The parts worth printing in a new machine's first week — the ones that make the printer easier to live with, for someone who just unboxed one. Part of 📝Getting Started with 3D Printing.
Print for the printer
- A purge chute and waste bin — A multi-material printer purges filament at every color change. Without a chute and catch bin, that lands on the floor and under the machine.
- Spool desiccant inserts — Holders that carry silica inside the spool's hollow core. Print several at once; they belong in every spool you own. See 📝Filament Storage and Drying.
- An external exhaust port — The adapter that turns the printer's rear vent into a duct connection. The first half of the run described in 📝Venting a 3D Printer.
- A window vent panel — The other half. Modeled to your own window, because downloaded panels fit somebody else's.
- A vacuum-sealing attachment — A nozzle adapter matched to your household vacuum, for pulling air out of filament bags.
Print for the bench
- 📝Gridfinity bins — A modular tray system that swallows screws, magnets, nozzles and cutters. The first thing most people print twice.
- Tool holders — Somewhere for the scraper, the cutters and the calipers that is not the top of the printer.
- A benchmark part — A small, fast print kept on hand. Run it after any maintenance and listen; new noise means something is dry or over-lubricated.
Print for the fun of it
- Browse the marketplace app — The model marketplace is the fastest route from idea to plate, and the most reliable way to lose an evening.
- Print the thing you bought it for — Whatever made you buy the printer. It will not be your best print and that is not the point.
- Then print something for the printer again — Printing upgrades for the machine that prints them is never not entertaining. This is the loop that keeps people in the hobby.
Gotchas
- Print the chute before the first color change — Not after. The purge starts the moment a multi-color print does, and cleaning it off the chamber floor is worse than printing the part.
- Buy magnets before you need them — A large share of printer accessories assemble magnetically and simply stall without them.
- Measure before downloading — Window depths, vacuum nozzles and desks all differ. A parametric model you adjust beats an 📝STL that almost fits.