What are your favorite resources to recommend for beginners?
I'm wanting to get interested for doing a cyberdeck case, and/or custom cluster racks for Raspberry Pi's but any and all newbie resources would be appropriate for this question.
Flaky_Fish69 4 points 3 years ago
Teaching tech is good
I’d also add troubleshooting guides from all3dp
I would suggest, however, at least checking calibration even if you’re not changing anything- and inspecting it out of the box. (Are the axis square to each other? Is the bed loose? Is the frame? Belts tight but not too tight?) if it’s a lower end… yeah? There’s probably something that needs tightening.
If it’s a higher end printer, well it’ll give you an idea of how it’s supposed to be.
Other resources…
As well as Prusa, this guide in particular, but the community is very helpful.
Also, I’d suggest staying away from thingiverse. A lot of the models are ripped from non-free sourced (like cults3d or my mini factory.); and many of the stls there suck anyhow. Printables my go to.
For more esoteric content… I’d recommend CNC Kitchen there’s always good stuff in their videos, even if it might not be “basic”
Finally… don’t freak out. There’s going to be a learning curve. It’s okay. Take it one print at a time, accept that spaghetti monsters will happen. (Just tell people it’s abstract art,)
j4k3 5 points 3 years ago
The Free and Open Source Software options are FreeCAD and Blender. These are not trying to manipulate you in any way. You 100% own them, your products from them, and this can never be taken away from you.
I use FreeCAD for all of my designs. All CAD software has a substantial learning curve. There are 3 common modes of design. You can make parts: programmatically with OpenSCAD, like wooden building blocks/Lego's, or using 2d sketches and performing 3d operations like extruding and pocketing. FreeCAD can do all 3. Check the official documentation to get started, it is very high quality. The workbenches can be a bit confusing at first. If you want to do the building blocks style, learn to use the Part Workbench. If you want to do sketch based design, use the Part Design workbench. Don't worry about anything on any other workbenches, they are for advanced operations you do not need.
zipsglacier 3 points 3 years ago path: 0 266222 266913, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 2
bfortified 1 point 3 years ago
Any specific video suggestions for learning FreeCAD?
zipsglacier 2 points 3 years ago path: 0 266222 266913 292338 292401, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0
edjsage 1 point 3 years ago
While not open source, Fusion 360 has a free for personal use version if you are wanting a fairly easy to use CAD program. I had been using mostly Blender up until recently since learning how to use Fusion. I love being able to parameterize everything. Blender is awesome though in it's own right. I use both for making functional prints depending on what I'm trying to do. I tried FreeCAD, but it definitely has a bit more learning curve than Fusion.
Deletecat 4 points 3 years ago
For calibrating printers, I would recommend Ellis' guide: https://ellis3dp.com/Print-Tuning-Guide/ It covers how to calibrate your printer with popular firmware options (Marlin, Klipper and Reprapfirmware)
For CAD, a free and open source option I have used is OpenSCAD, it's CAD with code! If this isn't your sort of thing, you could try OnShape - it's free with some limitations
ottk3 3 points 3 years ago
If you want to try using Blender I recommend this video to check out if that's the road you want to go:
Learn Blender for 3D Printing - Complete Quick and Easy Guide (Beginner)
Depending on your experience you might check out existing models on sites like printables.com or thingiverse.com
edjsage 4 points 3 years ago
While not for 3D printing specifically, Andrew Price's donut tutorial on YouTube is a great primer for learning to use Blender and all is basic functions.
netwren 3 points 3 years ago
I actually have used Blender pretty extensively, I was on the Blender forums way back.
I didn't realize I'd be able to use Blender for the modelling because I assumed the sizing would have to be fairly precise.
edjsage 2 points 3 years ago
You can definitely make accurate models. Its a little more unforgiving than CAD if you need to go back and fix something, but you can definitely make precise models for functional prints if you do it right (such as inputting specific measurements when doing extrusions, etc).
netwren 1 point 3 years ago
I've used Blender, Fusion360, and Google Sketch. So I'm somewhat familiar with 3d modelling. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of Hardware but Software compatibility is a good topic to cover as well.
PerfectParanoia 2 points 3 years ago path: 0 264946 269012 280831, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 4
netwren 1 point 3 years ago
Honestly I don't know what I don't know. I assume there are hardware items to learn about.
I'd say printer recommendations, specifically how to pick one, where to buy from, should I build it myself?
I'll check out the Prusa book because I'd assume beginner material probably also covers this. However I've seen online community recommendations differ from authors quite a bit (saying Generally for hobbies).
PerfectParanoia 2 points 3 years ago path: 0 264946 269012 280831 287476 289613, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 2
3dprinting
@lemmy.world
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3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io
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3dprinting
@lemmy.world
24041
2125
2002
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
Do not create links to reddit
If you see an issue please flag it
No guns
No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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At some point you're going to need to recalibrate your printer. The prints just won't be as good as they should. And it can be very very frustrating trying to figure out what's wrong. I highly recommend this website: https://teachingtechyt.github.io/calibration.html
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