Blue_SpeedYou have a new printer. Congrats. Now what? Here are three prints worth making right away - and three mistakes worth avoiding before you make them.
3 Things to Print
Almost every modern printer ships with a Benchy preloaded on the SD card or internal storage. Print it first. It is going to be fast, and it will give you that wow factor the moment it finishes. It probably will not look perfect - because it is fast - but you might not even notice.
If you want a proper Benchy to actually judge your printer, run a 30-minute one from the app or slicer instead. That is the real test.
Most printers purge a small amount of filament before each print. If you are doing multi-color, they purge a lot more. Without a purge bucket, that filament ends up on your build plate or the floor of the enclosure - neither is great.
Go to MakerWorld and search "poop bucket" along with your printer name. You might find one straight away. If not, try Thingiverse and filter for free models - it usually has more options.
Quick note: Bambu printers are easy to find on MakerWorld. Prusa printers do not purge unless you are using the MMU3, so head to Printables for those.
This one will show you what 3D printing can actually do. An infinity cube is a print-in-place model - it comes off the build plate already assembled and moving. Traditional manufacturing methods like injection molding cannot do this. It is the kind of print that makes people stop and say "wait, how?"
You might need a slicer for this one depending on your printer. Here is the one worth printing: Sturdy Infinity Cube on MakerWorld. Download the CAD or 3MF file and import it into your slicer.
3 Things to Avoid
Please. When you are removing a print, do not put your fingers on the build plate surface. The oils from your skin will make bed adhesion worse, and then you are stuck using glue sticks or cleaning your plate every few prints. If you need to flex the plate to release a print, hold it from the corners only.
This is a personal one. When I got my first printer, it came with about 20 grams of sample filament - enough for maybe one small print. My Amazon order was three days away. So I just had a brand new printer sitting there, taunting me.
Order a spool before your printer ships. If you know you are buying one in the next few days, order filament now so it arrives at the same time.
Less dust on your desk means less dust on your build plate, which means less cleaning and better adhesion. An uneven surface will throw off your printer's leveling and make every print a little harder than it needs to be. Your printer can handle it - it just will not be happy about it.
Your new 3D printer is a capable tool, but like any tool, how you treat it matters. Keep it clean, give it good filament, and listen to what it is telling you when prints go wrong. Now go unbox it and make something.