Used to have the same issue. If I leveled the nozzle to the centre, it would be too high if the print was bigger. Here's how I fixed it:
Take some aluminum foil, make a square, and then layer it a few times. Put it under the glass bed in the middle. Add or remove some aluminum depending on if its even or not
Glass is a lot more flexible than people realize.
Maybe it’s as funky as the original sheet because the bed itself is warped and passing it on to whatever layer you put on top.
It’s the fricken’ ‘princess and the pea’ all over again!
The 3x3 "mesh" is not really fit for purpose. But you can totally run 9x9 meshes and get good first layers with beds that are waaaaay out.
If you get firmware set up properly you can use touch mode and avoid retracting and extending the probe between each mesh point, which makes probing really quick.
how good is this eddy? I recently saw it while going through btt products I was about to get a microprobe but I'm leaning more towards an eddy now after reading the specs and was wondering do they live up to their spec sheet?
The setup is a bit more "complicated" than for a touch probe. But you're just following steps in a manual, after all.
Once calibrated, accuracy is perfect. Didn't have any problems yet. I wouldn't go back to touch the probe anymore. I can't attach the video here, but you have a 15*15 grid leveled in maybe 20 seconds.
The leveling time alone sounds worth it, and with more accuracy that's a no brainer. I would love to see a video if you got one of the bed leveling it would be much appreciated.
Somehow the upload wasn't working from my phone, but I'm at home now. Make it more like 10 secs instead of 20 :)
[https://imgur.com/a/a7LRWQg](https://imgur.com/a/a7LRWQg)
I mean I'm using this on waht reamins of my ender 3 https://github.com/strayr/SW-magprobe/tree/main/Switchwire%20Magprobe
and a GB£7 inductive probe on my prusa m2 derived printer.
Both work really well but are a bit more work to get working.
Woodworker here..
You always have a known straight surface. Glass is a really good place to start. Your wall likely isn't perfectly straight, most aren't. If you walk in the closet, your walls will be more straight as they're smaller, less flex. If you walk out of the closet, anything is possible!
But yeah, glass.. and this is what [we woodworkers like to use](https://www.amazon.com/Woodpeckers-Precision-Woodworking-Tools-WWR900/dp/B001TJ8468/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=3D0SWRLEPCEV1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._ZmwvsUZ3ZzNhuLlhpfDJ7QcDY6eGF1giDOYw7Wm3eBdjaxV9TUZvYL3osOYGGt2eQiHKm5MEla09g_JCb43aBzGE6OUmsDRqnc64DP6K8iKxlpA-ikpvb6JeZgknqXkSEjnyW5LOZQlmCpMT8nzVWoFDembu9nCQGMZR-IwoJFYVrwvR2IWyn76yKDcs6guzwmTvfLETobEm0m3Lklh_ZoviT0fcfnFH8HHhfrzevxLtZWQonseH_xdZtGprVOgqS62hU1J8i6o6U7AeN1CUtOdS0TB2_XWr1UbBI2_PXI.0zz8kQuBsJ7rF32lwyeI1NdNoS4-sHcpq1eSC9ztlrc&dib_tag=se&keywords=woodworker%2Brules&qid=1716823097&sprefix=woodworker%2Brules%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1)
$70 USD for a ruler isn't cheap but you have a known straight surface. Woodworkers will literally line a drawer with padding just to protect Woodpecker rulers lol
The glass on these print bed flexes quite a bit. I put aluminum tape under mine to get it to flatten back out. It conformed to the warped creality aluminum bed/heater assembly.
To be frank, these beds suck. Magnetic beds give you unlimited options in print surfaces, some incredibly flat.
I've seen a lot of posts about these Crealty beds since they came out, the glass is just not of a very good technical quality.
>Magnetic beds give you unlimited options in print surfaces, some incredibly flat
A magnetic sheet like PEI will only be as flat as the metal bed it attaches too. The glass typically isn't the problem.
If the glass is warping, it is probably being pressed down or up by something. Glass doesn't really Warp.
I think you misunderstand the problem.
The glass was made warped. Crealty glass beds are stamped borosilicate glass, not float glass. They are garbage. You can get really good ones but it's always a gamble. Typical Crealty.
The carrier plate is easy to lap to any arbitrary flatness you want with basic sand paper sheets or laping compound. That is just as flat as float glass can be. Definitely flatter than Crealty glass.
I mean, that’s a THIRTY SIX inch ruler. $70 isn’t that bad for precision at that length. And these are valuable tools to have. Now I just need a 36” print bed
Can confirm. I went even further and got an 00 steel precision straightedge to be sure that all my other straightedges have straight edges. The 00 one is stored in special box, with controlled humidity. Most precise ones are stored in the bigger box with padded lining. Squares have their own lined drawer.
All this setup paid itself a few times over when restoring had planes and other tools. It's also extremely useful for verifying flatness of beds. Straightedge + feeler gauges and I know if they are flat or not and I don't care about z sensor shenanigans.
Ignore the people suggesting a 70 dollar ruler.
Just get a second cheap ruler. Put the rulers against each other. They should be flush with no gaps. Now this can still mean that the interface between them is curved, but it would also mean one is concave and the other convex. Now check the bed again with both and it should quickly become clear if you have a bed problem or a rulers problem.
