Top 5 3d Printing Tips For Beginners

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In this video, we go over 5 tips that I believe are the most important for someone that is new to 3d printing. This will really help to ensure you are set up for success. By following along and implementing the various tips covered in this video you will be prepared to get up and running much quicker with successful prints.

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[andrewneer]

how can someone be so informative while being so stylish

[artiem]

From Adam Savage -- "The difference between screwing around and science is writing things down." Take notes! What worked? What didn't? What did I change to make it better (or worse)? I know, from my records, that certain kinds/colours of filament have more bed adhesion problems than others. Some kinds iof PLA want things hotter or cooler. Keep good notes. Develop your own checklists and use them! Just because it's a hobby doesn't mean you can't learn to do things better and easier.

[jimhinkle]

SPOT ON!!!! I learned A LOT on my first printer (Anet A8 which I tried to upgrade before learning to use it, and FAILED). I got my 1st Ender 3 and ran it stock. It was great out of the box and helped me to learn a ton of information on how these things work. Most important things for me was 1. BED LEVEL 2. FAN AT 100% FOR PLA. 3. ALWAYS WATCH THE 1st Also, stick with ONE FILAMENT FROM THE SAME MANUFACTURER UNTIL YOU ARE COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE/KNOWLEDGEABLE!!! That way, it'll help in troubleshooting any issues that may come up. WHEN you start making adjustments to your slicer or printer, DO ONE CHANGE AT A IF you make more settings and something works, you're less likely to know what variable affected it the most.

[richardtullius]

I’ll be 76 on the 24, I bought my first 3D printer a few weeks ago, I love it, Ender 3S1, did my own research and bought the Ender because it was on sale. Have printed 6-8 items, a benchy and the cat on the Ender SD card, and several items, all with good success. I just finished a iPad stand, took over 40 hours to print, supports were a real pain, broke the stand but it’s still very usable, could glue the broken piece on, but I think I’m just going to sand it where it broke, and I’ll be the only one that knows. I have so much to learn, even thinking about buying a second printer, maybe bigger, maybe better. I love your channel, have subscribed.

[bacc]

Threw a like for the skating analogy lol

[woodwaker]

I agree with all of these, leveling and watching the first layer really go together. By watching the first layer you can spot leveling and Z offset problems. Another tip is to get a second printer. Many upgrades or improvements are made by printing some of the parts. I remember when I had only one, printing a new part and installing it and having to revert back to the original to make a small change - reprint and try again. I have 4 now and usually have one not working waiting on a part to be printed on another one.

[runninwithskiza]

Got my printer 2 weeks ago. Probably the most sound skateboard analogy I've heard. Start from the basics. I want to print PETG, but I'm 60hrs deep into the PLA learning curve...

[ddsby]

I wish I heard Tip #1 when I started out this year. I modded my Ender 3 Pro a month in and it literally rendered it useless for a month. Now I'm back up and running because I took out all the upgrades and ran everything stock. Slowly and surely I'll install those mods, but right now I'm just learning the basics

[tp]

Make sure the bed is level and you have the right slicer settings. You can look up how to do these. If the print is not sticking to the bed, get an elmers glue stick and rub it on the bed. It will come off with windex.

[DJeff_DPrinting]

I've been printing for 3 yrs or so & you, sir, nailed it!!

[AndrewAHayes]

If you have the stock thin wire springs on your bed and you are having problems with levelling then change your springs for the stronger yellow ones and levelling the bed will become much easier and your bed will stay level, the stock springs will work ok for a few months but they will eventually lose their tension and bed levelling will become a pain

[kiksu]

Good and very important tips! I watched 3D printing videos at least for a month before I decided to buy a printer. I've had it little over a week now and it prints perfectly. Level the bed!

[theorangebaron]

Hi ModBot, I like your videos.







You help newer people getting into the hobby and you also provide useful info for seasoned 3d printers(people). Thank you for being part of the community!

