… or if you'd like to walk back through the process

Before anything familiarize yourself with these Resources

1. Unbox and assemble your printer
2. Connect your printer to your local network
   
3. A word about printer.cfg
4. Tune Z Probe configuration to improve accuracy and speed
5. Tune stepper motor configurations for accuracy & noise
6. Tune the extruder rotational distance
7. Level the gantry
8. A word about bed_leveling
9. Level the bed by running SCREWS_TILT_CALCULATE
10. A word about the bed_mesh
11. Run a full bed mesh
12. Inspect the bed mesh for gross warpage
13. Assure the filament rolls freely from the spool, without causing too much tension on the extruder.
14. Assure the cable to the print head and bed doesn't have excess slack and has free range of motion. Use the included zip ties to attach at key positions to route the head cable. Make sure the plate doesn't hit anything behind it or in front for its full range of motion. You may need to stop motors to move the bed or head.
15. Adjust Nozzle Height - Z Offset
    1. paper method (not recommended, guaranteed to be off but in ballpark)
    2. baby step calibrated

• A word about Print Start Workflows
• A word about print_start_macro
• A word about silicon spacers

Printing the presliced Buddha that Elegoo distributes is a good test as its known good gcode for the Neptune 4 that's been calibrated for Elegoo's PLA Filament.

The Benchy isn't as more a stress test than a functionality test as it has several know highly problematic features.

If you're not using a filament with and already defined filament profile it's recommended you calibrate a profile for it as it will result in improvements over using any default profiles (which are more of a suggested basis to start from.)

Orca slicer offers excellent calibration tools for determining common filament parameters. These can and will vary between the filament you're using, even with respect sometimes to filament color.

For calibrating flow rate, I prefer the following calibration test over the Orca test as it’s less subjectively focused and more functionality focused, uses way less filament and prints quicker: https://www.printables.com/model/1113488-flexi-flow-calibration-tool-v4-by-ck3d

Use your slicer to create a primitive object, a cube, and slice it with your test slicer settings and try to print it.

Learn to use Orca Slicer

Perform Orca Calibrations to build a filament profile for the specific filament you will be using. These filament profiles will vary between material (PLA, PETG, TPU, ASA, ABS, …), type (standard, high speed, high temp, plus, “silk”, matte, …), brand and even color.

Do not tighten or adjust the lock nuts for the lead screw couplers to the gantry. They are set at the factory (lock nuts) and need to be loose. Adjusting lock nuts damages them.

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