I won’t be doing it at all, no need, but if not print at home then some aftermarket build plate manufacturers are sure to emulate it for a fraction of the price. Seriously, this thing should be $20, not $115. Can’t even use it as a build plate.
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I am sure that they will appear cheaper somewhere aftermarket, but will they be of the same quality also?
This is all about accuracy. And a big part of the price is due to that accuracy.
It is not a cheap component and if you don’t need accurate parts then you don’t need it.
This is for people that make accurate engineering parts that require high precision.
The printer is calibrated at the factory, but transport and even the surface you place the printer on might influence the positional accuracy.
I think you are really missing the point here. This is the same as using a caliper as a wrench.
Nevertheless you are free to have your own opinion on this topic.
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Oh no, I get it. It is literally a printed design on a not-even build plate, a $20 part, and something that should have either been included or preferably not been needed at all. You do you, but it bothered me paying for a very expensive machine that will only give you its best performance with an additional overpriced “special” purchase. And, after seeing it’s poor performance over the last few nights, I’m pretty salty.
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Probably required a very special printer to produce them. One with perfect precision
It’s a precision calibration tool. Just because it’s flat and it’s thin doesn’t mean it should be cheap or should be used as a build plate.
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When I receive mine, I will make a picture of it, and share it here, so you can print it out on a 600pdi printer and glue it onto a build plate.
Then you have your personal 20$ version of the Vision Encoder.
If you are lucky, you can even still print on it.
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I mean, the plate it is stuck to sells for $60
To get a 5 micron resolution you need 5080dpi printer.
To get a 5 micron accuracy, you need a printer with minimally 25400dpi.
Quality is not cheap. Although some think it is.
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From what I heard its not very noticeable on a “new” and calibrated machine. I assume the encoder will be more beneficial as the printer ages and get some wear and tear on it.
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And possibly after belt tensioning.
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When transport has been rough and/or you place it on a less flat surface, the frame might already been deformed slightly.
50 microns is nothing then.
But as mentioned earlier, it depends on your accuracy requirements if you need it or not.
Like no other thread here, this one separates the know-it-alls from the ones that actually know what they’re talking about.
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Thanks! 
Please make sure it’s high-res and I’ll print it on my Canon Pro-1 at 4400 X 2400 and try it out. I know you’re being facetious but I would still give it a try just for S&G’s. I didn’t think it was something I needed but since my Ender 3 is laying down better lines than my H2D right now, maybe I do!
Seriously though, there’s a good argument to be had that it either should have been provided or the printer should have been calibrated to this accuracy. Additional cost at this price point doesn’t make sense when the X1C is purported to achieve 50 microns on it’s own.
Please don’t waste any time on this.
First of all, if a hi-res image would be required, it would be better to decode the bar codes on the plate and rebuild the image to scale in a graphical package. That would eliminate all deviations that might come from scanning the plate.
Also a slight change in humidity is enough to scale your paper by 0.1%, which is far beyond the accuracy that you need.
If you would be able to print on polyester drawing film, you might overcome the scaling by humidity.
Then the next issue you would face will be the accuracy of the printer itself.
Most laser printers have a resolution (not accuracy) of 600dpi or maybe even 1200dpi, and that isn’t enough to get an accurate dimension.
Last but not least I wouldn’t know if you would calibrate your printer with the end result, you would be able to fix your accuracy afterwards. Probably you could, but only with a $115 BBL Vision Encoder.
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One of mine were more than 0.5mm off for a large part!
Now I really gotta get around to factoring in shrinkage…
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Also, the “consumer-minded” takes are quite funny. Sorry the optional calibration tool isn’t a build sheet? Oh, it doesn’t come with a spool of material or a can of coke… Terrible “deal” 
Note: there is an ignore function, you can go into a members profile and ignore them forever. I recommend using it, when you find members here who are just detracting from sensible/professional discussion. Cheers!
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That interesting. Yours is off by about 2x what mine is. A guy on another thread said he got his down to about 80um average with a max of around 150um (going from memory) by tuning his belts. I wonder if it even matters, or whether we can count on the vision encoder plate to act as a enough of an equalizer that the native differences no longer matter?
This shows the physical differences between the printers.
Many factors influence physical accuracy. Also the gantry racking has influence.
Machine might also be slightly skewed, but unfortunately that is not separately reported.