[ydeardorff]

If you have a magnetic bed with PEI sheet, use a steel ruler or other known flat edge, and check for true flatness of your heated bed. If you find low spots, use clear packing tape in the low spots on your magnetic sheet under the PEI sheet. Shim with tape, and recheck. keep doing this until all the hills and valleys are fixed. It made a huge difference for my Good ole, modded Anet A8

[Mrpurple]

YES!!! Very good advice. I have had my printer for about a year and a half and I agree with all five. I upgraded my bearings out of the box to igus and they were so loose I thought my printer was crap, I didn’t know any different. My blocks don’t squeeze the bearings the way they are supposed to be. I changed a bunch of slicer settings to get my machine right. My laptop crashed and I had to start over from scratch with default settings, OMG! The printer worked better than ever. If not for the crash I would still be fighting it. Bed leveling, I have two Z axis steppers and one will slip a notch, time to re-level. Tip #6 don’t make your setup a rigid bed if you have two steppers. Didn’t do this but see a lot of it online and people complaining that their prints are wonky. First layer, heck yeah! Wife makes fun of me for watching it. I put 6 rings around my prints for two reasons, 1 I change types and manufacturers of filament on the regular and they don’t always get along even the same from different manufacturers especially PETG. I’ve had many prints foul up do to incompatibility. 2 bed leveling, it usually gives me time to level it more while it’s running those 6 passes. PLA is probably the best to start with. It’s consistent as long as you get decent stuff and not wet brittle crud because it’s cheaper. That little roll they send with most printers is okay most of the time but I would purchase a roll of decent filament to start off with. Transparent PLA is good because it lets you see a lot of issues you might not normally catch, too hot, too wet, infill issues, etc. It’s PLA, you can paint it later. I think I’ve gone on long enough

[Doughy_in_the_Middle]

Your first tip was something I was told, and I SWORE I was going to do...but panicked and caused HELL for myself.

If you're nerd enough to be 3D printing, you might be a D&D nerd too, and possibly watch Critical Role. If you're unfamiliar with it, go find a video of "Victor, the Gunpowder Merchant" from their first campaign. He has a line that is often repeated, "Learn from my mistakes!" Hence, I tell everyone, "RUN IT STOCK". At least for 10-20 prints.

I bought my machine in early Covid. Spent a couple months making space and cleaning the basement. Assembled it around the first of June 2020. Worked GREAT for several prints. Was so stoked. Then...I could NOT get it to level. Nothing I did worked. I'd spent all those months watching forums and reading the noob questions. I knew, "Level your bed", "Check your z-offset", "Calibrate your e-steps", "Check the flow rate". Nothing worked.

And...even though promised myself I wouldn't install them (as a friend said to run it stock too), I installed the BLTouch. Or tried to. Had to flash the board. That was hell enough. Still, couldn't get it to level once I DID get the board flashed. Checked every eccentric nut. Nothing. Then, while in the midst of my second or third near-sleepless night, I blearily looked and saw the x-gantry pulley wobbling. Fiddled with it for 15 minutes and...it got better.

Then, I found out the trick about putting locknuts on the bed screws because mine were spinning like a radio dial when I turned the leveling knobs. Fixed those too.

Worst thing was: I found out why I couldn't flash the board with the "you don't need an pin adapter" trick: my USB port was fried. So...I bought an SKR Mini. No need to flash.

[otwpmzl]

About bed leveling... Some printers come with manual, some come with auto out of the box... Both are good in some way, both are bad in some way. But, in my opinion, the best option is a printer that comes with manual bed leveling but you can put an auto level sensor on it as an upgrade. For example, the Kingroon KP3S and KP5L 3D printers. By the way, I started off with the KP3S and am planning to upgrade to the KP5L.

[terosaarela]

Good and solid advice! I recently purchased my Ender 3 Pro, and actually have been going along those lines with good results. On the bed leveling I would add that learning to manually level your bed helps you to find out whether your bed is flat or not. The bed on mine is slightly concave, so if the corners are set perfect, the center section is a tad high and I have to take that into account when printing on the center. That’s probably the biggest reason why I’m looking into getting a BLtouch. Also, it is more likely that the nozzle will clog, and that may happen over time, resulting in gradually worsening prints. Thanks for the video!

[haydongood]

Thanks for this I have my first printer (Ender 3 V2) on the way and have also heaps of upgrades coming too. Will definitely start with the out of box setup now after these great tips! Thanks!

[ianfranklin]

Love the shout out to Braille :) So many of your shirt/brand choices make so much sense now :D