This helped me take care of my issue and I greatly appreciate it.
Glad it helped
Thank you soo much!! you explained it so well and now i can finally get my prints to adhere correctly, thank bud!
You are very welcome.
Most informative video I have seen so far, Thank you :)
Thanks for great comment.
You are a life saver. You saved me hours of frustration with your technique and I now use 3Dlac for adhesion on the glass bed and this is just pure pleasure now. thank you so much !!!!!!
Glad I could help!
This is Gold! Been printing for a while but never thought about using receipt paper for PLA! I'm assuming you can double it up for PETG or use printer paper for that perfect flow. Much appreciated for this well put together tutorial!
Thanks for the nice words... For PETG, regular printer paper should be ok... just try to find something on thinner side. Of course, try the receipt first and see how it looks. It should work fine with a bit more bite to bed.
Thank you. This really help me understand the bed level test on my Neptune 3 Pro
Very happy to help.
Great video. This helped me so much. I love how you did the example. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Look this is a good explanation perfect!
Thank you.
thank you, nice informative video.
Glad it was helpful!
Amazing!!!!!!!My first layer test print came out absolutely perfect after doing this with my Lowes receipt! Thank You so much. Ive been going crazy, Got my sub and like!
I am happy to help… planning 5 new videos now… including review of new Ender 3 v3 SE
So awesome! Thank u
This was extremely useful to me and I appreciate you posting this. I am rather new to this and hit a rough patch after we had a cold spell. Basement temp dropped to under 59 and nothing adhered. I bought a space heater and invested in some glue stick but still ran into a lot of problems. This really made a difference. Only thing I would add, though, for cold climates is to warm the bed up first. I discovered some pretty substantial differences if I performed these steps on a cold bed.
Yes. After I posted video, I realized I edited that section out. Unfortunately, I can not add it back.
Thank you my dude! Very clear!
You are very welcome!
i have been struggling with getting bed adhesion for a solid month now, brand new to 3d printing. i have an ender 3 s1 and THIS video has saved my sanity!! i am reposting this video in the facebook newbie groups i am in, as it has been invaluable!!!!! thank you so much. you have a def sub from me!!!!
Thank you for watching and for re-posting.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! It works!
You are welcome.
this helped alot, thank you!
Glad to help!
Great video. Well explained.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for the video and detailed explanation 🙏 new to 3D printing, had some nice, clean prints initially and then things started getting wonky. Thought I had leveled it correctly, but the margin for error is so much smaller than I imagined. Particularly helpful, to me, was the test print where you showed the gradient from too close to the plate to too far away from it. Thanks again!!
Glad it helped!
Thank you. Great for beginner.
Glad I could help.
thank you
AMAZING video... I've been struggling with leveling my Ender 3 S1. This was very helpful especially the visual representation of too close and too far at the end!! Confirms I have been too far away from print bed. I seem to have gotten my bed adhesion fixed and print quality improved.
I am very happy I was able to help… stay tuned for more vids coming soon. Just started back after long break. Mid-editing on 2 new vids now!
towards the end of the video you said if we were interested in using the feeler gauge method there would be a link in the upper right hand corner. I didn't see a link there or in the description. I also didn't see a video on your channel, Do you have the link? Thanks!!
this video is heaven to me thank u so much
you are welcome.... stay tuned for more videos.
I’ve been using the backing from my shipping labels, just measured and I get 0.07 to 0.08, apparently I’ve been using the perfect medium because it’s slick too. I also use CHEP’s M0 and M25 gcode files and I have to say I’ve been getting great results. You’ve done a great video, thanks!
That sounds like a winner! Thanks for letting us know!
Best leveling vid on KZhead!
Thanks, I appreciate your feedback!
that was helpful thank you
You are welcome.
This is the video that I'm going to use to level my Ender 5 S1 for the first time. Very informative.
Awesome!
I have a different perspective that I'd like to share: At the beginning of each job, the machine checks to see where the Z home is. Z home is where the nozzle touches the build plate (Z = 0.00). Since you don't want the nozzle to actually touch the build plate, the limit switch triggers a bit before the nozzle gets there. The machine needs to know what that distance (known as the Z-offset) is exactly so it can do it's calculations during the job. We need to measure that distance and enter it. Once entered, that number doesn't need to be changed unless you change the nozzle or switch. You can measure the distance to the shim of your choice then include the shim thickness. Paper is a common choice. For example, if Z is -2.00mm when touching the paper, and the paper is 0.10mm thick, then the Z-offset is -2.10mm. Any adjustment to the first layer can be made in Cura. I'm guessing it can be done with other slicers too.
