My 6 Essential Tools for 3D Printing - Keep These Near Your 3D Printer

Here are 6 tools I ALWAYS keep near my 3d printers! Do you agree with my selection? Did I miss a specific tool you think is essential?

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[FunKingd]

I hate it when I trip and catch on fire. LOL! You cracked me up on that one.

[JamieBainbridge]

Another useful item are feeler gauges. If you're old school and manually level your bed, super good for getting the nozzle precisely the right height.

[Harad_nur]

5/6 )))
Instead of using the second one, i use ts100 soldering iron - good alternative, can be used to "glue" parts together, filling gaps and finishing surface.
I highly recommend you to try ts100 with knife-like soldering tip - this thing boost my work with fdm prints)
Sorry for bad English)

[Brandon_Makes_Stuff]

I've found an x-acto knife to be invaluable. I'm glad you mentioned the tweezers, getting goo off the hotend has been a giant pain. I find a philips screwdriver essential because of my 3d printed fan assembly. It would be really cool to see you do a budget 3D printer kit and modify it to greatness.

[krism]

There is a simple solution to avoid hairspray mess - cardboard box with size of your printer bed, no top, n bottom, just perimeter walls, 150mm high. Put it on your bed, use your hairspray and no more hairspray mess to worry about. Works a treat.

[servant]

Harbor Freight has both metric and SAE hex key sets with T-Handle (about $10 per set). They are great for deep hex nuts.
Picking up a free LED flashlight there is a plus.
I have problems changing nozzles, and need a couple of dedicated wrenches, one either a socket or open end, possibly box end, for the socket and an appropriate wrench to keep the heater block from turning. I broke a thermistor lead when trying to change a nozzle.

[Sembazuru]

A great feature of the hex keys that you showed but neglected (forgot?) to highlight is the ball-end of the drivers. So essential to get the driver into a fastener that you can't quite reach straight on. Usually they allow up to 15° mis-alignment from perfectly true.

[FeralRabbit]

"They ply well" LOL! Good vid.

[zodakb]

Good list of tools, Joel. I use two 4 inch (10cm) wide strips of kapton tape on my Anet A8 bed, and three on the round glass of my big homebrew Kossel. So I replace your gluestick with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol to keep it clean. Parts stick tight while it's hot, but once the bed cools down, they pop off easily. Sometimes you can even hear when they're ready. So, no chisel needed. I do keep the rest nearby, though, along with an Exacto knife and a small LED flashlight.

[martinbunjes]

I have my Dremel with a brass wire brush next to my printer for cleaning the outside of my nozzle, especially when printing PETG. Works very well.

[NateTheApe]

Great list! I actually keep all of these handy already minus the deburring tool but I like the idea of using it to clean up those one off's that are too close to the bed. The glue stick also works wonders when printing TPU onto PEI; without it TPU seems to almost fuse to the PEI, glue stick adds just enough buffer to prevent that.

[jdawg]

I actually keep scrapper, Allen wrench hex but the ones that are the handles, bed adhesion material, mini chisels for print removal, blow torch/heat gun, Bondo, CA glue and sandpaper

[ezrasalamat]

I have a bare cutter blade for popping out prints from the bed (it works better than a chisel sometimes). I also have a flashlight for viewing the nozzle while it's low on the bed, and also an Xacto knife for trimming nibs of my prints.

[cheifthumbs]

I have and use all of the above. The scraper deburring tool is a no brainer. Damn good recommendation. I use mine constantly. Cold PLA is similar to dry Cedar. You get a sliver of that somewhere it effn hurts! The only omission of note is a sharp knife. I use a large X-Acto knife as well as a Ken Onion Leek. A set of mechanics picks is a good idea too. Thanks again Joel!

[JamesWhite-hgyg]

I would add one thing to your tool list....a good LED Flashlight....so you can see what the nozzle is doing on the first layer...and good to know I am not the only night owl.

[JonathanKayne]

Another thing you can do is mount some magnets to your wall near your 3D Printer (or on the 3D printer) to hold your tools so that they are easily accessible, but not cluttering up your workbench. Plus, I think it makes your studio look way more professional.
For the glue stick, I hot glue a small metal strap onto the side so it will stick to the magnetic strip as well!
I would also include an acupuncture needle or Guitar E-string to handle nozzle clogs and a box cutter/X-Acto Knife to help clean up prints.
Highfive Joel!

[RoterFruchtZwerg]

Hey ;) Btw taking care of the filament oozing before starting a print is not much dependent on your printer, but on your start gcode. You can make almost every printer take care of it. On printers where the nozzle is physically able to get besides the bed, I park the nozzle right next to the bed at Z=first_layer_height and before the print starts it extrudes few cm of filament and then moves rapidly onto the bed. This primes the nozzle and shears of any filament.
Missing tools: Alcohol/water and a sponge. I also use PVA gluestick, but after applying it, I dissolve it a little using alcohol and spread it with a sponge to get a glossier and more even finish.
Also: old business cards for leveling ;)

[krism]

I'd add - 1. toothbrush to clean hot nozzle and block if you don't have E3D sock on or so (cheapest flat top one, old filament sticks to it like a champ), 2. feeler gauges, 3. 1.8mm steel knitting needle, perfect to poke from the top if you have a clog or so, forces clog out, 4. tiny gauge wire to clean your nozzle from the bottom (if you are vaper and coil builder you'll have plenty spare), 5. piece of nylon filament to do "cold" pulls for burnt filament removal. 6. Isopropanol alcohol and paper towel obviously.

[larryaz]

Besides Needle files (already mentioned), I also use razor blade scrapers, and retractable box knifes with snap off blades, they're super handy for outside shape deburring. The deburring tool you showed works great on inside and straight deburring. Of course, I use calipers (also already mentioned) for measuring.

[Klingon]

I found a 3D printer spatula on Amazon that is fairly sharp but has rounded edges so you don't risk gouging the print bed. It's been really great and probably the best tool for a 3D printer I could imagine.