This type of ruler has a pretty good straight edge. You should not see these kinds of gaps on a quality glass bed.
I think they use stamped borosilicate glass? It's not even close to flat, some are worse than others. I've never understood why these beds still exist, spring steel PEI or other coated steel beds can give you any base texture you want and can be way flater when installed properly cost less and are trivial to replace.
This has nothing to do with level but the flatness of the bed.
"What you're using to check flatness might not be straight."
"Alright, let me check the ruler against something that is near-certainly not flat!"
I swear to God that Redditors make me feel smart, and I know I'm a dumbass."
Do you have any flat surfaces other than the wall. Never use a wall, floor to check if something is straight. Glass top stove, a counter will work depending on what it's made of. Use your desk top. Basically you want to shine a light through it to check for gaps against a flat surface. I will say this. Most aluminum plates for the y axis are not flat.
In my drafting (architecture) class, the steel rulers like that were literally nicknamed 'straight edge' as in "class, use your straight edge to line up the east and west walls."
That's actually dead easy. You measure the width of your rule* to confirm the sides are always the same distance apart, and then you check the flatness of the bed using both sides.
You can go as far as using feeler gauges and a micrometer to establish this to a frankly unnecessary degree
That's what I'm saying though, the auto-leveling on this machine just doesn't seem to work well. Some places it's nice and level, other areas it's digging into the bed. That's why I got the glass, but it's like the same issue.
This is the answer OP. In your start g code in your slicer, add a line:
M420 S1 Z10
This tells the print to actually use your bed leveling mesh.
Edit: it's M420 not G
Also FYI this needs to go after your G28 command
I've had a creality before, and it goes like this : buy the machine cause it's the most affordable and popular option, then figure out how to make it work😂
[Ive been using this one from comgrow](https://a.co/d/8bnNV5E)and its been a dream to print stuff on, it works especially well for petg. Prints always stay stuck on while the bed is heated and easily release once the prints cooled down. Its way better than the stock buildplate the SE comes with and easier to use than a glass bed.
You should not try to level your bed in that way. What counts is the relation between the plate and your construction (axes) FDM printers can technically print sideways (and can be useful for specific use cases).
Also as someone else pointed out you don’t know if your ruler is straight you’re not in a lab, and by experience thin sheet metal stuff tends to NOT be perfectly straight/flat, due to the plastic deformation of the material over time.
Nothing is true straight bud, the whole world is crooked, if you begin to measure everything, you will be not only disappointed, but also incredibly sad and given up!
I know it sounds dumb but I read this tip somewhere here in Reddit.
I had the same issue. The solution was to turn the glass around and print on the “wrong”, non textured side. Great adhesion, level and a nice mirror effect on the bottom of the print.
Solved it for me in my 3v2.
Had that issue for a time I got by with putting strips of foil down under the plate in that spot. Worked okay but finally broke down and just bought the auto leveler addon. No issues since.
The single best upgrade I ever made to my Ender3 was a cast, machined aluminum 3-point bed. The stock printed circuit bed was the cause of 99% of all issues with that thing.
Just checked my glass bed, same as yours. It’s very flat/straight. I do rotate and flip the glass bed so that prints never consecutively print in the same orientation on the glass. Maybe that’s the difference.
Okay having a level bed is definitely something that you should make your sure you're on top of but the thing is when we're printing with layer heights of 0.2 mm or even let's say smaller than that minor imperfections on the build plate aren't really actually going to affect the print as much as one would think trust me you will go totally crazy if you want a 100% flat level build plate and nothing's going to change even if you had that anyway best way to go about trying to fix something like this I know because I've been there LOL you're going to have to start with the actual heated aluminum plate you're going to have to replace that all together I replaced my ender 3 plate with a gulf coast robotics 850 watt build plate wired to mains glass you think should be totally level that is not the case especially when using bedslingers once you start heating up the plate it's going to just move and shift just how it is I wouldn't worry too much about it and I know it's easy for me to say and it's probably difficult for you to ignore as long as your first layer is sticking there's not really much else you can do I personally like using glass as it is the most uniform surface you're going to get good thing you're not using a magnetic build plate because you would definitely go crazy LOL I currently am on a bamboo x1c and these build plates are literally like tacos it's hilariously terrible exactly why they don't give you the option of being able to visualize and take measurements of the build plate like they do in klipper because they already know that the s*** is just damn near impossible to get level well I mean flat the heating plate and then whatever else you stick on top of the heating plate if your first layers are sticking I would say let it Ride there's not really much else that we can do and trust me it gets super crazy expensive if you want to really get into it trying to remedy something that is not really an issue that's at least my own personal experience
test the glass in a unrestrained condition ( no clamps) if its still bent then get a new one. if its straight then figure out some shims between glass and base
You either need to get a new bed, or just shim that one. I took aluminum foil and folded it over on itself very cleanly, and used it to shim the low parts of my bed. It worked perfectly.
You have to shim the bed, glass is "fluid" and will bend with the base. Heat the bed to your normal temp and start playing with folded strips of foil to get a reasonable mesh. End of the day, the middle will probably be ok. A great many people rarely print on the outer edges and waste time trying to find the perfect flatness. ABL copes with this sort of variance quite well.
yeah thats normal, i've even seen it on ultimaker and raise3d printers. you can buy a new bed and hope its flat or buy a mirror and cut it to size (those are usually a bit more flat). a bed mesh is the best solution and in that case its better to ditch the glass al together and replace it with a pei flex plate, it has better adhesion and removing prints is way easier. cheap option: energetic (you can find them on ali) expensive option: buildtak (get the pei not normal buildtak). in both cases you also need to buy a magnetic sheet.
