Video for total NOOB??

[ray1377]

Hi All

Would love to get into 3D printing but am reluctant because of how complicated the design and slice software seems to a noob.
Would anyone have any links to some really good basic 3D video's that wouldn't be over my head while just starting out?
Am interested in an Ender 3 pro printer if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance
Ray

[a1rgunz]

The Ender 3 has a lot of users, making it a great first choice. I'd suggest joining groups dedicated to that machine, you will find people that will be willing to share slicing profiles with you. A profile from a machine like yours (this is critical, since people add upgrades to their printers like crazy) and printing the same type (brand can even play a huge part) of filament will get you in the ball park. Here's a pretty good video to get you started on how to move beyond a slicing profile:

Taking the time to do those test prints and calibration will really help you understand the processes going on.

[NAIAD001]

Check CHEP out, he's probably the most down to earth 3D printing youtuber there is.

https://www.youtube.com/user/beginnerelectronics

[scion19801]

Hi All

Would love to get into 3D printing but am reluctant because of how complicated the design and slice software seems to a noob.
Would anyone have any links to some really good basic 3D video's that wouldn't be over my head while just starting out?
Am interested in an Ender 3 pro printer if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance
Ray

i just got the same machine. 3d ender pro. lots of videos and info on you tube.  its a decent little machine. I just switched to petg filament and have had a few issues, but i think i got it sorted now. PLA filament is an easy area to start with. but it does have limitations. The trickiest part is just getting it setup, put together and squared up and even after assembly. then leveling the bed, but not with a bubble level. start off with a few parts from the web. Slicer programs are easy. cura is the most popular choice. then its just learning and understanding all the different setting and what they effect. Oh and make sure to calibrate your feed rate. I have to do this again myself since my switch to petg. try to keep track of your settings for different filaments. that'll make switch back and forth way easier.

[NAIAD001]

Dan, I started using PETG but to no success, any pointers?

Andy

[WhatUPSbox?]

Ray,
The video link for building/aligning an ender 3 in reply 18 in this thread https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=147868.msg155769273#msg155769273 is detailed and worked great for me. I just added a step in the front to flatten the base frame as step 1

+1 for CHEP site linked above. I use his profiles for CURA and they have worked for me without mods. For PETG he recommends using his PLA profiles and just change the extruder and bed temperatures. This has also worked for me.

One simple 3d software is 3Dbuilder that comes with windows 10. You can bring in 3D files from Thingiverse.com and resize, cut/paste add simple features without the full CAD interface. It is a great way to get started and then pick the CAD program of your choice and go through the learning process.

[scion19801]

Dan, I started using PETG but to no success, any pointers?

Andy

for me. using the stock ender 3 pro i found the biggest issue was bed adhesion. i had to basically setup cura to have multiple temps. start with extruder at 225*c and bed at 80*C for the first initial layer then drop to 220*c on hotend and bed back down to 70*C. has been working good for me. I also have the upgraded aluminium feeder(only the single gear), because on the ender 3 the arm on the feeders are known to crack.
Another thing to try, can be done one of two ways.
when leveling your bed use a thin business card versus using a sheet of paper. use the paper for pla.
or in cura get the z offset plugin and use that to increase the z height ever so slightly. like .0015" or more if needed. <- I haven't tried this yet.
ALSO, recalculate you e steps for your extruder. <- This must be done for every filament type as i understand it.

edit: <<<<<<<.>>>>>>>>>>>>
P.S. PETG filament is Hygroscopic. Meaning if it has been left out of a sealed, air tight container it will not so good moisture from the air. This is a bad thing. You will need to dry it out. There are a few ways this can be done. oven for a few hours on low temp. food dehydrators. I believe this applies to PLA as well, but i could be wrong.

[NAIAD001]

Dan, I started using PETG but to no success, any pointers?

