Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Z-gap. What is the proper z-gap?

The z-gap setting is quite important for optimum part adhesion to the printbed and clean part finish at the bottom surface.
It is a good idea to watch from the side and the top when the CubeX prints the first layer. Looking at the first layer print lines you can quickly see if your z-gap setting is ok.
The first layer should be a little smushed onto the print bed so you get good adhesion and no gaps between print lines.  A z-gap of just under 0.1mm should do that. Some use just a sheet of paper to check the z-gap.
If you print with ABS, you want your z-gap a little tighter, close to 0.05mm.
See the illustrations below:  (another CubeX user found them somewhere on the Cubify website, - thanks J. Andre!)


 
 
In general, this is what I do before printing:
  1. Select the "Home" button. This will move the print jet behind the print bed so you can do step three.
  2. Make sure the jets don't have any (not even a tiny piece at the tip) of filament left stuck on them otherwise it can affect your z-gap measurement.
  3. Hit the "z-gap" menu button and check or adjust the z-gap with the up/down button.
  4. Then print. 
Note: Always "Home" before setting or checking the z-gap. This has been most consistent.
 
 
 

See also Cubify website for z-gap setting suggestion.

http://cubify.com/blog/how-to-set-z-gap-on-the-cubex/

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Z-Gap.... Sooooo important I've learned!
    Keep up the great Blog posts Rick!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. There are also Z-gap test files on the CubeX page.

    http://cubify.com/cubex/

    http://cubify.com/resource.aspx?link_id=30

    ReplyDelete

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