Prusa i3 Dial Indicator Mount

myminifactory

I created a remix of an excellent design from Thingiverse, making minor adjustments to fit my dial indicator's 20mm wide mount tab instead of the original 18mm mount. If your mount tab is 18mm wide, you should use the original design. I was amazed by how far off my bed was after checking it with this tool. This tool is specifically designed for Prusa printers with Z axis bearing rods 45mm apart and fits perfectly on my printer. The dial indicator does a much more precise job of leveling the bed than using the drag paper method, resulting in much more consistent first layers. It's especially helpful for larger prints and saves time as I can quickly check all four corners with the dial indicator without having to move the x axis near the bed. My procedure involves attaching the dial indicator to the left side of the X axis and moving the bed forward so that it's in the rear corner, then zeroing the indicator. Next, I move the bed backwards and take a reading on the front left corner, adjusting the bed leveling screw until the dial indicator reads zero. Then, I move the dial indicator to the right side of the X axis carriage, taking care not to zero it, and take a reading on the front right side of the bed, adjusting the bed leveling screw until the indicator reads zero. After that, I move the bed forwards and take a reading on the rear right corner, adjusting the bed leveling screw until the dial indicator reads zero. Finally, I move the extruder to the middle of the bed and do my normal Z height adjustment, as all four corners are level so no further checks should be needed other than the middle of the bed. After printing, I was pleased to find that I didn't have to clean up any of the holes and the nut retaining location was the right size. However, the latch requires a long screw which I didn't have, so I used a special metal threaded insert for plastic where you heat it up and press it into place. It would be nice if there were a pocket for a nut so that the long screw wouldn't be needed.