Question about software printer geometry corrections.

[Expresso]

Hello,

Noob here still trying to learn more about 3D printing technologies in general but currently focusing mostly on trying to figure out the pros and cons of the different 3D printers currently being offered on the market.

It appears that using software to correct geometry imperfections on misaligned printers and warped beds is all the rage right now. Personally, I don’t see this as being a bad thing if such trickery will help me get better prints.

My understanding is that the M2 is built so well that it does not require usage of any of those software tricks, is that the case? Assuming that the M2 does not currently use software to correct for misalignments, could the M2 benefit from implementing such technologies? Or are the tolerances on the M2 so tight that there is zero need for that?

Thank you.

[atomic_peach]

I'm sure others can provide a more detailed answer for the M2 but this machine doesn't really need it. The auto leveling beds you see now spawned for two main reasons in my opinion: ability to use cheaper and thinner materials and ability to print without being perfect. By using software compensation, it doesn't matter if your bed is warped slightly or unable to be levelled easily for whatever reason. I feel most people look for these beds because they don't want to deal with leveling the bed frequently or checking its levelness between prints. Removing a print with the bed on the machine could tweak the levelness, so to best preserve its level, one should remove the bed in order to remove a print. I feel it is more the lazy factor driving autoleveling beds more than machine and material needs.

From what I've researched, the M2 is a very rigid machine with an extremely easy to remove and replace bed platform. Those two parameters alone are enough proof to me that I don't need an autoleveling bed. I'm personally against the autoleveling feature because it's a band-aid to cover up the real problem. Levelling a bed is not difficult and MakerGear's app makes it super simple to do. If you take care of the machine and use quality components, you'll rarely need to re-level.

[Jules]

Hello,

Noob here still trying to learn more about 3D printing technologies in general but currently focusing mostly on trying to figure out the pros and cons of the different 3D printers currently being offered on the market.

It appears that using software to correct geometry imperfections on misaligned printers and warped beds is all the rage right now. Personally, I don’t see this as being a bad thing if such trickery will help me get better prints.

My understanding is that the M2 is built so well that it does not require usage of any of those software tricks, is that the case? Assuming that the M2 does not currently use software to correct for misalignments, could the M2 benefit from implementing such technologies? Or are the tolerances on the M2 so tight that there is zero need for that?

Thank you.

The older M2s used it for fine tuning sometimes. (Not a difficult process using the software.) The newest models (Rev.E) don't need it, they zero at the bottom of the Z axis. (There is a way to code in superfine adjustments if you want to, but I don't know anyone who uses it.....not much gained by it.)

Yeah, they're that good. Set it once and forget it.