Hello and thanks so much for posting this video. The link you have listed for the 1st Layer Test Print is no longer valid. Do you an updated link or a new test print that you think will work well with the Ender 3 Max? Thanks again for your time.
This is great. Ty.
Thanks for watching.
Thank you very much for going into lots of detail on how to do this with paper because I've found lots of tutorials but no one explains how much friction is needed or ifbits even needed at all so every time id be left with the same question and had to look for another tutorial. Anyways i finally found this amazing tutorial and you have answered my question and now I can finally get to printing. Anyways on a different topic do you have any knowledge on the sonic pad and any tutorials on how best to use this? Thank you very much.🙂👍✌️
Thank you for watching and encouraging words. New vids coming soon.
Thanks for the great trick of using the receipt. Just one issue the link you have to the first layer print test isn't working can you please resend the link
How about using on a Qidi X Max 3, I hate using there special sheet, it gets expensive having to replace the sheet at 30 for 3 sheets.
Right now I'm trying out a different slicer I was using ultimaker cura slicer high right now I am trying out prusaslicer and seeing if that was my problem will not be around for at least another five hours the slicer program already loaded onto a SD card but the printer is currently busy with a print with the new slicer but it's not the one which is the most difficult
how about moving the z axis to zero and setting up the offset?
This was the best leveling I have ever done before! After printing paper, feeler gauge, leveling machine that lights up, none of them had work! Wow this made it work!
Thanks for your feedback. Glad to help.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for watching!
I fully agree and discovered this on my own. Wish I had saw this before. Anyhow, I love that you are using painters tape to hold your glass instead of clips. Genius...... I also find I try to feel for the vibration of the steppers. They will sort of buzz when you slide the paper. How perfect sould it be. Im now using a bed probe so I level using that. I try to have everything at .00 but it drives my ocd nuts. Is one corner being at .000 and 1 corner at .010 terribly bad? Because using just paper you wouldnt really know easily if 1 corner is slightly less?
Try giving a bit of a lift to bed before you level with paper(use hands and just lightly pull it up). This will relieve tension on springs and release any binding. Get it even across all 4 corner... then use bed probe. You should be GOLDEN!
@@tr3nDmaker Yea, Ive got it. Here is a benchy. Sorry for the crappy quality. kzhead.info/sun/lNWvepuAbXyCaI0/bejne.html
Thank you
You're welcome
Great video. New to 3D printing and learning. Subscribed to your channel too. For some reason I couldn't see any links you talked about in the video. Can't see those links in your description either. Do you mind sharing them, please. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the sub!
i have finaly got the thing to print after a WEEK OF FAILS THANK YOU
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching!
Awesome info.
Glad it was helpful!
I`ve been trying to tram my bed for several hours. This video gave me the best results (with the receipt), however my bed is warped. Right at the 4 knobs, I feel just a little friction, however, in the center and between the knobs (center left, right back and front) it slightly dips down. I also still see noticeable lines, but I'm not sure if they're over extrusion lines or if the knobs are too loose (as you show/say in your example). I also have blobs/bits of filament where the nozzle lifts. You mention a video about leveling with feeler gauges, but I couldn't find the link anywhere. I hope you notice this comment soon but I understand you may be flooded with notifications. Thanks for the video!
A small warp in bed is ok. Just level again and try and level in the middle also. As long as print is sticking to bed… just go with it. A very worthwhile upgrade is a glass bed. This will create a flat layer. Personally, I exclusively use glass on all my printers. Also, buy Elmers Jumbo Purple Glue stick. Wipe glass with glue stick and prints will stick amazingly.
I got great tip once you gotten best leveled bed I would of using hot glue on under those 4 knobs so it wont move while daring printing
Did this after installing slice engineering heat break but used .07 feeler gauge instead of paper did it with the bed at 60 and nozzle at 150 to keep from oozing then did the chep bed level squares and they were perfect
I have a video that I never finished editing that I shot along with this one… using a feeler gauge. Feeler gauge is great… but wait till you start leveling the bed by eye... super fast!
