Talk:Bed leveling probes

A slightly informal introduction to the first draft.

Over the years since I built my first 3D printer, a Prusa Mendel, I have concentrated on bed leveling probes and bed leveling in general. During this time, almost every new type or variation of Z-probe that I have heard about has been mulled over and CAD modeled, with many eventually becoming working or non-working devices. Every new philosophy of bed leveling or discussion about terminology has also been taken apart and minutely examined for flaws. Sometimes I have debated with others on the RepRap or other forums, hoping to acquire some new wisdom or maybe just to pass on what I have learned.

The CAD renderings in this Wiki entry are largely from that time. Most, but not all, did become real devices that taught me about the unexpected behavior of anything mechanical or electronic. Some of the CAD models never got built or bought; the Euclid probe was replaced by my own Dockable Delta probe while still in Turbocad's imagination; the self-deploying probe was so different from the model and so ugly that the CAD model will have to suffice.

Another reason for the CAD models is that I have recently learned that the "Fair Use Exemption" that allows pictures to be scraped from sales web pages may have more holes than Emmenthal cheese. Best to use pictures that you can hold your hand over your left ventricle and swear are yours.

I am still trying to clean up the notes I have on the origins of information in this entry, mostly links to other Wiki entries, forum entries, GitHub pages YouTube videos, etc.