In 2012, when I was the editorial director of Maker Media, we embarked on an ambitious project to publish the first consumer’s guide to desktop 3D printing. That guide, Make:Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing, was a huge hit, and has morphed over the years into Make:’s annual Ultimate Guide to Desktop Fabrication, which now covers 3D printing, computer numerical control (CNC) routers, laser cutters, and all manner of desktop fabrication hardware. Since I was new to 3D printing myself and about to head up a team tasked with testing and evaluating dozens of printers, I figured I better set one up and try my hand at printing something. The process was far more perilous than I had anticipated. I realized this was definitely early adopter tech, and could really use a well-thought-out, reputable guide. My first prints were a mess, and in the process I learned a new slang term, “transporter accident” (referring to Star Trek’s matter transfer transportation technology), for what you get when a print goes haywire. It turns out that I learned an invaluable tip in troubleshooting my problem. I had set up my printer in my apartment in Sebastopol, California, right next to the window. As you will learn below, 3D printers using ABS plastic are susceptible to drafts, causing the print to curl. Just moving my machine to a location far from drafts was all that was needed. No more mangled monsters coming from my matter rearranger. 3D printing has matured quite a bit since 2012, but the technology is still a ways away from being as turnkey and trouble free as your 2D printer. To help you explore this futuristic world of on-demand object-making, here are some of the tips I’ve gathered over the years.

3D Printing Tips for Beginners

• An unleveled build platform will cause many headaches during a print, so always check to make sure it’s level before getting started. You can check this quickly by doing the paper test: Use a single sheet of paper to judge the distance between your extruder nozzle and the build platform. Set the extruder height to the first layer height, then move the extruder to all four corners of the platform and the center, with the paper between the platform and the extruder. The paper should be able to move, but the extruder should also be touching the paper at all five positions.
• Regularly clean your build platform with rubbing alcohol. The oil from your hands will keep the object you’re printing from sticking to the build platform.
• When you are printing with ABS plastic, make sure you preheat your build platform to its max temperature, because preheating will help prevent edge curling.
• When printing in PLA on an unheated build platform, cover your platform with blue painter’s tape. It is cheaper and better than Kapton tape for PLA adhesion.
• When you are printing on a heated platform with ABS, cover the platform with Kapton tape because it can withstand the heating and cooling of the platform better than painter’s tape.
• Are your prints still not sticking to the Kapton? Or do you have blue painter’s tape covering the building platform? Try covering the surface with hairspray. Many people have tried this solution and have seen increased adhesion between the object and the build platform.
• When you are printing an object for the first time, do it on the lowest quality setting of the printer. You do not want to find out after hours of printing that the object is 1mm too small!
• Know the plastic you are printing with. The two most popular types are ABS and PLA, and each has its own characteristics, like melting temperature and extruding speed. Don’t forget to make sure your printer’s profile is right for the plastic you are using.

This is an excerpt from Michael Overstreet’s “Helpful Tips for the New 3D Printer Owner” in the 2013 Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing. [MO]

Block That Draft!

If you find that your print is curling, even after following the above beginner tips, try putting some paper or cardboard around the bed (if you have an open-sided printer) to block airflow. Even a slight breeze from movement around the printer can be enough to cool the print down and cause problems. Anything you can do to block airflow can be helpful.

Use Maple Syrup for What?

People use all sorts of weird stuff to create a bed adhesive for holding down ABS plastic prints on a 3D printer. Some people use special papers, glues, sprays, and tapes, as well as glue sticks, hair spray, and painter’s tape. But the weirdest of them all must be maple syrup.

Go as Low Res as You Can

Before you decide on the resolution of your print, think about the print’s application. If you don’t need a high-resolution print, try a lower-resolution setting. It will save you time, material, and wear and tear on your machine. [BC]

Is Your First Print Layer All Squishy?

If you find that your first print layer on your 3D printer is all rough and squished-looking, you likely have the extrusion head too close to the print bed. On most printers, the thickness of a sheet of bond paper is the normal distance between extruder nozzle and the bed. If you notice a skipping sound coming from the extruder mechanism, it means that too much filament is being extruded, which can also make for a squished print. To fix this, recalibrate your extruder, aiming for that paper-thickness distance.

Use Test Prints

You can download a number of files from Thingiverse.com that will help you test out the capabilities of your printer. You can also use them to test new filaments, or to make sure the bed on your printer is properly level and in a good mood before you print your precious project. Search “3D Printing Tests” to see the files that are available.