Wish I could click Like more than once. I've been so frustrated but I'm looking forward to trying the printer again. Every one of my prints were clearly flawed due to the gap being too large. The first layer looked like a harp with individual strings and it finally quit adhering. Exactly my problem. Thanks!!
Thank you so much I thought my printer was done for.
Glad I could help!
dude thankyou for the tip, i was using regular paper but for the life of me i could not get that first layer to stick, the minute i used a receipt bam 100% success on every print ty tyt y this was such a great tutorial
You are very welcome.
Man!! Thank you!! If you have an Ender-3 V2, use that little triangular card that comes with it. Its a thick piece of paper. Worked perfectly.
Glad I could help.
Basically you have to use blue tape if you want the best of both worlds using hairspray to make the first layer to flat and it can mix together especially if you have two parts put together next week other with needs to separate after the print
what you think about silicone mounts ? i have ender 3 v2 and and I lost my level so quick even after one print do you prefer silicone or yellow springs and why , thank u
I like the Yellow springs on ender 3... I have not tried the silicone yet... But, maybe, I ll buy a set to compare.
The thermal printer paper is a great idea. When I level, I try to get the nozzle directly over the adjusting screws so there is no pitching or "see-saw' effect upsetting the balance. If that doesn't make sense, think of a board going over a pivot point. As the end of the board is raised or lowered so is the rest of the board. The closer to the pivot, the smaller the difference becomes. It will never be zero but if the measurement (nozzle and paper/feeler gauge) is taken 25mm from the screw the difference will be much greater than if taken directly over the screw. It saves you from "chasing the numbers" and gets a great "level" quicker. I like the term tramming better because it better describes the process. As with a milling machine, the idea is to keep the bed the same distance from the nozzle at any position regardless of whether it's level to the Earth.
Best tips ever. Saved me endless grief. Thank you.
Glad I could help.
Could there be a difference between 3D Printers? To my Snapmaker 2.0 there where measure paper for leveling provided by the manufactor and that paper is thicker than a termo paper.
This method works on all 8 of my printers. That said, I pretty much only tram/level by eye now.
I realized my posted I was using hairspray not lose tape would cause the first layer of my print to stick together charge your technique with blue tape originally it worked perfectly fine and yes I even tried the paper everyone else uses even looser tolerances and it still did not work so basically I'm sorry I said what I said I only say this because I don't put all stuff which is bad
I'm looking for the video on how you do the bed leveling with the feeler gauge
I have one all videoed... just haven't gotten around to editing it yet. I see if I can get it up early next week.
A bit off track but can you use disable steppers to get the bed leveled and save the settings, tia
Yes, you can disable steppers. But, that is not why bed needs leveling after prints. Main reason leveling is needed is spring tension and positions get disturbed when removing prints. Even slightest movement of bed seems to knock position off.
Hello, I have a problem with calibrating the bed. I was able to do it well. Suddenly, a week ago, all the prints began to fail before they started. But I calibrated the bed well, and I think there are problems with the printer. I did not print on it much It is still new
Could be many things… what is the printer doing?
I switched from an 0.4 mm nozzle on my ender 3 v3 se, to a 0.2 mm nozzle. at first I got no bed adhesion at all, now thanks to this, I'm dialing it in one pass at a time.
Thank you for this video. I’ve been trying the thermal paper approach for over an hour. Just when I think I have it …. I check the center of the bed. The gap is WAY to narrow. Any suggestions ?
Don’t worry about the middle… stick to 4 corners. The heat cycling of bed often causes a slight dip in the center. If 4 corners are sticking and middle you are fine. If having issues in middle that you can’t resolve. In setting… set first layer to .28 or .32. All other layers can be whatever. This throws down a bit more plastic to get good bed adhesion. If cant fix it… buy or make glass bed. Very flat. I have a vid on how to make your own if your good with tools. Link in description if you want to buy one. Good luck. Let me know if this helped.
@@tr3nDmaker thank you !! I will let you know how I make out
I didn’t see the link for the feeler gauge method
I have a question. Is it normal for my edges (1-1.5” in) to be lower than my middle? If I get my edges set my middle is too tight/low. I have a Creality ender v2 neo.
