Revised: 3D Printing - 13 Things I Wish I Knew When I Got Started

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Whether you’re thinking about buying your first 3D Printer, learning to use your new 3D Printer or you’ve been at this for a while, in the next several minutes I’m going to teach you thirteen things about 3D Printing that took me a little while to really understand and hopefully they’ll save you some time.

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LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:

TWO FREE AUDIOBOOKS!

00:00 Intro
02:00 #13: This is a Hobby
03:11 #12: Slicing Matters
04:26 #11: Print profiles
06:03 #10: Ironing
06:55 #9: Have a little help from your friends
08:21 #8: Materials matter
12:24 #7: Keep an eye on things
14:30 #6: Octoprint
16:58 #5: Understanding support
19:09 #4: Rafts, Brims & Skirts
22:37 #3: Get sticky (but only if you have to)
24:15 #2: Print on glass... or any good bed
26:08 #1: Bed leveling & The first layer squish

[darrylcrum]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. I just turned 72, and decided I need a new hobby. I downloaded Fusion 360 to get started on learning to draw 3D models and will download a slicing software once I have confidence on Fusion. My goal is to create desk models and desk components before I start cutting up expensive wood. I hope I am still smart enough to do this but even if I find I am not, your video has been a great help.

[TATTOOFREAK]

6 months ago I watched about 10 minutes of this video. Moved on thinking “dude I just want to print stuff. I don’t care about tweaking settings. Just normal is fine” 🤦🏻‍♂️oh how I was I wrong. So here I am again lol

[rkristel]

This video should be mandatory for anyone starting this as a hobby.
Signed,
Somone who learned the hard way

[alexhetherington]

The thing I like about 3d printing is it's the perfect combination of science, technology and art.

[mathieu]

#12 - 03:11 - Slicing Matters
#11 - 04:26 - Print profiles
#10 - 06:03 - Ironing
#09 - 06:55 - Have a little help from your friends
#08 - 08:21 - Materials matter
#07 - 12:24 - Keep an eye on things
#06 - 14:30 - Octoprint
#05 - 16:58 - Understanding support
#04 - 19:09 - Rafts, Brims & Skirts
#03 - 22:37 - Get sticky (but only if you have to)
#02 - 24:15 - Print on glass... or any good bed
#01 - 26:08 - Bed leveling & The first layer squish

[nickrossi]

This is 2018 me sitting here in 2021 thinking to myself wow that was three years ago

[ZedJxU]

Couple things for future viewers: PETG does not work well on glass beds. Hairspray or masking tape is prob best if you have to. It also requires a lot of heat control and fine tuned retraction settings. Take the time to tweak and test and if you get an all metal hot-end, you will have to start that process from scratch.

Also rafts work well for objects without a smooth flat bottom surface. You can tweak settings of the raft top layer and print bottom layer to avoid final part deformation from raft break off.

Lastly, be patient. Test often with small but complex parts before loading up large ones. I like to shrink larger objects to 10-25% and run it first to make sure print orientation and supports will work as planned.

Happy printing!

[supupedskyline]

I just got my first 3D printer today. I haven't even set it up, but this is the first video I've watched to get up to speed--so thank you!!

[lalaithnimdae]

One thing that REALLY helped me out with bed adhesion/bed leveling is changing just the initial layer height of the model in the slicer.
I like to do very high quality prints .05mm, my CR-10 disagrees with me and VERY often didn't want anything to stick to ANY bed I used. Glass/Glass+adhesive/Original Bed/Perforated beds/ painters tape... When it did adhere to the bed. it was often melted into the bed :(.
That is until I changed my first layer to always be .3mm. Now there is plenty of space for the first layer to adhere correctly, it doesn't warp, AND if my bed leveling is off even just a little, the layer is large enough to compensate. Until I get the BLtouch installed, this has been a blessing. No more ruining beds, no more ruining prints.. no more rafts! Most I use now is a skirt with 5 lines max
I should note I only use PLA for all of my prints, and have started printing minis with incredible details ;)

[RufusVidS]

He should have mentioned the generated gasses from ABS printing which can be somewhat hazardous.

[RyanMcQueen]

Only reason I've found to use raft for bed adhesion is when I'm printing really small parts (usually several in a batch). That being said, it was pretty essential to get them to print successfully.

[chonchi]

Mechanical engineering student here. I’ve had some experience with 3D printing in the university printing lab. I’m waiting for my printer to come in, but I wanted to instruct myself a bit first. Very good and concise video. Hope to see more.

[RR-gmqj]

I really appreciate people like you who take their time to teach others. I just purchased a Makerbot Replicator + and I’m super excited to start 3D printing. So when I say I appreciate makers and specially those who teach others I mean it. Keep up the good work and I promise that as I get better and better and learn stuff I’ll pay it forward. Thanks

[Rickardsd]

One use for a raft is when printing articulated toys (lizards, snakes, etc) when you have generally poor bed adhesion, due to the size of the individual pieces. Before I got my self-releasing glass bed rafts were a necessary evil.

[chriskryder]

Trying to learn as much as possible so my first printer purchase will be a positive experience. I feel I've learned more from this single video than any other. Well done easy to understand. Very helpful imo

[Frostbite]

22:00 I once printed a bunch of screws with ~3-4 mm in diameter. I put 20 of them on a raft and whenever I needed one, I could easily break it off the raft.

[JimSmithlightsmith]

I've been 3D printing for quite a while and still learned a great deal from this video. Ironing was probably the best single tip I've ever heard. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I always hated my top layers. Now the look fantastic.

[Williamx]

About tip #5 - Understanding support - I make my 3d models using Blender. And whenever I know in advance that my model will need a support or it will have to deal with bridging at any point, I make those supports within the 3D model itself, using the smallest thickness that I know the printer is capable of handling.

I have modeled and printed a couple of A-10 Warthogs and an F-15 Eagle for myself. And for supporting the wings, pylons and engines, as the miniature would be printed in the vertical orientation, I included these really thin "walls" coming from the base - or the raft, as mentioned in the video - to hold these structures, already during the 3D modelling process. It can be a more reliable method than the built-in supports you can create during the Slicing of the print, assuming of course you have experience with these 3D printing issues.

[orlandodiciccio]

Totally agree with your top 3 picks. You know your stuff.


Too many people have failures that are related to poor bed leveling, and when asking for help they claim " the bed is leveled", because they underestimate the importance of the first layer adhesion/success.


Whenever having a spaghetti monster as a result, 95% of the time the cause is related to bed leveling.


That is by far the most important tip. Master the bed leveling!

[thatCbean]

16:30 I love how the timelapse only uses frames in which the printer head is on the right side of the print, making the left side look like it just rises up out of thin air