⚙️Calibration

No-nonsense 3D printing calibration guide | Orca Slicer | Bambu Lab - P1S x AMS

Do these calibrations with the "0.20mm Standard" profile, stop fµcking around kid.

Filament Calibration

Don't forget to calibrate your printer first.

It's a good idea to make sure your belts are properly tensioned before attempting any calibration process. I know, it's a pain in the ass, but making sure the hardware is properly calibrated first will ensure you get valid, consistant and thus usable calibration results.

As I have a P1S, I'll follow these steps:

• Check belts - retension if necessary

• Inspect carbon rods & Z-axis linear rods - Wipe with Isopropanol once a month

• Check Z-axis lubrication - Clean & lubricate if necessary / if you see plastic debris stuck

• Run the 30mn calibration process, get a coffee.

Start fresh. Create a new generic filament profile. Brands tend to change their recipes over time, so the PLA you buy right now from vendor X might not be exactly the same as the ones you bought a year ago.

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Temperature

First things first: find the ideal temperature in the "normal" range given by the manufacturer.

Look for overhangs first, then bridges and finally overall surface quality.

Once you found the proper temperature:

• Update the filament profile accordingly. First Layer Temp = Ideal Temperature + 5°C

• Save your profile & quit the project.

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Flow Rate

• Run the YOLO (Recommended) test included in Orca Slicer (2.2.0+).

• Find the print with the smoothest top surface, don't pay attention to corners or the value text.

• Update your filament profile's pressure advance value accordingly and save it.

• Create a new project & discard all changes.

• Run the YOLO (Perfectionist) test to fine-tune.

Run the perfectionist test once more if you're really picky and think quality might get even better. I'd side with Goodenov since we're already running both tests once each.

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Pressure Advance

Run the Pattern calibration process, the tower method is harder to gauge and the line method takes as long as the pattern method with less "precision".

Most of the time my ideal value is somewhere around 0.015. You can make an initial broader pass with a startValue of 0, maxValue of 0.4 and a stepValue of 0.05. Then you can make a second pass with startValue and maxValue set according to your first results and a finer stepvalue of 0.01 or 0.005 if you're REALLY into torturing your eyes and mind.

To find the your filament's ideal P.A value:

1. Find the line with the smallest value where the tip is sharp but slightly raised

2. Find the line with the highest value, but below the previous value, where the tip is rounded

3. Your ideal value is somewhere between those two I'd even go as far as to say it probably is the one 2 steps below the line you found in the first step.

Note your value, quit the project, discard the changes, open a new project and update your filament profile with said value. Save it. Twice. Just to make sure.

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Max Volumetric Speed

This allows you to find how much your printer can actually go Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

You need to understand that setting print speed to 300mm.s won't change anything if your filament's max flowrate is set at 15mm^3.s; that's why we need to find how fast it can go before going Brrrrrrrrr.

Most PLA & PETG can be printed at around 15-20mm3/s with no issues on the P1S. (That being said, I've installed a CHT nozzle on mine and reached a clean 28mm3/s on most PLA)

Run the calibration process with a startValue at 10 or 15, a maxValue of 35 and a stepValue of 0.5 .

Look at the print from different angles and:

• Find where the sheen changes. This might be accompanied or preceded by artefacts or inconsistencies.

• Find the point where inconsistencies start and measure its height in mm.

Use the following calculation to determine the correct max flow value to save:

startValue + ( {measuredHeight in mm} * stepValue) - 1

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Retraction (optional)

Cause ain't nobody wanna see spidey webs on their prints, right ?

This one is pretty self explanatory so ... startValue: 0mm maxValue: 1mm steps: 0.1mm

Look for the height where there are no strings and no blobs visible. Don't forget to update your filament profile with the result value.

In my case, I rarely go above 0.2mm with the P1S.