- Feb 1, 2011
- 26
- 1
- 18,535
So, I just flew over the Out of the Box 3D Printer Tips for Beginners article and boy do have I have some beef with it...
Point #1 Buy cheap buy twice - It is true in general and with 3D Printers - I'm not telling you have to buy a more featured/expensive printer but have a second thought before going with a cheap printer.
My first FDM was an i3 MK3S which later got an MMU2S upgrade which has about all the necessities you'll want when you start out with 3D Printing including curated print profiles - A Prusa Mini may just be what you'll want if price is more important than print volume. At this point I'd normally recommend going for any Voron ( Voron 0✔️/ Trident✔️/ Voron 2.4✔️/ SwitchWire❌ / Legacy❌ ) for the ultimate learning and 3D printing experience since you'll be building your own 3D printer from scratch ( electronics and programming included ) but since this the article was aimed at beginners that recommendation kinda flew out of the window.
Point #2 Sticky Glue - Nothing really against that suggestion but unless you're into messy stuff then I'd rather suggest going with a purpose adhesive spray.
Point #3 Rafts - Ppl still use it for mundane materials like ABS/ASA/PETG/PLA?! What year is it? 1999!? Get yourself a quality removable PEI Springsteel Sheet bed and most things will stick to it without such surface ruining suggestions and for everything else there's #2.
Point #5 ( this was the one that ticked me off ) Boy have I news for you about PLA turning bad when not treated well... I just recently had to kick two spools of less than 6 months old Prusament PLA Filament ( little in quantity but frequently used Gold accent color ) into the bin because it turned brittle while sitting out there in the open air and not resealed in a vacuum bag.
Point #6 For whatever is holy to you learn to at least CAD Model yourself! Autodesk Fusion 360 is a fully fledged CAD/CAM/CNC software and free to start with ( I highly recommend Lars Christensens Videos ) with paid plans mostly only opening up QoL features neither critical to a beginner or anyone not using it as a business tool at which point it is still dirt cheap to buy a license. Need a fancy new Dining Lamp? Design and 3D print it yourself! Need a Model Making Arc Lamp? Design and 3D print it yourself! Need a Soldering Fan Exhaust Filter? Design and CNC Mill it yourself! ( well... Not on the 3D Printer )
Point #1 Buy cheap buy twice - It is true in general and with 3D Printers - I'm not telling you have to buy a more featured/expensive printer but have a second thought before going with a cheap printer.
My first FDM was an i3 MK3S which later got an MMU2S upgrade which has about all the necessities you'll want when you start out with 3D Printing including curated print profiles - A Prusa Mini may just be what you'll want if price is more important than print volume. At this point I'd normally recommend going for any Voron ( Voron 0✔️/ Trident✔️/ Voron 2.4✔️/ SwitchWire❌ / Legacy❌ ) for the ultimate learning and 3D printing experience since you'll be building your own 3D printer from scratch ( electronics and programming included ) but since this the article was aimed at beginners that recommendation kinda flew out of the window.
Point #2 Sticky Glue - Nothing really against that suggestion but unless you're into messy stuff then I'd rather suggest going with a purpose adhesive spray.
Point #3 Rafts - Ppl still use it for mundane materials like ABS/ASA/PETG/PLA?! What year is it? 1999!? Get yourself a quality removable PEI Springsteel Sheet bed and most things will stick to it without such surface ruining suggestions and for everything else there's #2.
Point #5 ( this was the one that ticked me off ) Boy have I news for you about PLA turning bad when not treated well... I just recently had to kick two spools of less than 6 months old Prusament PLA Filament ( little in quantity but frequently used Gold accent color ) into the bin because it turned brittle while sitting out there in the open air and not resealed in a vacuum bag.
Point #6 For whatever is holy to you learn to at least CAD Model yourself! Autodesk Fusion 360 is a fully fledged CAD/CAM/CNC software and free to start with ( I highly recommend Lars Christensens Videos ) with paid plans mostly only opening up QoL features neither critical to a beginner or anyone not using it as a business tool at which point it is still dirt cheap to buy a license. Need a fancy new Dining Lamp? Design and 3D print it yourself! Need a Model Making Arc Lamp? Design and 3D print it yourself! Need a Soldering Fan Exhaust Filter? Design and CNC Mill it yourself! ( well... Not on the 3D Printer )
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