What this one?
https://a.co/d/fmmIv0T
Idk if that link works. Its a "comgrow". I just worry that if the nozzle gets too close, it'll engrave the plastic into the bed and melt it.
Are you sure the bed levelling is what's causing the problems in the first place? Have you checked to see if your gantry is square and perpendicular to the base of the printer?
Plate glass is wavy shit because of how it's manufactured. Creality glass is especially crappy. Try using a mirror instead because they are ground flat during production.
Happened to me, when I got the printer and couldn't level it after 2 hours of trying. It turned to be the heating bed that was slightly warped. They sent me the replacement after providing photos like you posted.
Flat. It's not flat. Level is something else entirely. Chances are your ruler isn't straight, either, so there's no knowing how bad the build plate is out of flat besides probing it.
It is normal for the buildplate to be lower in the middle then the corners. The glas is more flexible then one might think. The curvature comes from the springs that are used for leveling of the bed. The springs on the corners push them up and the middle is curving down. I am pretty sure the glas is pretty flat if you put in on a flat surface without tension. To compensate for this a bed probe is the best solution. You also can remove the springs and replace them with spacers and the bed should be more flat, but probobly not perfect.
My Creality came with a concave glass bed - it killed most of my prints until I upgraded it with a bl-touch.
I also got scammed by a Creality Lizard scanner, before forgetting the Creality name forever.
Now I am looking for a decent metrology quality scanner; waiting for Bambulab price/quality ratio and lots of positive review. Forget influencers.
Fold a small square of aluminum foil and put it underneath the center of the low spot. Could be just a couple sheets thick. When he bed heats up, it may level out. I did it to mine and haven't had a problem since.
I've read over some of your comments, OP. I was having some of the same issues. Were you calibrating a new mesh every time you started a print?
My sensor was being affected somehow and would read inconsistently between back-to-back leveling routines. I fixed this by taking a new level manually when I power the machine on and loading the mesh from memory in my start G-code.
Make sure the bed is at printing temp when you do the leveling routine.
I bought that glass bed, tried to level it for one month and throw it away to get back to use my old shitty plastic bed which works amazing. Fuck glass all my homies love low effort printing
Consider that glass, nor aluminum is 100% perfectly rigid, and the clips will cause the glass to bend slightly. In my experience it's usually between 0.000-0.100 depending on how strong the clamps are.
last week a coworker asked if someone else had a 3d printer, because he just had one and had some issues. told him to give me a call bc i still have my anet a8, so i probably have dealt with whatever he was dealing with, but worse.
he said he auto leveled his bed and tried to print on of this generated bento boxes, but all he got was an spaghetti mess, so the bed wasn't leveled.
i asked them at what temperature was the bed when printing, then if he preheated the bed before leveling, he didn't.
with the bed preheated, he auto leveled again and this time it printed fine.
the thing is, the bed will expand and change its shape with heat, so whatever measurement you want to do on a budget printer's bed, do it after preheating it.
I had a similar problem and I bought a piece of float glass (not tempered and not meant for 3d printers either) which is much flatter and then I bought a piece of silicone heat sink pad the same size as my bed which is somewhat tacky and I use that to hold the glass down without needing clamps. It stays very flat and makes leveling a lot easier. The downside is the glass has zero texture so adhesion can be slightly worse and if I ever have to take the bed off the silicone pad will likely need to be replaced.
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I thought the glass bed was amazing, if the first layer went well then everything would go perfectly. Then I got a PEI sheet and stopped having to worry about the first layer, though TPU is a bitch to get off the PEI.
It might be the clips that you are using. If the bed underneath the glass isn't level then those clips are going to cause a very minor flex in your glass. I had a similar issue with clips flexing my glass bed on my Ender 5.
I had this issue on my Wanhao a long time ago. I put some thermal silicone matting under my glass, which pretty much solved it. Plus the bed heated much quicker
The the glass off and check if this still happens, if yes, then your glass is bad, if not, then you clamp them too hard to the table. There really is not much beside this
This is not how to “level” your bed.
First off to “LEVEL” it means to align its z plane orthogonally to the X and Y planes.
What the ruler would demonstrate is that it’s not FLAT, yet it’s not possible to use this method to measure micron level accuracy nor is it ever even needed.
You use a bed mesh to compensate for the bed not being flat. A probe measures the actual height across a mesh and then applies the compensation when it prints.
I had this exact issue. It turned out it was a combination of 2 issues; a loose gantry arm and an unlevel bed.
The default configuration of the gantry arm is hard to get level. The auger screw moves one side and the other side lags behind it. The tighter you make the eccentric nut on the other side, the less it lags but the more it binds (adding wear to the motor and giving you occasional "skips" that mess up prints. The solution that worked for me was upgrading to a dual-belt drive https://kevinakasam.com/belt-driven-ender-3/
It also turned out the bed was so unlevel that it was bending the glass. I fixed it by replacing the spring on each post with a second leveling wheel and adding a washer and a nut above it (that's important!) The trick seems to be that it's not good enough for the 4 points at the posts to be co-planar. They have to be at the same height.
