The Beginner's Beginner Guide to 3D Printing

OVERVIEW: when I decided to buy a 3d printer, I spent hours watching videos to figure out which printer to buy, how to assemble it, and other beginner's things. There was a lot of noise. In this video, I'll show you how to get confident QUICKLY after purchasing your printer. This video is perfect for everyone who knows little to nothing about printers, including which one to buy.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
1:26 What 3D printer should I buy?
3:24 How do I set-up my Ender 3 Printer?
5:09 What filament should I buy?
5:30 How do I level my Ender 3?
6:49 How do you design 3d prints?
8:35 What else should I buy with my 3D Printer?

ITEMS: nothing in this video is sponsored. I'm linking everything mentioned in this video below. I signed up for amazon's affiliates program yesterday, so I might earn like a dollar or two if you buy this stuff?

USEFUL LINKS BY SECTION

If you learn onshape with these videos, tinkercad is very intuitive and you won't really need tutorials....

[Sasthara]

Thank you so much for sharing the video; I genuinely enjoyed it! Having been involved in 3D printing for a few years, I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions that might be helpful:

1. Instead of going for the basic Ender 3, you might want to consider exploring the V2 or Pro versions. They come equipped with an auto bed levelling feature, which could save you a significant amount of time compared to manually adjusting the bed levelling.

2. If it's within your means, I would recommend considering higher-quality filament from well-known brands. While it may be a tad more expensive, the investment pays off in the long run. Cheaper filament often exhibits uneven width and a mix of plastics, leading to nozzle clogs and potential issues. The minimal price difference for better filament can greatly simplify your 3D printing journey. Just a thought to consider!

[SimplyDudeFace]

The community is the key. The has been zero problems that I could not overcome when it comes to 3D printing. Even converting a 10year old Replicator to use Cura and print PLA as a doable hack because of all the help available.

[smdud]

Great overview and putting out all the small info needed for a starter.

I just got a printer last week Saturday, I got the ender 3 v3 and I had started my first print started in 30 minutes of opening, auto leveling is a huge blessing!

What helped me personally was checking online for optimal settings and up the slicer software pre setup.

[MrAminalCrackers]

The OG ender 3 is a work horse. I bought the version you showed, back in 2019 and it has never broken. Not gonna lie tho, I'd really like to upgrade to bamboo labs for the auto bed leveling, vibration cancellation, and the crazy speed it prints at.

[timothypatrick]

6 months with the Anycubic Kobra 2 Neo and no major issues. I run Orca slicer and Anycubic slicer. This is my first printer. I’ll be keeping it for small stuff but now it’s time for a K1 Max and X1C from Bambu.

[echo-hotel]

5:37 i’m not sure what you’re thinking here. But the 1.75mm is the thickness of the filament. And yes, this is very important. But I assume you might be trying to reference its weight.

For anyone confused here, 99.9% of all printers use filament that is 1.75mm thick. So this recommendation isn’t a recommendation. It is an absolute requirement for the printers he is suggesting.

I assume the point of this segment of the video is to reference the weight of the filament, which is how it’s sold. 1 kg or 2.2 pounds. This amount is a good starting point and can get you up to 10 good size prints to learn from.

[kevinwarner]

My Anycubic Kobra 2 printer head was jammed with filament and I could not get it out. I asked the Anycubic support chat for a new heating element (that is where the filament was stuck) expecting them to try to sell me one for maybe $50 or something which I was willing to pay if it meant getting my printer back. HOWEVER Anycubic sent me a completely new FULL PRINTER HEAD for FREE. So, I don't think your criticism of Anycubic is correct. They were very fast and friendly.

[DandTeePrinting]

Had the same Drama with my Kobra 2 (original). Horrible customer support, parts were never available. Not really open sourced. No Klipper options. My original Ender 3 Neo was my first printer great printer to LEARN on and modify. The NEW Ender 3 V3 lineup live by that same moto. SE for Learning, KE for Klipper and LESS modding needed, V3 (Core XZ) has everything you need on a bedslinger (minus an AMS). The OLDER enders are only good for LEARNING on now. S1 Pro and S1 Plus are only older ones I still promote as should buys in todays market.

[davekeyart]

Best timing for this video hah, my first 3D printer came just few hours ago and already printed something. Thanks for the recap of all the things.

[jonjonsson]

You do not need any mod at all for ender3, rest is optional but it is the best and robust printer on the market and it is cheap

[metalplaysgames]

that inland PLA+ is also sold at microcenter, i believe its their own brand but its printed great for me for years

[NoMercyFtw]

i got a neo for 75 bux, and im already looking to get a max

[SKPhoto]

I HIGHLY suggest avoiding the Ender 3 or Ender 3 V2. Go straight to an Ender 3 V3 or a hamburger labs A1 mini. You can get good prints from an old Ender 3, but my two suggestions will be much less frustrating for a new person.

I also highly suggest Orca slicer and the ellis3d tuning guide. Those two resources will get your print quality and understanding leveled up fairly quickly

[rekkaus]

Umm.. ..it is "nice" to assume that everyone will buy that one 3D printer model. I was and am in same position. Been reading and watching plenty of material. I end up buying Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro + 4 roll of filaments.
So not everyone start with Ender 3...
But will keep on watching and hope to get more info :)

[astrolemonade]

Can we stop recommending money pits like Ender 3? It's crazy how almost nobody manages to use that printer without any mods on it for more than half a year.

-Start recommending projects like Voron and others. They are a little bit more expensive but everything is in your control from the start since it's open source and you'll have a much much better experience on the long run if you are serious about having a 3D printing hobby or bussiness.-

[MisterkeTube]

Don't buy the original Ender 3 at this point in time. Instead get the Ender 3 v3 SE (or if you have some more $ to spend, the Ender 3 v3 KE). The SE will be below $200 and has fully automatic bed leveling and z-offset setup. It has dual z lead-screws and hence already solves so many drawbacks of the original Ender 3.

[dragnet]

I so disliked the design of the Ender 3 with their one Zed stepper controller. I like dual Z stepper motors for balance.

[Gage]

Also has anyone tried using ai with 3d printing for problem solving or anything else 🤔 cool video, imma sub

[SimplyDudeFace]

Burnt plastic smell? -nit picker alert - While putting the printer in the garage is a good idea because if the nano plastics the process sheds, you should not be getting a burnt smell. You may be extra sensitive to plastic smells, but if it smells scorched you need to turn down the temp.

[Enjoymentboy]

Based on my experience with my anycubic kobra 2 since August 2023 I cannot recommend anyone consider one, especially as a first printer. Never mind the constant over extrusion from day one, the filament jams, the buggy firmware or near impossible to support firmwar, the complete silence from anycubic once your warranty expires is sickening. I'm now at a point where my mainboard has died, anycubic was happy to take my money but instead of sending the one I ordered they sent me one for a photon ultra resin printer and they've been totally silent on a refund. So I have had to resort to going with a fully aftermarket board and the hassle of fitting and configuring it to get my printer up and running again Don't get me wrong, once i solved the overextrusion issues, replaced the heartbreak with a bi-metal one, switched to standard volcano nozzles and redid the inductive probe installation I managed to get everything dialed in and i was getting fantastic prints at 150mms... until the mainboard died because the vref had not been properly set from the factory. It's just a good thing that i enjoy tinkering and upgrading and feel that stock is never good enough. But if it were my first printer or i just wanted a perfect out-of-the-box experience this would have been the LAST printer I should have chosen. Suffice it to say that between all these failures, the abandonment of any firmware updates and anycubic's silence I will never buy anything from them again nor could i recommend anyone else do so.