Adjust and calibrate the build plate manually

Adapted from original post HERE

At initial calibration of the building plate, you can benefit from the automatic adjustment using the "Level buildplate" function in the 3D printer control screen. This makes the plate fast and easy to be in line with the X and Y axes.

However, in normal use, the building plate can be manually adjusted using a thicker than normal piece of paper (I use heavy white paper from the art room). Follow the instructions below to perform a manual calibration of the building plate. This works with the Flashforge 3D printers, Finder, and Guider.

• Put your 3D printer on preheating by selecting the "Preheat" button. This heats the nozzle so that any hardened plastic on the tip melts away.
• Via the touch screen, select Home. This resets all axis.
• Then press the Tools> Manual button to manually move the Z axis.
• Press and hold the Z (minus) button so that the plate lifts almost all the way up to the tip of the nozzle.
• When it's about a few centimeters left for the print tip, release the button and notice what it says for Z-height numeric value.
• Proceed slowly with short presses until you reach value zero, or as close to zero as you can.
• In this mode, the build plate is the same as it is when printing the first layer.
• Get the paper ready.
• Place it on the build plate, approximately on top of the building platform's front adjusting screw, so that the paper is clamped between the top of the building plate and the underside of the print tip. You also need to move the printhead by hand so that it is approximately above the front adjusting screw.
• Adjust the screw clockwise or counterclockwise while moving the paper back and forth until you feel the paper just scratches against the tip. Now you have approximately 0.2 mm air gap between the build plate and the print tip.
• Move the paper and print head by hand to the back of the building plate and repeat with the other two screws so that the paper even scratches against the tip.
• Then move the paper and print head to the center of the building plate and repeat the process there. Due to the fact that the plate can bend slightly up or down, you may also need to make a final fine-tuning of the building plate height, up or down, even in the middle. This mid-adjustment needs to be done by either tightening or loosening approximately equal to all three screws. This ensures that the plate moves parallel up or down as much.
• From now on the build plate will be leveled and approximately 0.2 mm from the print tip where the molten plastic will come out when printing the first layer.