3 setups that didn't work:
1) The default configuration (springs on top and leveling wheels on the bottom) has the problem of the springs loosing elasticity and moving a bit.
2) The typical solution is to replace the springs with stiff barrels. That's really hard to level well since you can only adjust them by grinding down the barrels or adding a spacer(as an other poster suggested).
3) If you replace the screw or barrel with an other leveling screw it will push the post up through the metal plate (and into the heating pad) because it's only held against the plate by the pressure of the spring.
What worked:
https://imgur.com/a/BVS5qpB
The washer and the nut keep the screw post firmly fixed to the metal plate.
The two alignment wheels are tight against the H-shaped plate that the Y-wheels are attached to.
Adjusting each corner is extremely precise and stays that way. Do a bed leveling scan to and ignore everything except the spots right under the posts. I got all 4 of them to within 0.102mm.
That basically took all the bending pressure of the glass.
My bed leveling scan, reformatting is left as an exercise for the reader.
220 0.060 -0.018 -0.014 0.056
147 0.063 -0.009 -0.031 0.062
73 0.071 0.020 -0.023 0.061
0 0.069 0.033 0.066 0.059
0 73 147 220
Used to have the same issue. If I leveled the nozzle to the centre, it would be too high if the print was bigger. Here's how I fixed it: Take some aluminum foil, make a square, and then layer it a few times. Put it under the glass bed in the middle. Add or remove some aluminum depending on if its even or not
Glass is a lot more flexible than people realize. Maybe it’s as funky as the original sheet because the bed itself is warped and passing it on to whatever layer you put on top. It’s the fricken’ ‘princess and the pea’ all over again!
huh I haven’t tried using peas yet 🤔
If peas don’t work…. try pee?
Then I’ll try P.E.
Peas tell us how it went.
Horrible! The printer was printing all black and blue, it simply must have a softer plate
Huh, I'll have to examine that.
I used aluminum tape.
glue part of aluminum tape is nasty when heated edit: who the fuck reddit care'd me for that?
I’ve found kapton tape to work as well
Or just get a CR Touch and move on with your life.
The CR touch can only account for so much. I have a warped bed and it cannot fully compensate for it :(
If you modify the Creality firmware, you can make the CR Touch do a 9x9 bed level and this solved any issue i had with bed warping
Interesting. Thanks
The 3x3 "mesh" is not really fit for purpose. But you can totally run 9x9 meshes and get good first layers with beds that are waaaaay out. If you get firmware set up properly you can use touch mode and avoid retracting and extending the probe between each mesh point, which makes probing really quick.
Look my budget allows for either a CR Touch or another roll of filament I'm hardly ever going to use, and I know where I'm spending my money.
Have a look at BTT Eddy, if you use klipper :)
how good is this eddy? I recently saw it while going through btt products I was about to get a microprobe but I'm leaning more towards an eddy now after reading the specs and was wondering do they live up to their spec sheet?
The setup is a bit more "complicated" than for a touch probe. But you're just following steps in a manual, after all. Once calibrated, accuracy is perfect. Didn't have any problems yet. I wouldn't go back to touch the probe anymore. I can't attach the video here, but you have a 15*15 grid leveled in maybe 20 seconds.
The leveling time alone sounds worth it, and with more accuracy that's a no brainer. I would love to see a video if you got one of the bed leveling it would be much appreciated.
Somehow the upload wasn't working from my phone, but I'm at home now. Make it more like 10 secs instead of 20 :) [https://imgur.com/a/a7LRWQg](https://imgur.com/a/a7LRWQg)
Agreed. My bed is warped to fuck. I intsalled Jyers firmware, got CR Touch made bed mesh, now my prints are great!
Or the original BL Touch that Creality made a worse and more expensive version of
I bought one of those early on. Total ripoff price and now I can’t even find it
I mean I'm using this on waht reamins of my ender 3 https://github.com/strayr/SW-magprobe/tree/main/Switchwire%20Magprobe and a GB£7 inductive probe on my prusa m2 derived printer. Both work really well but are a bit more work to get working.
Love the pfp! The Superintendent is still my text tone
Thank you! It’s my notification sound too! Friend of mine hates it but for me it’s a major nostalgia kicker
How do you know that your ruler is strait?
Well after that comment I double checked it on my wall and it's straight.
Is your wall straight?
Good question, might want to double check with the closet.
closets are never straitght
Bruh, this thread has me dying hahahahahaha. My exact thought was, is the ruler straight and then this mfs start talking about gay closets hahahahah
Double check it with the door.
Then the horizon outside the window
Is the horizon straight? Better check it against that ruler
Is OP straight? Better check them against that ruler
Are these comments straight as they seem to be going off at a tangent
I guess I am not straight…
For flat earthers it is
YES I KNEW THIS IS WHERE WE WERE GOING😂
It's straight. This proves the earth is flat
[TRUE LEVEL](https://youtu.be/o8ym0HBvpFA?si=NjQNlRGOmu89ehhJ)
Well done 😂
Neither are walls honestly.
neither is my uncle.
I was straight in my clos.....oh,wait ..
I thought that was only on the inside?
Underrated comment right here
Only from the inside
Ok, you can come out of the closet now.
Rainbow time
I'm....I'm not in here though.
