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Handouts, flashcards, and note cards from your instructor — print any of them.

HandoutHandout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List
Before class one, get your printer and your basic kit together. Don't overbuy. Half this hobby gets sold to you as needing more stuff than it actually does. Below is what I'd actually put money down for, split into budget and nice-to-have. Give it 40 minutes to read through and order.
The Printer
Buy a kit, not a pre-built. I know the pre-built looks tempting sitting there ready to go. Don't. You'll fail more in month one with a kit, but you'll actually know your machine when something breaks — and something will break, usually around month three. Kits also run cheaper for the same specs.
Budget tier: $200–$250 gets you a solid entry kit. That's what I started with.
Nice-to-have: $350–$450 gets you a slightly bigger build plate and a few conveniences (auto bed leveling, mainly). Not required for learning. Skip it your first year.
Filament
PLA. Just PLA. Don't let anyone talk you into PETG or anything fancier for your first 100 prints. PLA is forgiving, cheap, and doesn't smell up the garage. I'm still mostly PLA and I've been at this two years.
- Budget: generic PLA, 1kg spool, $18–$22. Basic colors — black, white, gray — are usually cheapest.
- Nice-to-have: name-brand PLA with tighter tolerances, $25–$30. Worth it once you're dialing in detailed prints, not before.
Get two spools to start. You'll go through the first one faster than you think, mostly on failed prints, and that's normal.
Tools You Actually Need
- Small putty knife or scraper (for prying prints off the bed) — $5, or the one that comes with your kit is fine
- Flush cutters for cleaning up prints — $8–$12
- Isopropyl alcohol, 90%+, for cleaning the bed before every print — you likely have this in your cabinet already, if not it's a couple bucks at Macey's
- A cheap digital caliper — $12–$15. You'll use this constantly to check fit. I use mine almost as much as the printer itself.
Nice-to-Have, Not Day-One
- A second nozzle size (you'll want to experiment eventually, not week one)
- An enclosure or simple box around the printer if your garage or basement runs cold or dusty — up here with our dry air and temperature swings between the house and garage, this matters more than you'd think once you're printing in January
- A dedicated small shelf or cart just for the printer. Mine lives in a spare corner and it's changed my life, but that's a "when you're serious" purchase, not a "getting started" one
What NOT to Buy Yet
Don't buy organizer bins, phone stands, or drawer dividers to print later. That's backwards. Print those after you own the printer for some other reason. The math on "I'll save money printing my own stuff" only works over time — a $3 plastic bin from the store is not cheaper than the one you make on a $250 machine, not at first. Be honest with yourself about that going in.
Shopping Notes
Get your filament and calipers online — prices are better and selection's wider than anything local. For isopropyl alcohol, cleaning supplies, and general odds and ends, Macey's or Costco covers it, and a Costco run is worth it if you're also stocking up on storage bins for all the stuff you're about to organize. No need to go up the canyon for any of this. Straightforward errands only.
Bring your printer assembled, or mostly assembled, to session two. We'll level the bed together — nine times out of ten, that's where your first problems are going to come from anyway.

HandoutHandout 2: Cheat Sheet — Core Settings & Techniques

Handout 2: Cheat Sheet — Core Settings & Techniques

Print this, tape it inside a cabinet, wherever you'll actually see it. This is the short version of everything we cover in class. When in doubt, come back to this before you start troubleshooting something exotic.

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Before You Print Anything

Level your bed. First. Always. Nine out of ten first-print problems trace back to bed leveling. I'd put money on it. Do this every few prints, not just once when the machine is new.

Check your first layer while it's printing. Don't walk away in the first 10-15 minutes. If the plastic isn't sticking flat and even, stop it and re-level rather than hoping it fixes itself two layers up. It won't.

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Filament

PLA. Just PLA, for now. Get 100 good prints in PLA before you touch anything else. It's forgiving, it's cheap, and every problem you hit will teach you something that still applies later. PETG and the rest can wait.

Store it somewhere dry. Utah's dry air is actually on your side here compared to humid climates, but an open bag on a shelf for months will still pull in moisture over time and give you stringy, popping prints. Ziploc bag, silica packet if you have one.

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Print Speed & Layer Settings

Setting	Beginner default	Notes
First layer speed	Slow (~20mm/s)	The whole print depends on this layer sticking. Don't rush it.
Normal layer speed	40-60mm/s	Faster once you trust your machine
Layer height	0.2mm	Good balance of speed and detail for most household stuff
Infill	15-20%	Fine for organizers, brackets, most things that aren't load-bearing
Bed temp (PLA)	~60°C
Nozzle temp (PLA)	~200-210°C	Check your specific filament, they vary a little

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Fit and Measurements

Measure twice. Then measure the thing you're measuring against, not just the space.

