Print Better by Discovering your Form1+ Advanced Calibrations

I want to try this with my machine. do you bathe the platform before measuring? I don’t want to get resin all over my calipers.

Yea I used the lab bottle that came with the finishing kit to rinse it first.

Hi JoshK,

I ran your calibration test last night and was presently surprised how accurate the printer was -

In the Y-Axis I measured 100.10mm (0.10% out) and in the X-Axis measured 100.25mm (0.25% out).

Following your lead, I’ve created an Excel calculator to calculate the required % increase or decrease from the calibration print measurements. It can be downloaded here – Form1+ Calibration Calculator

I also uploaded an STL version of your test to Sketchfab…. more of an excuse to try Sketchfab, then anything else.

10x10x10mm Form1+ Scale Calibration Test Print by nextgen3dltd on Sketchfab

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Sorry, messed up the Sketchfab link … should have looked like this

Thanks. It seems the default calibrations are pretty good for everyone. I think the left-to-right direction is the X axis though. And both textboxes in the photo say “Decrease Y-Axis by:” There is an edit button on each post, you can use it to change the picture or fix links. Thanks for posting your results!

Hi JoshK,

On the Formlabs website it gives the axis directions as Y = Hinge to peel & X = front to back - pic.

There is some logic in the Excel sheet that automatically tells you weather you need to increase or decrease the scale based on the calculations. e.g. if i entered a value of 99.25mm for Y, the calculator would tell you to increase Y-Axis by 0.75%.

I’m having problems reprinting the test as some of the cubes aren’t sticking to the build plate. I think I will add rafts to the cube bases and try that.

Really? That’s wack. I guess I should have run the scale test twice.

If you had a cube or two not adhere that probably means those corners of the platform are too far from the tank. Try lowering your platform height 0.1 and try again.

Thanks JoshK,

Revive

Can I print this along with other tests? Or will this need to be printed alone.

wanting to print with test cube along with some other small things:
Test Cube

Thanks

No worries, it should print just fine with other stuff.

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Thanks for the quick response! Ill let ya know how it goes

This is a great print to calibrate. I use it all the time. I have noticed that the calibration can change (slightly) if the temperature changes dramatically in the room. Probably not a major issue for most but I do a lot of mechanical parts

Heres what I got. Measuring from the bottom, the values were not bad (100.02 mm in the Y & 100.09 mm in the X), but could use a tweak. What concerned me more was the shift. All cubes are shifted away from the hinge and away from the front until 4mm away from the base where you can see the line, then they’re perfect. I know it’s kind of stretched from the peel process, but any other explanations? They’re also ~9.25 mm in the Z, just for info. I do know about the Z compression on the first couple layers.



Well that line 4mm up is probably where the double-cure ends. They have had issues with base layers coming apart so that’s the reason for the double-cure being taller than it used to be. The skewing would normally be a loose platform moving, but your tops are so perfect I doubt your platform is loose. My guess would be it has something to do with resistance changes on the circuit board as the board comes up to operating temperature. Maybe see what @Formlabs support gives for a reason.

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Thank you, I will definitely be contacting them to see what’s up.

Edit: This was a great test and gave me good insight on how my printer is performing. Also, the additional test cube I added had spot on dimensions, except for the bottom ha.

Good to hear. Let us know what their explanation is.

Josh - Sorry I’m rather late this this party, but any chance I could get the file, I tried dropbox, but it was not available…

Thanks,
Barry

I bet @ChristopherBarr has a copy. Dropbox only gives me 2gb so I occasionally delete files I don’t use anymore, and I don’t always remember which ones have been shared long ago. I can’t find a local copy either.

Form1 Scale Test.form (7.6 KB)

There’s also these test objects and calculator I created later

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Hi, did you manage to get an answer to this issue? I’m having the same problem and I’d like to know what’s causing it. thanks in advance!