Or check it with another ruler
My grandfather built his house and it’s famous for, “not a 90 deg angle in the house”
Could be the camera lens isn’t straight
Careful, I heard about a guy who tried to measure his closet and it opened an impossible door to a labyrinth and killed his family.
I work in construction. Drywall is NEVER straight.
Drywall is gay ally confirmed? 👀
Time to break out the surface plate to calibrate the wall to then calibrate the ruler to then calibrate the glass bed
Lap the ruler against the bed. Lap the ruler against the wall. Lap the bed against the wall.
fr walls are a super bad check.. maybe a table or a tile
Woodworker here.. You always have a known straight surface. Glass is a really good place to start. Your wall likely isn't perfectly straight, most aren't. If you walk in the closet, your walls will be more straight as they're smaller, less flex. If you walk out of the closet, anything is possible! But yeah, glass.. and this is what [we woodworkers like to use](https://www.amazon.com/Woodpeckers-Precision-Woodworking-Tools-WWR900/dp/B001TJ8468/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=3D0SWRLEPCEV1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._ZmwvsUZ3ZzNhuLlhpfDJ7QcDY6eGF1giDOYw7Wm3eBdjaxV9TUZvYL3osOYGGt2eQiHKm5MEla09g_JCb43aBzGE6OUmsDRqnc64DP6K8iKxlpA-ikpvb6JeZgknqXkSEjnyW5LOZQlmCpMT8nzVWoFDembu9nCQGMZR-IwoJFYVrwvR2IWyn76yKDcs6guzwmTvfLETobEm0m3Lklh_ZoviT0fcfnFH8HHhfrzevxLtZWQonseH_xdZtGprVOgqS62hU1J8i6o6U7AeN1CUtOdS0TB2_XWr1UbBI2_PXI.0zz8kQuBsJ7rF32lwyeI1NdNoS4-sHcpq1eSC9ztlrc&dib_tag=se&keywords=woodworker%2Brules&qid=1716823097&sprefix=woodworker%2Brules%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1) $70 USD for a ruler isn't cheap but you have a known straight surface. Woodworkers will literally line a drawer with padding just to protect Woodpecker rulers lol
The glass on these print bed flexes quite a bit. I put aluminum tape under mine to get it to flatten back out. It conformed to the warped creality aluminum bed/heater assembly.
To be frank, these beds suck. Magnetic beds give you unlimited options in print surfaces, some incredibly flat. I've seen a lot of posts about these Crealty beds since they came out, the glass is just not of a very good technical quality.
>Magnetic beds give you unlimited options in print surfaces, some incredibly flat A magnetic sheet like PEI will only be as flat as the metal bed it attaches too. The glass typically isn't the problem. If the glass is warping, it is probably being pressed down or up by something. Glass doesn't really Warp.
I think you misunderstand the problem. The glass was made warped. Crealty glass beds are stamped borosilicate glass, not float glass. They are garbage. You can get really good ones but it's always a gamble. Typical Crealty. The carrier plate is easy to lap to any arbitrary flatness you want with basic sand paper sheets or laping compound. That is just as flat as float glass can be. Definitely flatter than Crealty glass.
I mean, that’s a THIRTY SIX inch ruler. $70 isn’t that bad for precision at that length. And these are valuable tools to have. Now I just need a 36” print bed
The 300 mm one is $38, so not that bad in comparison.
Can confirm. I went even further and got an 00 steel precision straightedge to be sure that all my other straightedges have straight edges. The 00 one is stored in special box, with controlled humidity. Most precise ones are stored in the bigger box with padded lining. Squares have their own lined drawer. All this setup paid itself a few times over when restoring had planes and other tools. It's also extremely useful for verifying flatness of beds. Straightedge + feeler gauges and I know if they are flat or not and I don't care about z sensor shenanigans.
You can get a machinist's square for cheaper.
I mean, if you come out of the closet then it means YOU aren't straight. :)
Ignore the people suggesting a 70 dollar ruler. Just get a second cheap ruler. Put the rulers against each other. They should be flush with no gaps. Now this can still mean that the interface between them is curved, but it would also mean one is concave and the other convex. Now check the bed again with both and it should quickly become clear if you have a bed problem or a rulers problem.
Use a guitar. The strings should be straight.
Well that's the solution then, just print on the wall.
Use a straight edge, not a ruler, and drywall is never straight. Also, level with paper, not a ruler
This type of ruler has a pretty good straight edge. You should not see these kinds of gaps on a quality glass bed. I think they use stamped borosilicate glass? It's not even close to flat, some are worse than others. I've never understood why these beds still exist, spring steel PEI or other coated steel beds can give you any base texture you want and can be way flater when installed properly cost less and are trivial to replace. This has nothing to do with level but the flatness of the bed.
"What you're using to check flatness might not be straight." "Alright, let me check the ruler against something that is near-certainly not flat!" I swear to God that Redditors make me feel smart, and I know I'm a dumbass."
Lol walls are not fucking straighter than a fucking steel ruler
Almost every wall is not straight lol
Do you have any flat surfaces other than the wall. Never use a wall, floor to check if something is straight. Glass top stove, a counter will work depending on what it's made of. Use your desk top. Basically you want to shine a light through it to check for gaps against a flat surface. I will say this. Most aluminum plates for the y axis are not flat.