Tracing Photos of Objects for 3D Designing

Bob, of I Like to Make Stuff, wanted to build a human-sized prop of the coveted Optimus Prime Blaster Cannon from his childhood. To get an accurately scaled and detailed 3D model of the prop for 3D printing some of its parts, he simply took a photo of a tiny Blaster toy, brought it into Fusion 360, and then traced, revolved, and extruded to create the shapes for his gun. With a camera, a CAD program, a 3D printer, and tons of time and patience, you can print out the world—or at least a prop version. [BC]

Finish Your Prints in Cheap Craft Paints

You can get pretty decent results from painting 3D prints with cheap acrylic craft store paints. Brands like Apple Barrel, DecoArt, and Craft Smart are cheap, readily available, and easy to use, and offer a very respectable result.

Adding Patterns to Your Prints

If you want to add color, pattern, and visual texture to your 3D prints, try using hydrographic film (aka water transfer film) which is a water-soluble material with images on it. To use it, you put it in a bath of water and spray with an activator, and then dip your printed object into the bath. The print on the film is then transferred to your object. Hydrographic film is readily available online.

3D Print Parts from McMaster-Carr

Make: contributor Meredith Scheff-King discovered a feature within the indispensable McMaster-Carr catalog that could be a godsend to makers who have access to a 3D printer. Many parts in the online catalog have 3D models attached to them. In an Instructable called “Download, Edit and Print Your Own Parts from McMaster-Carr,” Meredith shows you where to get the STEP files (a common format for 3D design files) so that you can download them, convert them to STL (a digital file format commonly used in 3D printing), load them into a CAD program, and prepare them for 3D printing. Now you can print a critical part, test-fit it, and make sure that it’s the part you want before buying it. Pretty cool, eh? [MSK]

Workholding, Quick and Dirty

There are plenty of great workholding options for CNC projects, but if you need something simple, strong, and fast, hot glue is one of the best. Place a small dot every 3″ or so and press it into your spoilboard (the disposable work surface used on a CNC bed). You shouldn’t even need tabs to keep your workpiece in place. When you’re done, use a putty knife to pry it off, and swab the glue with some denatured alcohol to break the glue bonds. [TW]

Use a Loupe to Inspect Your Bits

CNC router bits don’t last forever, and not all of the wear and tear that they receive is visible to the naked eye. Getting a magnified look at a bit’s cutting surfaces can tell you plenty about why your cuts aren’t turning out the way that they should. [TW]

Save Your Laptop

If you don’t have a dedicated computer to drive your CNC machine, don’t subject your nice laptop to sawdust. Chances are that you can use a humble Raspberry Pi running Universal GCode Sender to drive your CNC router. These devices don’t have any fans to get clogged with dust, they consume very little energy, and they’re cheap to replace if they ever bite the dust (literally!). [TW]

Double Down on Digital Fabrication

If you have access to a 3D printer, don’t overlook its utility alongside your CNC machine. There are some pretty big collections of parts on Thingiverse.com to make your CNC router better—clamps, dust covers, and air diffusers. You can also use your printer to create custom jigs for workholding, customized clamps, and more. The two machines work beautifully together, though not necessarily side by side. [TW]

Skipping the Tabs on CNC Prints

Josh Price of The PI Workshop offers this tip for forgoing CNC support tabs. When you’re using double-sided tape to secure your piece to the worktable, arrange the tape in a herringbone pattern. This way, you will “catch” the pieces that you’re cutting out so that you don’t have to include tabs in your design. After the machine is finished doing its business, carefully pry away the waste material, and your cut pieces will remain stuck to the tape and the worktable where they can be carefully pried up. [JP]

Cleaning Stencil Machine Cutting Mats

Besides 3D printers, CNC machines, and laser cutters, a popular type of machine showing up more often in the shops of desktop fabricators are die-cutting/stencil-making machines, such as Silhouette and Cricut. Graphic artist Sara Conner Tanguay, of Wartooth Designs, offered this tip on a private Facebook makers group.

You can bring your Silhouette or Cricut cutting mat back to life. This is the fourth time I have redone my mat. Follow these simple steps:

1. Schmear on some Goo Gone.
2. Use a razor blade to scrape off all of the boogery crap.
3. Give it a good bath in warm, soapy water. After drying, give it a final wipe-down with rubbing alcohol.
4. Tape the edges off and spray it with low-tack repositionable spray adhesive.

Ta-da! Good as new!

Color-Tinting Laser Engraving

From the YouTube channel, Laser Wood Minnesota, comes this great tip for coloring fine-detail laser engraving. Take a dye meant for coloring epoxy (such as TransTint), and mix it with denatured alcohol. Apply it to your workpiece (it’s easy to apply) and simply wipe the surface clean, which leaves only the deeper engraved surfaces with dye in them.