Using a piece of paper to level the printer bed at a thickness of

3D Printing
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1

Using a piece of paper to level the printer bed at a thickness of 0.1 mm was way too close causing parts to elephant foot and rip blue painters tape being pried off the bed. So I went to a business card at exactly 0.2 mm thick and adjusted till no noise or movement of bed is felt or heard when the card was removed resulted in test cube simply picked off the bed with no more foot and good first layer. So curses to the paperboy and congrates to the business owner

2

I think it depends on how thick your first layer is. By default, most slicers generate a thicker first layer (.2 mm if your using slic3r with a normal layer height of .1mm)

That ensures you have a good smooshed first layer and good adhesion. But it also causes problems with details that are suppose to show up on the first layer.

I configured my printer with an initial layer height of .1mm and changed the first layer height in slic3r accordingly. I also print on glass which helps with getting smooth parts with good detail.

3

Paper can run slightly less than a .1. It’s typically.07 for me which could be your issue. If you ever have it super close to perfect and you just need it a hair up or down just put a G92 offset in your start slicing log and you should be good.

4

My point was that it sounds like using a thicker piece of paper is simply compensating for the default slicer settings which generate a thicker first layer. You could have also solved the issue by adjusting your settings in your slicer to match the actual distance between your extruder and the bed.

I’m personally not a fan of the default settings which assume a poorly configured printer.

5

You can always print this after a paper level and tweek it out a bit:
(not mine)

6

I always level the bed with something thicker than a piece of paper and then adjust my z offset in my slice settings to get the optimal first layer. That way I don’t risk crashing the nozzle into the bed.

7

When I started into 3D printing I thought it would be as simple as building or buying some machine and plastic and making fancy parts but quickly realized to be good at it we must be masters of physics, mechanics, electronics, chemistry, metrology and CAD but most of all a devotion and love for what we are doing and sharing