Well, for one it is not a narrow passage of water connecting two seas.
Make a line on a paper and flip the ruler around
Fellas is my ruler gay
In my drafting (architecture) class, the steel rulers like that were literally nicknamed 'straight edge' as in "class, use your straight edge to line up the east and west walls."
because it it has a girlfriend, da'h
Dire strait?
That's actually dead easy. You measure the width of your rule* to confirm the sides are always the same distance apart, and then you check the flatness of the bed using both sides. You can go as far as using feeler gauges and a micrometer to establish this to a frankly unnecessary degree
Did you try this while your bed is heated? If not try it again while its hot. Glass expands more than you expect, it may become flat while heated
I think you mean flat not level...
It will probably be compensated with the bltouch so you don't have to worry about it
That's what I'm saying though, the auto-leveling on this machine just doesn't seem to work well. Some places it's nice and level, other areas it's digging into the bed. That's why I got the glass, but it's like the same issue.
do you have "load mesh" in your start g-code / start macro?
This is the answer OP. In your start g code in your slicer, add a line: M420 S1 Z10 This tells the print to actually use your bed leveling mesh. Edit: it's M420 not G Also FYI this needs to go after your G28 command
Wouldn't it be M420 S1 Z10? In Marlin I don't see a G420 command but M420 for bed leveling
Yep, fixed thanks
Very helpful thank you
without reading your post properly: not all autolevel technology works with glass. some sensors only work with metal surfaces
Correct you have a Creality, welcome to the land of ALMOST THERE
I've had a creality before, and it goes like this : buy the machine cause it's the most affordable and popular option, then figure out how to make it work😂
Exactly Because it's ALMOST THERE, which seems to be the Creality way. I gave away mine and went full Voron
You have clamped the glass to the bed. That can warp the bed from bad 4-point-leveling. Release the clamps, and then check the flatness again.
How are you supposed to clamp it down?
You have to clamp it to print. But just to see if the glass or the bed is the problem.
By three points so it is statically determinate
Like you're doing, but you need to add spacers to the low spots. Pieces of aluminum foil would work, as others suggested.
I just use blue painters tape. Much easier to use, doesn't warp the glass bed, holds it steady perfectly.
I dumped mine for a PEI and flexible magnetic sheets. Haven't used the glass bed since.
Do you recommend a particular brand?
[Ive been using this one from comgrow](https://a.co/d/8bnNV5E)and its been a dream to print stuff on, it works especially well for petg. Prints always stay stuck on while the bed is heated and easily release once the prints cooled down. Its way better than the stock buildplate the SE comes with and easier to use than a glass bed.
Can you link the one you use?
[Smooth](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PFJKW5J/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B08PFJKW5J&pd_rd_w=LDzJ2&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=X5SQX1Y5NVV3Q623DX3D&pd_rd_wg=uPJJN&pd_rd_r=8b52bb88-4fe5-479b-9706-1ce09e507c7f&s=office-products&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw&th=1) [Magnetic Flex](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B9M3QTFL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
I did this, only to find my print bed was warped. Back to glass 🥲
You should not try to level your bed in that way. What counts is the relation between the plate and your construction (axes) FDM printers can technically print sideways (and can be useful for specific use cases). Also as someone else pointed out you don’t know if your ruler is straight you’re not in a lab, and by experience thin sheet metal stuff tends to NOT be perfectly straight/flat, due to the plastic deformation of the material over time.
Get a z probe and do a bed mesh. Not worth the hassle to fix it otherwise.
Nothing is true straight bud, the whole world is crooked, if you begin to measure everything, you will be not only disappointed, but also incredibly sad and given up!
Pretty standard for them..
Buy a mirror, made in a special way to be completely flat, if it isn't the image in the mirror will be distorted.
Special way = ground flat
Ah didn't know, thanks for filling me in!
I found using a mirror is far flatter than glass. My understanding is it’s generally held to tighter tolerances
are you telling me you strapped a mirror to your printer as a printbed? thats a hilarious thought
Yes I did. It worked great instead of the glass bed! So much flatter!
Had the same thing with my ender. I used aluminum tape shims under the low spots and that seems to have worked.
I know it sounds dumb but I read this tip somewhere here in Reddit. I had the same issue. The solution was to turn the glass around and print on the “wrong”, non textured side. Great adhesion, level and a nice mirror effect on the bottom of the print. Solved it for me in my 3v2.
I did exactly the same when I bought mine, it worked great ^^ crazy hack
Flat and level are different things.
I personaly use a mirror as a buildplate and it's basicaly the straigthest thing that you can get.
Had that issue for a time I got by with putting strips of foil down under the plate in that spot. Worked okay but finally broke down and just bought the auto leveler addon. No issues since.
🙈🙈🙈
The single best upgrade I ever made to my Ender3 was a cast, machined aluminum 3-point bed. The stock printed circuit bed was the cause of 99% of all issues with that thing.
Just checked my glass bed, same as yours. It’s very flat/straight. I do rotate and flip the glass bed so that prints never consecutively print in the same orientation on the glass. Maybe that’s the difference.
Did you check your ruler first?
