Getting Started

So, you have finally bought your first 3D printer, or maybe you're just thinking about buying one.

Congratulations. You have committed yourself to a lifetime of failures. No, I'm very serious. Learning the magical art of 3D printing is going to introduce you to more failures than you ever thought possible while having the time of your life.

Failing is a part of the process, and even the people who have been doing this for a very long time with very cool success on very cool models, fail, and often. You're going to have problems getting your prints to stick to the bed. You're going to have problems with heat, bad nozzles, broken bowden tubes, extruders stripping, and threaded screws and motors that make it all happen.

And then, you're going to become a know it all who writes a blog to help other people get started easier, thinking somehow all of your failures might prevent some of theirs.

Let's hope huh?

I don't say any of this to discourage you. Far from it. I say it to prepare you.

3D printing isn't like buying a new HP Color Laserjet from Staples, plugging it in, and getting cool things coming out in minutes. It's a painstaking affair, and you will learn things as you go that you never even thought you would be interested in learning. It's part science, part art, and 20% luck.

And if I could offer one piece of advice to anyone just getting started it would be this... expect the failures, and don't let them upset you. This is, afterall, a hobby. A hobby is supposed to be fun. It's supposed to thrill you. It's not supposed to make you mad, sad, depressed, or want to give up.

So never let that happen. You will fail. You will make mistakes. You will get some really awesome prints. I promise you that as well. You're going to have things around your house that make your friends super jealous, and they will wish they had a 3D printer. And when they are looking at your models, or opening little gifts for the holidays that you made, or staring at the unbelievable Baby Yoda statue on your desk... you are going to forget every failure you ever had and be so excited for the next eye-popping model to come rolling off your build plate.

Because that is exactly what this hobby is. It's magic in every sense of the word. As Aleister Crowley once said, "Magic is the art of making energy work in conformity with will". That's what this hobby is. You put in the energy, and the plastic will bend to your will. It will take shape, it will have form and function, and it will be the coolest thing you've ever done for fun. Except for your early 20s.... that was probably more fun.

So, step inside the school for modern Technomages, and let's get started. I'm going to give you some videos, I'm going to explain the process to you to help you jump start your printing experience, and we're going to build some really fun things together along the way.

If you're still reading, I'm going to assume you haven't chickened out yet, and you're ready and excited to jump right in. I doff my wizard's hat to you future sorcerer.