So you’ve gotten your printer, calipers, filament, and you’ve put everything together and everything powers on. Now what. Start printing dummy! 😀
Seriously though. Start by leveling your bed. all3dp.com has a great tutorial here
You’re going to need a model to verify your bed level. This is my preferred one.
Also – The quick and dirty with using Cura.
- Double click the .stl file or open it in Cura
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Click the object on the virtual bed. Using the menu context options on the left side of the screen, rotate the object to obtain the proper printing orientation.
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Choose your profile(e.g. Dynamic Quality 0.16 mm)
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Choose infill Density(For Max strength=100% Infill)
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Choose hotend/printing bed temp(Hotend:215 °C, Bed:60 °C)
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Click Slice. Copy file to sd/tf card. Insert card into printer.
Now that your bed is level calibrate your extruder.
And finally calibrate your e-steps using the cubes linked in their articles.
Now you’re ready for more complex items.
Take a look aroundThingiverse, 405th, Pinshape, Grabcad, and MyMiniFactory. See if you like any of the modes there. Try them out. Test the strengths of your materials and get a feel for the quirks of the printer.
Keep in mind, printing a gun or anything else that is going to be placed under any kind of physical stress is a dangerous venture and if you head down that path before you understand the forces at work you WILL injure yourself.
Print some various stuff. Play around with different materials. Break your printer a few times.
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