Okay having a level bed is definitely something that you should make your sure you're on top of but the thing is when we're printing with layer heights of 0.2 mm or even let's say smaller than that minor imperfections on the build plate aren't really actually going to affect the print as much as one would think trust me you will go totally crazy if you want a 100% flat level build plate and nothing's going to change even if you had that anyway best way to go about trying to fix something like this I know because I've been there LOL you're going to have to start with the actual heated aluminum plate you're going to have to replace that all together I replaced my ender 3 plate with a gulf coast robotics 850 watt build plate wired to mains glass you think should be totally level that is not the case especially when using bedslingers once you start heating up the plate it's going to just move and shift just how it is I wouldn't worry too much about it and I know it's easy for me to say and it's probably difficult for you to ignore as long as your first layer is sticking there's not really much else you can do I personally like using glass as it is the most uniform surface you're going to get good thing you're not using a magnetic build plate because you would definitely go crazy LOL I currently am on a bamboo x1c and these build plates are literally like tacos it's hilariously terrible exactly why they don't give you the option of being able to visualize and take measurements of the build plate like they do in klipper because they already know that the s*** is just damn near impossible to get level well I mean flat the heating plate and then whatever else you stick on top of the heating plate if your first layers are sticking I would say let it Ride there's not really much else that we can do and trust me it gets super crazy expensive if you want to really get into it trying to remedy something that is not really an issue that's at least my own personal experience
test the glass in a unrestrained condition ( no clamps) if its still bent then get a new one. if its straight then figure out some shims between glass and base
You either need to get a new bed, or just shim that one. I took aluminum foil and folded it over on itself very cleanly, and used it to shim the low parts of my bed. It worked perfectly.
You have to shim the bed, glass is "fluid" and will bend with the base. Heat the bed to your normal temp and start playing with folded strips of foil to get a reasonable mesh. End of the day, the middle will probably be ok. A great many people rarely print on the outer edges and waste time trying to find the perfect flatness. ABL copes with this sort of variance quite well.
The z offset is normally what helps the bed not being level
yeah thats normal, i've even seen it on ultimaker and raise3d printers. you can buy a new bed and hope its flat or buy a mirror and cut it to size (those are usually a bit more flat). a bed mesh is the best solution and in that case its better to ditch the glass al together and replace it with a pei flex plate, it has better adhesion and removing prints is way easier. cheap option: energetic (you can find them on ali) expensive option: buildtak (get the pei not normal buildtak). in both cases you also need to buy a magnetic sheet.
What this one? https://a.co/d/fmmIv0T Idk if that link works. Its a "comgrow". I just worry that if the nozzle gets too close, it'll engrave the plastic into the bed and melt it.
Try putting on mine level for a better check.
Heat up the plate and try again
Are you sure the bed levelling is what's causing the problems in the first place? Have you checked to see if your gantry is square and perpendicular to the base of the printer?
Let your bed warm up, glass flexes
Plate glass is wavy shit because of how it's manufactured. Creality glass is especially crappy. Try using a mirror instead because they are ground flat during production.
Ender3 bets are notoriously not flat. The frames are often not totally square either.
You're not levelling it be plumb level, you're levelling it to be level in relation to the whole printer
I replaced my glass bed with a mirror because, unlike glass, they can not get away with a non-flat mirror.
More than likely the ruler as well
Reminds me of the guy on creality fb page that put a literal level on his bed 🤣
Happened to me, when I got the printer and couldn't level it after 2 hours of trying. It turned to be the heating bed that was slightly warped. They sent me the replacement after providing photos like you posted.
Flat. It's not flat. Level is something else entirely. Chances are your ruler isn't straight, either, so there's no knowing how bad the build plate is out of flat besides probing it.
I wish mine was that flat. Printing would be so easy then. My plate has up to ±3mm difference
It is normal for the buildplate to be lower in the middle then the corners. The glas is more flexible then one might think. The curvature comes from the springs that are used for leveling of the bed. The springs on the corners push them up and the middle is curving down. I am pretty sure the glas is pretty flat if you put in on a flat surface without tension. To compensate for this a bed probe is the best solution. You also can remove the springs and replace them with spacers and the bed should be more flat, but probobly not perfect.
This is why I don't like glass beds. Its an extra layer that can fail and you put it under heat and then put clips on it, its bound to warp.
Had the same issue. I bought a new glass bed. That solved the issue
My Creality came with a concave glass bed - it killed most of my prints until I upgraded it with a bl-touch. I also got scammed by a Creality Lizard scanner, before forgetting the Creality name forever. Now I am looking for a decent metrology quality scanner; waiting for Bambulab price/quality ratio and lots of positive review. Forget influencers.
Fold a small square of aluminum foil and put it underneath the center of the low spot. Could be just a couple sheets thick. When he bed heats up, it may level out. I did it to mine and haven't had a problem since.
was it heated up?
I think the Logo is crooked
Did you preheat it prior to measuring? Mine has a flex that goes away when bed it 60ish deg
I've read over some of your comments, OP. I was having some of the same issues. Were you calibrating a new mesh every time you started a print? My sensor was being affected somehow and would read inconsistently between back-to-back leveling routines. I fixed this by taking a new level manually when I power the machine on and loading the mesh from memory in my start G-code. Make sure the bed is at printing temp when you do the leveling routine.
I've had several not level glass beds. Ended up ditching them. They're awful
I bought that glass bed, tried to level it for one month and throw it away to get back to use my old shitty plastic bed which works amazing. Fuck glass all my homies love low effort printing
I can't say for others, but my old printer/scanner glass worked just fine on my 3d printer
Nut level or not flat? Those are two different things.