Andy

for me. using the stock ender 3 pro i found the biggest issue was bed adhesion. i had to basically setup cura to have multiple temps. start with extruder at 225*c and bed at 80*C for the first initial layer then drop to 220*c on hotend and bed back down to 70*C. has been working good for me. I also have the upgraded aluminium feeder(only the single gear), because on the ender 3 the arm on the feeders are known to crack.
Another thing to try, can be done one of two ways.
when leveling your bed use a thin business card versus using a sheet of paper. use the paper for pla.
or in cura get the z offset plugin and use that to increase the z height ever so slightly. like .0015" or more if needed. <- I haven't tried this yet.
ALSO, recalculate you e steps for your extruder. <- This must be done for every filament type as i understand it.

edit: <<<<<<<.>>>>>>>>>>>>
P.S. PETG filament is Hygroscopic. Meaning if it has been left out of a sealed, air tight container it will not so good moisture from the air. This is a bad thing. You will need to dry it out. There are a few ways this can be done. oven for a few hours on low temp. food dehydrators. I believe this applies to PLA as well, but i could be wrong.

Thanks Dan, I also went through the Estep settings when changing from a single to dual drive so am very familiar with this as both my son and I have Enders, a 3 pro and 5 pro and both have upgraded extruders. I had no bed adhesion issues, especially after upgrading to a glass bed as levelling issues disappeared at that point. The issue I was having, was the finish was always crappy, it may have just been down to bad PETG filament I guess. Once used, I always put my filaments into a zip lock bag to keep them sealed, seems to do the trick.

Andy

[ray1377]

Hi All

Would love to get into 3D printing but am reluctant because of how complicated the design and slice software seems to a noob.
Would anyone have any links to some really good basic 3D video's that wouldn't be over my head while just starting out?
Am interested in an Ender 3 pro printer if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance
Ray

i just got the same machine. 3d ender pro. lots of videos and info on you tube.  its a decent little machine. I just switched to petg filament and have had a few issues, but i think i got it sorted now. PLA filament is an easy area to start with. but it does have limitations. The trickiest part is just getting it setup, put together and squared up and even after assembly. then leveling the bed, but not with a bubble level. start off with a few parts from the web. Slicer programs are easy. cura is the most popular choice. then its just learning and understanding all the different setting and what they effect. Oh and make sure to calibrate your feed rate. I have to do this again myself since my switch to petg. try to keep track of your settings for different filaments. that'll make switch back and forth way easier.

Seems I've read a lot about folks getting the Ender 3 and then doing a bunch of upgrades to it to make it better. If you get the Ender 3 Pro does it include all those upgrade already? Seems sorta goofy to buy a printer and then have to work on it to be able to get it to do what you want it to.
Thanks
Ray

[WhatUPSbox?]

I have a basic Ender 3. It works great as is. There some small things you can print out (great practice) that are minor additions (fan cover, filament guide, etc.). For higher temperature printing (PETG) I upgraded the bowden (teflon) tube just as a precaution, not mandatory. The other upgrade I did was a micro-sd card extension. Probably not needed on the pro.

You can just assemble the ender 3 and print ... kind of like airguns, do you really need to upgrade/mod a 1377?? 

[scion19801]

I have only done a few tweaks to mine. The aluminium feeder. Printed an upper filament guide, and the z axis motor shim. Then not really necessary I did the v slot covers just to dress it up. The only real advantage to the ender 3 pro are the front fan is moved to the bottom for the main board, and the upgrade power supply. I tried a lower filament guide but I got to find a different one as the one I found was making mine squeak and chirp and I think putting way too much pressure on my Bowden tube during filament retraction.
Oh and I also changed out my firmware to th3d from stock. This is a must do. The factory firmware on these units doesn't have thermal runaway protection. So basically in stock form it could burn your house or garage down. You will need an arduino uno to update the firmware. It was pretty simple and only took and your to do. But now I can customize it the way I like.
Using petg with a glass bed....one must be careful there as it can weld to the glass and tear chunks out of the glass.
If your getting finish issues I'd look at the hotend temp and also try slowing the print speed down a bit. I think mine is at 45mm versus 50mm for pla. petg likes a little bit slower Print speed.  Look at my "jumping into the 3d printing world" thread tomorrow. I'll get pics of my last two pretty petg prints posted up.