<p>Generally, there is no <em>best</em> way, there are only the ways that work for you.</p>
<p><strong>I</strong> use a feeler gauge, mounted on a detachable holder. I home to 0, lift the Z by 1 mm, and then level the bed to the same number on the screws and corners. Then I home back to Z=0 and perform an extrusion test, and if that is not satisfactory, use a different number for the leveling. The number on the plunger does not generally read 1 mm, as there is an offset between the 0 of the gauge and the printer.</p>
<p>When I don't level from 0 or am in a hurry, I usually only alter leveling by doing about 2-5° turns on all the screws to adjust the 0-height via the nuts, using the visual of the printed line as my aide. This only works because I have the experience how a good first layer should look like.</p>
<p>Another typical method that I stopped using once I had the feeler gauge is the paper, but I found it inconsistent.</p>
<h2>Do not do these:</h2>
<ul>
<li>Leveling the bed with a level does <strong>not</strong> lead to good prints - your print bed needs to be parallel to the movement of the printhead, not to the earth!</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-21T18:32:46.613Z
2021-01-22T00:01:00.877Z
2021-01-22T00:01:00.877Z
Trish
<p>Recently I’ve been having trouble leveling my bed on my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Creality</a> Ender 3 Pro.  It’s not that it’s hard to level or anything, it’s that it won’t stay level for more than a day or two.  I’ve been leveling it the same way as always with a piece of paper and I’ve been sure to disable steppers.  So if anyone knows what I can do about this, please let me know.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-21T17:53:18.107Z
I have the same printer, run into the same issue.  Have you tried using a small level?  you can use it to calibrate levelness in the Y-axis (front to back) and X-axis (left to right) along with your paper approach (which helps calibrate the z-axis)
Glenn Ferrie
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-21T23:57:14.020Z
@GlennFerrie you level the bed to the earth, but you need to make it parallel to the print head movements!
Trish
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-24T11:29:48.290Z
you can get stronger springs that go around the screws that hold the buildplate; they help hold it in place better. I hardly ever have to "touchup" my CR10S after that particular upgrade. Oh, and make sure to pre-heat the plate before leveling (which makes it "fun"); hot metal will have a different tension/gap than cold, which could explain why it's inconsistent for you if you adjust it at different temps than you print at.
dandavis
<creality-ender-3><bed-leveling><calibration>
What’s the best way of leveling the bed?
Dummy Scripts
# What’s the best way of leveling the bed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-21)

Recently I’ve been having trouble leveling my bed on my [Creality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creality) Ender 3 Pro. It’s not that it’s hard to level or anything, it’s that it won’t stay level for more than a day or two. I’ve been leveling it the same way as always with a piece of paper and I’ve been sure to disable steppers. So if anyone knows what I can do about this, please let me know.

**Tags:** creality-ender-3, bed-leveling, calibration

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I have the same printer, run into the same issue.  Have you tried using a small level?  you can use it to calibrate levelness in the Y-axis (front to back) and X-axis (left to right) along with your paper approach (which helps calibrate the z-axis)  
> **username_2**: @username_1 you level the bed to the earth, but you need to make it parallel to the print head movements!  
> **username_3**: you can get stronger springs that go around the screws that hold the buildplate; they help hold it in place better. I hardly ever have to "touchup" my CR10S after that particular upgrade. Oh, and make sure to pre-heat the plate before leveling (which makes it "fun"); hot metal will have a different tension/gap than cold, which could explain why it's inconsistent for you if you adjust it at different temps than you print at.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-01-21. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Generally, there is no *best* way, there are only the ways that work for you.

**I** use a feeler gauge, mounted on a detachable holder. I home to 0, lift the Z by 1 mm, and then level the bed to the same number on the screws and corners. Then I home back to Z=0 and perform an extrusion test, and if that is not satisfactory, use a different number for the leveling. The number on the plunger does not generally read 1 mm, as there is an offset between the 0 of the gauge and the printer.

When I don't level from 0 or am in a hurry, I usually only alter leveling by doing about 2-5° turns on all the screws to adjust the 0-height via the nuts, using the visual of the printed line as my aide. This only works because I have the experience how a good first layer should look like.

Another typical method that I stopped using once I had the feeler gauge is the paper, but I found it inconsistent.

## Do not do these:

* Leveling the bed with a level does **not** lead to good prints - your print bed needs to be parallel to the movement of the printhead, not to the earth!


---