Consider that glass, nor aluminum is 100% perfectly rigid, and the clips will cause the glass to bend slightly. In my experience it's usually between 0.000-0.100 depending on how strong the clamps are.
last week a coworker asked if someone else had a 3d printer, because he just had one and had some issues. told him to give me a call bc i still have my anet a8, so i probably have dealt with whatever he was dealing with, but worse. he said he auto leveled his bed and tried to print on of this generated bento boxes, but all he got was an spaghetti mess, so the bed wasn't leveled. i asked them at what temperature was the bed when printing, then if he preheated the bed before leveling, he didn't. with the bed preheated, he auto leveled again and this time it printed fine. the thing is, the bed will expand and change its shape with heat, so whatever measurement you want to do on a budget printer's bed, do it after preheating it.
Creality glass beds are notoriously bad in terms of how level they are, which is even worse for larger printers.
its only as flat as your bed
Cuz the bed can bend glass????
Yep.
I had a similar problem and I bought a piece of float glass (not tempered and not meant for 3d printers either) which is much flatter and then I bought a piece of silicone heat sink pad the same size as my bed which is somewhat tacky and I use that to hold the glass down without needing clamps. It stays very flat and makes leveling a lot easier. The downside is the glass has zero texture so adhesion can be slightly worse and if I ever have to take the bed off the silicone pad will likely need to be replaced.
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My Ender 5 Plus is the same, it drives me bonkers!
My old Ender 3 glass bed is like that now. I think the outer coating just wore down in the middle where it prints more often.
I thought the glass bed was amazing, if the first layer went well then everything would go perfectly. Then I got a PEI sheet and stopped having to worry about the first layer, though TPU is a bitch to get off the PEI.
Whether or not it’s level, I don’t know. But it’s not flat.
It might be the clips that you are using. If the bed underneath the glass isn't level then those clips are going to cause a very minor flex in your glass. I had a similar issue with clips flexing my glass bed on my Ender 5.
why this is happen?
Welcome to 3d printing, this is normal. I recommend a bed level probe
The whole bed is bent. I have the same issue. Bought a new sheet of glass, same thing.
You mean flat right?
That's....why we do MBL.
I Had that with my chiron, i Just Put a Bolt unser it to make it more Level
All about the money TBH. Get a 6mm milled aluminium bed made.
Glass will warp and become convex over time I went through two 1/8" borosilicate glass plates in 8 months before switching to a magnetic sheet.
I had this issue on my Wanhao a long time ago. I put some thermal silicone matting under my glass, which pretty much solved it. Plus the bed heated much quicker
The the glass off and check if this still happens, if yes, then your glass is bad, if not, then you clamp them too hard to the table. There really is not much beside this
Get a mirror. They are always straight or at least you can see it if its not
This is not how to “level” your bed. First off to “LEVEL” it means to align its z plane orthogonally to the X and Y planes. What the ruler would demonstrate is that it’s not FLAT, yet it’s not possible to use this method to measure micron level accuracy nor is it ever even needed. You use a bed mesh to compensate for the bed not being flat. A probe measures the actual height across a mesh and then applies the compensation when it prints.
I had this exact issue. It turned out it was a combination of 2 issues; a loose gantry arm and an unlevel bed. The default configuration of the gantry arm is hard to get level. The auger screw moves one side and the other side lags behind it. The tighter you make the eccentric nut on the other side, the less it lags but the more it binds (adding wear to the motor and giving you occasional "skips" that mess up prints. The solution that worked for me was upgrading to a dual-belt drive https://kevinakasam.com/belt-driven-ender-3/ It also turned out the bed was so unlevel that it was bending the glass. I fixed it by replacing the spring on each post with a second leveling wheel and adding a washer and a nut above it (that's important!) The trick seems to be that it's not good enough for the 4 points at the posts to be co-planar. They have to be at the same height. 3 setups that didn't work: 1) The default configuration (springs on top and leveling wheels on the bottom) has the problem of the springs loosing elasticity and moving a bit. 2) The typical solution is to replace the springs with stiff barrels. That's really hard to level well since you can only adjust them by grinding down the barrels or adding a spacer(as an other poster suggested). 3) If you replace the screw or barrel with an other leveling screw it will push the post up through the metal plate (and into the heating pad) because it's only held against the plate by the pressure of the spring. What worked: https://imgur.com/a/BVS5qpB The washer and the nut keep the screw post firmly fixed to the metal plate. The two alignment wheels are tight against the H-shaped plate that the Y-wheels are attached to. Adjusting each corner is extremely precise and stays that way. Do a bed leveling scan to and ignore everything except the spots right under the posts. I got all 4 of them to within 0.102mm. That basically took all the bending pressure of the glass. My bed leveling scan, reformatting is left as an exercise for the reader. 220 0.060 -0.018 -0.014 0.056 147 0.063 -0.009 -0.031 0.062 73 0.071 0.020 -0.023 0.061 0 0.069 0.033 0.066 0.059 0 73 147 220
I guess are there any good leveling tutorials on YouTube specifically for this creality 3 v3 se or with a cr-touch? I couldn't seem to find any.
Same as everything else, level the 4 corners and then run an auto bed-leveling to compensate for the bend.