So You Bought a 3D Printer, Now What? 1:1 3D Printing Lessons & Troubleshooting

Congratulations on joining the exciting world of 3D printer ownership! When I purchased my first 3D printer nearly a decade ago I was so excited about all of the 3D models that would decorate my office. One of my first prints, a Shrek tissue box, printed for over 10 hours until I heard a now very familiar clicking noise from my printer. It had clogged and was now missing the top 20% of the print. You know the old saying When life gives you lemons… make a pencil holder. The incomplete Shrek head has served me well by both teaching me a lesson about how to deal with a clogged nozzle as well as holding all of my pencils and pens inside the holes made by the infill.

In my first months of 3D printing,  I learned the ropes with several fun models like Flexi-Rex(A flexible dinosaur), Cali-Cat(a calibration tool in the shape of a cat) and Benchy(a calibration boat) My biggest challenge and experience came in the the Spring of 2020 when, like many, I felt powerless when it came to the Covid-19 Pandemic and wanted to find a way to help. When I saw on the news that PPE, especially face shields, were in short supply I found my calling. I worked with a group of fellow teachers to bring the 3D printers sitting dormant in our local schools to our houses to create our own “printer farms” capable of printing in mass quantities these desperately needed supplies. With 10 3D printers running in my office and the help of several students, we 3D printed and donated over 3500 face shields to nurses and doctors in need throughout the United States. This experience truly taught me the power that a group of makers can have to change the world. 

Just type “clogged 3D printer nozzle” into YouTube and you will see 1000’s of helpful videos showing how to deal with this dilemma. The only problem is that these solutions are often dated, confusing or simply apply to a different 3D printer than the one you own. The purpose of this class is to provide for new young 3D printer owners a guide on how to handle both the challenges that 3D printers throw your way as well as provide some of my favorite projects that are sure to excite and inspire new 3D printer owners. 

I am here to serve as a mentor to new 3D printer owners as they begin their exciting journey. This class will be useful to owners of a wide variety of 3D printer brands, but will use the printers I personally own for both lessons and specific guidance. All of my current 3D printers, an Ender 3 Pro, Ender 5 Pro and CR-10 S4 are made by the company Creality which I highly recommend for both value and product quality. 

I currently recommend the Ender 3 S1 or Ender 3 S1 Pro due to its more up to date technology like a direct drive extruder as well as the more modern sprite hotend. If you are looking to purchase your first 3D printer please free to message me any questions on Outschool and I will be glad to help work through all of the jargon.


The following are just some of the potential topics we can cover in our private lessons. We will structure the class around your needs:
Printer Calibration and setup
Levelling the 3D printer bed
Loading filament(harder than it looks)
Surprising 3D printer supplies. Hint: Purple glue sticks are one of them!
The perfect first 3D printer models and calibration tools
Introduction to the Cura slicing tool
Print In Place Models(Flexi-Rex & Fidget Cubes)
The best Sites to find free 3D models to print
Introduction to Tinkercad Free Computer Aided Design software
Advanced Tinkercad designs. Design, build and print your own fidget spinner
Experimental Cura Settings: Coasting, Spiralize Outer Contour, Fuzzy Mode
Vase Mode 3D prints(The secret to printing large models, fast)
Lithophanes(You can 3D print photos!)
Sectioning large models into smaller prints