Dual extruder calibration test

youmagine

Human: Update 2016 Apr 3: V2 of the test was added, which is functionally equivalent but adds a base to part1 so that I don't have to remember to add a raft each time. The design was slimmed down a little by moving the Y axis under the X axis, and renamed parts to remind me which way around I normally assign them. V2 takes a little longer to print than V1, especially if you can manage without a raft, so use whichever works best for you. Load both parts into your slicer/host software. Make sure that both are at the same XY position (some plater software will try and autoplace the two parts and mess up the alignment). In Repetier host, assign both parts to the same group using the "Object informations" dialog that pops up when you click the cog icon to the right of the part name in the object placement tab. Also, assign the parts to the right extruders. In Cura, use the "dual extrusion merge" right menu option by right-clicking on one of the parts after you load them. With Slic3r stand-alone, it seems like you need to load the first part, then open the settings dialog and use the "load part..." button to associate the second part. Then assign the right extruder to each sub-part in the object in the same settings dialog. Each axis consists of 19 pairs of pegs. When the offsets are correct, the middle pegs of each set will line up (the rest won't). It's best to get the offsets roughly right using a ruler or calipers, but if you're way off, you can still measure the distance between the center pegs to get started. Once the error is less than one millimeter, you can find the best matching pegs and read the digit beside them. That's the correction needed in units of 0.1mm. You can either figure out the sign from the arrangement of the extruders or use good old trial and error. In the photo of the V2 print (red ABS and blue nylon), it looks like an additional .1 to .2mm of correction is needed for both axes. The pegs are 2mm wide so they should print with a variety of extrusion widths. I had trouble getting the first layer down with the fiddly detail, so I used a one-layer thick raft to provide a base (V2 has the raft built in). It's best to print slowly and accurately for this test.