Unfortunately, aluminum warps easy… especially with high heat. Buy a glass bed and use Elmers Purple Glue Stick and you will have a super flat bed. You will love the very smooth bottom surface as well.
That’s a Vernier Caliper and even better than a receipt is a proper set of feeler gauges. But in order to do it all properly your printer bed can’t be mounted by springs or all you’re doing is pushing the bed down against springs and not adjusting the gap.
What do you suggest?
I found playing cards worked for ender 3 max.... stock. And i cant seem to find anything to work for my ender 3 v2s.. with sprite pro extruder... both machines have issues no matter what. Eveything works fine on small prints like lighter cases... but when i go to print a custom rolling tray... layers are all ridged and some have those gaps. Some dont. Parts stick some dont... i dont get why little objects are fine. But when u want something big, u cant get it. Like wtaf
what about layer shifting ?... this is my machines problem.. is this caused by the pcb control board ?
Probably not, but possible. Do these first. Check belts are tightened just enough to get a slight strum out of them… like a guitar string. Axis should move nice and smooth though. 2nd… be sure the little screw on extruder gear is tight and tightened on the flat spot on extruder shaft. 3rd. Get a name brand SD card… the factory sd a horrible and fail often.
Thanks for this! I had been using printer paper and probably too much tension on the paper. I was getting uneven first layers and I had to re-level the bed after each print! Changed to receipt paper and less tension on it and it has given me a 100% improvement in my prints and I have now printed 10 models without having to re-level the bed! Thanks again
You are so welcome!
Use handle of scraper that come with printer put it under the frame under printer bed where adjuster are at thats the frame lots easier then using some paper
Thanks my your advice work
You are welcome!
Thanks, the info in this video really helped with my bed adhesion. Just one thing... Calipers and micrometers are not the same. What you are showing and provide links to, are digital calipers, NOT micrometers. While both can give you a thickness measurement (assuming you are using outside micrometers), calipers use your thumb to set the distance & pressure on the measured piece, a micrometer uses a torque limited thimble system and can provide a level of accuracy typically 10-100x that of calipers.
I understand, I work on car a lot and sometimes talk too fast and mix up technical names. On a more humble note… they are actually called Digital Caliper Verniers. Thanks you for your post. I will be sure to name it properly in the future.
I am trying to find your video on leveling with feeler gauges. I am working with an Elegoo Neptune 3 Max. Watched you thermal paper leveling video twice today and got close. Still too thick on one side and too thin on the other I think.
Try running 4 or 5 perimeters… adjust as laying it down. Just slight turns. Also, check everything is tight.
The item I have to print with you can't print with hairspray because it becomes like glass yes I have a glass surface I don't have the new magnetic type I have to buy a new type a printer so I can get that kind I have to use blue tape with this method but then what I'm printing is so tight that I have a hard time measuring how much clearance I have on the first layer it's not very much at least say is less than a millimeter or even a half of mm and yes any amount of snow machine against the first layer would using sandpaper to clean it the first layer off there's that little amount of space maybe one print line between the layers that's all I think there is and that some 2.2 have to move apart from each other
New to 3rd printing. Why do we bed level at 60 degree C when Ender 3 pro defaults to 50? Shouldn't I bed level to the operational temp?
10 degrees isn’t going to make too much difference… however, technically leveling/ tramming should be done at operational temperature.
Wow!! I almost threw my printer out the window. Great video
Glad it helped
I've been stuck trying to tram my printer since Saturday and I thought that using a feeler gauge would be better to level it. Haven't used thermal paper in years. Now, I used last night before I went to bed and the bed almost leveled out. 12:17 Oh? You have a video for feeler gauges? Okay, I can take a look.
Feeler gauge video got corrupted… be sure everything is tight and no wobble on bed.
@@tr3nDmaker I was lucky enough to actually get it leveled yesterday. I had to reset the bed by lowering all the screws so the surface was far away from the nozzle. Then, I had to painstakingly count the number turns on the knobs, one by one, to get it leveled and recorded the number of turns on my phone. 8 days was far too long to deal with this printer. Finally, I'm able to print something! Here's the thing. I had to use standard copy paper for the method.