3D Printing: How-to

  • How to: Cleaning clogged nozzles

    Introduction 3D printers are great tools for creating custom objects, but they can be finicky. One of the most common problems that 3D printer users encounter is a clogged nozzle. A clogged nozzle can prevent the printer from extruding filament properly, which can lead to poor print quality or even failed prints. However, cleaning clogged…

  • Leveling a 3D Printer Bed: Step-by-Step

    As I learned many years back (see Calibrating and Leveling My 3D Printer), one of the most important (and often frustrating) steps in setting up your 3D printer is leveling the bed. A level bed ensures your first layer adheres properly to the build plate, resulting in a smooth and accurate print. In this article,…

  • Building the Creality Ender 3 Pro: Tips and Tricks

    About a year ago my wife bought an Creality Ender 3 Pro 3d printer for me from MicroCenter, with a coupon she spent $99+tax. I left it sitting on a shelf for months because I figured, “how good can it be for $99”, but a few months back I decided to build it and give…

  • Startt 3D printer review

    A couple of nights ago I received a new Startt 3d printer for my daughters to play with.  The kit includes a combination of acrylic and printed parts, and is very straight-forward in construction. I built it yesterday using the very helpful instructions from the imakr.com website. There were only a few issues with the build, but…

  • Anti-Sag Truss

    My GT2 belt arrived a few days ago, but I wanted to successfully upgrade my Extruder Head before moving on to something else. This time I am planning to install Proto-Plastik’s anti-sag truss.

  • Extruder Head Upgrade – Second attempt

    Today I am going to upgrade my extruder head… again. My last attempt looked great, but was a prime example of why you should research a little more before you print a bunch of parts. So, now I am planning to install the original extruder head upgrade that I had chosen, before I talked myself into trying the…

  • Extruder Head Upgrade

    The GT2 belt I ordered is on back order so I guess the Extruder head will be done before the anti-sag truss. I have chosen a different extruder head than I originally planned.

  • X-Gantry Assembly

    This is part 3 of my X-Gantry Upgrade, for the previous article follow this link. Yesterday I printed the smaller parts needed for the gantry, and today I plan to complete the X-Gantry Assembly.

  • X-Gantry Small Parts

    This is part 2 of my X-Gantry Upgrade.  Having completed the left end of the gantry, I decided to attempt to print all of the X-Gantry small parts together in a single run. This will be my first attempt at printing more than a single part at a time, and feeling sure of myself I am…

  • X-Gantry Upgrade

    I have decided that my first goal is to replace my X-Gantry using the gantry I found on thingiverse. The X-Gantry I have chosen is from Proto-Plastik and is part of his A5-1Z upgrade to the TwoUp 3D printer. This X-Gantry seems to most closely match my goals for a replacement part, and supports an Anti-Sag…