If you’ve tried to buy a Raspberry Pi recently, you’ll have noticed that that is actually quite hard to do right now. For example, for the 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 that used to sell for around 50 bucks, the cheapest offer that actually has them in stock is starting to demand scalper prices closer to 100 bucks. So if you want to run OctoPrint and still need a quality power supply and USB cable, a webcam, and SD card, you could end up spending close to 150 bucks. But whatContinue reading
Category: Tips and Tricks
Tips and Tricks for 3D Printing Beginners and Pros
Full Control GCode
Okay, you all know how 3D printing works. You start out by creating a 3D model, export that as stl or 3mf, then import that into a slicer, which then creates the gcode that the printer understands. Except that it doesn’t have to be that way. Enter Full Control GCode. This is actually the result of a research paper by Dr. Andrew Gleadall, and it lets you skip modeling and slicing and instead provides you with a scripting interface that controls every single printing move. You get full control. AndContinue reading
Test your Printers for Thermal Runaway
With last week’s video about the Flashforge Voxelab Aquila demonstrating that even in 2021, 3D printer manufacturers still mess up the basic thermal protection features on their machines, I think it’s a good idea that you know how to test them, too. What’s the danger if your printer fails these tests? Thermal. Runaway. Hopefully, today’s 3D printers are a lot harder to set on fire than the acrylic-frame Anet A8s, but if your printer for some reason stops regulating the heaters on the bed or especially on the hotend andContinue reading
OctoPrint Guide + Best Plugins
One of the most versatile pieces of tech for 3D printing is Octoprint – it’s a little webserver that runs on a Raspberry Pi and lets you remote-control a 3D printer from your computer. Or so you thought. Because the thing is, Octoprint is so much more than just a way to start and check in on prints remotely: It’s turning more and more into a full-on 3D printer operating system. There are plugins now that do everything from AI print watching over sending status infos over your favorite messengerContinue reading
PrusaSlicer 2.3
PrusaSlicer 2.3 is out! At least, by the time you’re watching this video (or reading this article ;-), it should be out, and it comes with new features like monotonic top infill, ironing, paint-on support material, and automatic variable infill patterns. Here’s the thing, though – PrusaSlicer and all the features it comes with are not exclusive to the Original Prusa 3D printers. In fact, Prusa actually reached out and asked if they could sponsor this video where I show you how to set up the new PrusaSlicer for basicallyContinue reading
The Spaghetti Detective AI
“Do not leave your 3D printer” unattended. Sure, that’s good practice, especially with ones that have, you know, questionable cable management or cheap components, but are you really going to babysit the machine the entire time? I don’t think so. Especially when things like noise, particle emissions, and printing smells are something you don’t really want to have right next to you. So OctoPrint is actually a very good first step for that – it allows you to remote-control a 3D printer from anywhere you have access to the sameContinue reading
Perfect 3D Printer Bed Adhesives – from the Grocery Store!
Do you need specialty bed adhesives or is your pantry already hiding a perfectly suitable 3D printer bed coating? Let’s find out! Usually the articles here are an illustrated version of the video’s script, but this one only came together once I did the experiments. So for your convenience, here’s the summary of how each one of these materials did! Pasta Water Once dried, pasta water creates a rigid, but tacky film that adheres well to PLA and PETG Sriracha Sauce Smells awesome when warm, but doesn’t hold down 3DContinue reading
How I tune in new filaments
A couple of weeks ago I asked which topic you all would like to see covered on the channel. Clear winner – how to tune in a filament you’ve never printed with before. So, let’s go over the steps of getting practically any PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, PC, PMMA, PA, etc filament to work and to print well, but keep in mind that specialty filaments like fiber- or wood-filled ones, super-flexibles ones or stuff like Colorfabb’s lightweight PLA will need a bit of extra attention. But honestly, once you haveContinue reading
3D Printing Basics 10 – What now?
Wow, we’re already at the last video of this series… I’ve produced these over the course of almost two months, and yeah, it has been crazy. I’ve got to get used to a routine again that isn’t “eat, sleep, produce, repeat”, and you’re probably wondering what should be the next steps for you. Do you really need to buy your own machine? How should you go about starting to use it productively instead of getting stuck in “novelty” phase? Yeah, let’s looks at that today! So where do you goContinue reading