Yet Another Easy Bed Levelling

Hi,

I found a cheap L-shaped metal profile the other day, and decided that since the bed levelling problems are due to the bed-insulator bending, it's worth a try to simply stiffen that.



Bottom line: Only a bit of sawing and some glue needed so far, and the profile cost approximately £4 for a whole metre.

Gluing two 215mm lengths to the bottom of the insulator seemed easier than drilling holes in the heat spreader (and maybe ending up missing that later on), and most of the levelling screws on my bed don't reach all the way through the holes in the insulator anyway because of the bending, so there's no need to drill the profile.

There is a little space between the glass and the new side of the bed so the glass can't be held in place by the sides (probably not a good idea anyway). If the clips can't hold the glass like this, I might try using spring clips steel thingies instead (sorry, don't know the English name -- small springy metal pieces that are used in PC cabinets to hold the sides still). That might even make it possible to mount/unmount the glass without having to remove any clips at all... And I like the looks of the shiny side better than the cardboard/wood/PCB/clips/glass design. :-)




/Allan

Nice mod Allan - I'd thought of something similar, but I intended have the bed lie on the bottom of the "L" - and couldn't find any profile shallow enough for me to do that - it looks like you've put it on top and it looks comfortable there Is there enough left to run along the front and stiffen it further?

Ray

Nice one zeAllan!

also, for those using 3 point adjustment only, a single length of the L-shaped metal profile turned upside down would be great to support the backside of the bed as to extend the y-axis-cross-rib's support of the back corners

Quote

..and most of the levelling screws on my bed don't reach all the way through the holes in the insulator anyway because of the bending, so there's no need to drill the profile.

..so your adjustment nuts are just standing on the bed, no nuts underneath?

Erik

I never had nuts underneath the isolator, only above it -- the screws were too short, and the next length would touch the alu profile in the back because the isolation board was so bendy. The bed is held firmly in place by the screw holes not being perfectly aligned anyway.

My isolator has only been bending in the back, so there was no need to stabilize the two sides with respect to each other. Yet, anyway. Doing so would require something to be cut off from the Y ribs or the profile itself to make it fit, and another way of holding the glass is definitely required. It goes a bit beyond "easy" for my skills, but is worth a try some day -- I have only used 43cm of the profile so far...

Hi,

Found a way to hold the plate that seems to be both simple and stable -- provided that the heater plate is high enough to be almost flush with the upper end of the side profiles: A piece of zip tie between the glass and each of the back screw heads!



The front of the glass rests against the other two screw heads, and for the sides I cut two pieces from a plastic box (destined to be cut into part PCB connector protection layer and already mounted as temporary fan duct), which fit perfectly between the side profile and the heat spreader, holding the glass tightly in place in the Y direction (practically invisible once cut to size):



The zip ties can be pulled tight from the sides and are removed and replaced as easy as the clips, without ever getting in the way. They are turned around so the "ribs" are on the outside, preventing them from sliding too loose. Let me be the first to be surprised about that, but it has been working through probably 30 hours of printing so far.

I do intend to cut a piece of profile in shape to be placed across the front any decade now, but cosmetically the sides are worst. :-)

/Allan

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2014 05:53PM by ZeAllan.

Doh - you beat me to it Allan I'm hoping to do that with my new bed - just constrain the glass horizontally using preload springs, rather than squeeze it vertically with clamps/clips to keep it still (which may cause doming if whatever it's resting on isn't flat is domed) - looking good!

Ray

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2014 05:57PM by rayhicks.