Ok, so you want to print something. Where or how do you get the designs and the files? If you don’t want to just download stuff, but instead print your own parts and creations, where would you start with that? That’s the type of questions we’re going to answer today. Design sharing websites Let’s start with my approach to using 3D printers. For testing and show pieces and simpler stuff that somebody else is probably going to have designed somewhere already, the best way to go about that is toContinue reading

If you want a 3D printer, the two fundamentally different options, at least if you want to spend less than a few grand, are filament printers, aka FDM or FFF, and resin printers, aka SLA or MSLA. Last video we covered filament printers and what you should be looking for in one of those, today we’re going to go over when you would want to go for a resin printer instead and what to consider when getting one. Resin Prints vs. Filament Prints When you look at the prints thatContinue reading

I know I’ve been using terminology for all the printer parts in the other basics videos without stopping to explain them, so in this video, let’s go over all the weird and unique parts, what they’re called and what they do. Also, while we’re at it, let’s look at what sort of maintenance and care these machines and their components need. Extruder and Hotend Okay, let’s start with the core of any filament printer: The extruder and hotend. To feed filament, it first gets grabbed by the extruder and thenContinue reading

Alright, so want a 3D printer, but – which one to choose? In this video, I want to help you plot out what your use case is, what that requires in a machine, and what to generally look for, and what to avoid in a 3D printer. The “Perfect” Printer So first of all, there is no “best” or “perfect” 3D printer. Even when you find someone that claims that this one machine is the best 3D printer ever, it might be, but just for them, and it’s just forContinue reading

A few weeks ago, Hackaday posted an article saying that 3D printing was still way too hard to get into and that finding the knowledge that everyone seems to be taking for granted these days can be kinda hard to piece together. So that’s what I’m going to fix with this video series. Welcome to the basics course on 3D printing! What is a 3D printer? Choosing a machine Resin printers Filament printer parts and maintenance Acquiring print files Basic slicer settings Whole 3D printing process Requirements for 3D printingContinue reading