I designed a drawer divider once and forgot that drawer walls have thickness. Printed it a full 2mm too wide on every side. Had to reprint the whole thing the next day, and the second one still fights me a little going in. Account for wall thickness, clearance, and give yourself an extra half-millimeter of wiggle room on anything that needs to slide.

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Unattended Printing

Don't run long prints overnight unattended. Not just the fire-risk lecture, though that's real and you should take it seriously. If something comes loose two hours into a nine-hour print, you'll wake up to a pile of wasted plastic string and no way to have stopped it. I've got the photo. Ask me sometime, I'll show you.

Check in on anything over a couple hours. Set a timer if you have to.

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When a Print Fails

Warped or lifted corners — bed leveling, or first layer too fast. Slow down.
Stringing between parts — nozzle too hot, or filament pulled in moisture. Dry it out.
Detail not printing clean — layer height too coarse for the model, or print speed too fast on fine features.
Curved bases lifting at the corner — honestly, I still fight this one myself. Read three guides, still not fully solved. If you crack it, tell me.

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The Math Worth Knowing

Printing your own organizer bin only saves money if you already own the printer for something else. A $250 machine does not pay for itself printing $3 bins. It pays for itself over months, on the stuff you'd have bought five separate times anyway. Be honest with yourself about that going in.

WorksheetHandout 3: First Print Checklist
Handout 3: First Print Checklist
This is the checklist I actually use. Print it, keep it by the machine, check boxes with a pencil. Don't skip steps because you're excited to hit print — I've done that maybe 60 times and it burns you at least half of them.
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Before You Slice
- [ ] Bed is clean (isopropyl wipe, no fingerprints, no dust)
- [ ] Bed is leveled — don't skip this and blame the printer later. Nine out of ten first-print problems are the bed. I'd put money on it.
- [ ] Filament loaded and feeding smooth, no tangles on the spool
- [ ] Nozzle temp matches your filament (PLA, unless you've got a real reason not to — 190-220°C range, check your spool)
- [ ] Bed temp set (PLA usually 50-60°C)
While Slicing
- [ ] Model sized correctly (check the actual dimensions, not just "looks right" on screen)
- [ ] Supports on if you've got overhangs past about 45 degrees
- [ ] Infill set (10-20% is plenty for most things — you're not building a bridge)
- [ ] First layer speed slowed down. Everyone wants to skip to fast. Don't. The first layer is the whole print. Get it stuck right and the rest follows.
- [ ] Estimated print time noted somewhere you'll see it
First 10 Minutes — Watch It
- [ ] First layer going down flat, no gaps, no dragging
- [ ] No corners lifting (if this is your fail point, you're not alone — it still gets me on curved bases and I've read three guides trying to fix it)
- [ ] Nozzle isn't dragging through already-printed plastic
- [ ] If it's ugly in the first 10 minutes, it's ugly for the whole print. Stop it. Re-level. Try again. That's not failure, that's just the job.
Long Prints (Anything Over 2 Hours)
- [ ] Do not leave it unattended overnight. I don't care how confident you are. Watch the first layer, then check in every hour or so.
- [ ] Filament spool has enough left to finish (measure roughly, don't guess)
- [ ] Nothing flammable near the printer, printer on a surface that can take heat
- [ ] Phone or timer set to check on it — don't trust yourself to remember
After It's Done
- [ ] Let the bed cool before you pry the print off — you'll get a cleaner release and you won't warp anything
- [ ] Check the fit against whatever it's supposed to fit (drawer, bracket, whatever). Measure twice before you print, then measure again after — I forgot drawer walls have thickness once and printed a divider that was 2mm too wide on every side. Whole Saturday, wasted.
- [ ] Log what you did: settings, time, what worked, what didn't. I keep this on an index card taped to the printer. Future-you will thank present-you.
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If it fails: figure out which step above you skipped before you touch a single setting. Ninety percent of the time it's in this list somewhere. The other ten percent, come find me — that's what the second half of class is for.
HandoutHandout 4: Troubleshooting Guide
Handout 4: Troubleshooting Guide
Print fails aren't a sign you're bad at this. They're just the tuition. Here are the problems I see most, roughly in the order beginners run into them.
1. Nothing sticks to the bed Nine times out of ten this is a leveling problem. I'd put money on it. Re-level your bed before you touch anything else. Clean the bed with isopropyl alcohol too — oil from your fingers is enough to ruin adhesion, and our dry air out here means static grabs dust onto that surface fast.
2. The first layer looks rough or see-through in spots Your nozzle's too far from the bed, or your first layer speed is too fast. Slow it down. I know everyone wants to watch the printer fly through a print, but the first layer is the whole print. Get that stuck down clean and the rest follows. That's not advice, that's just what happens.
3. Corners lift up mid-print (warping) Usually your first layer temperature is a little low, or there's a draft in the room. Keep the printer away from vents and doorways. If it's a big flat print, a brim helps — that's the extra ring of plastic around your base you can peel off after.
4. Stringing — thin hairs of plastic between parts of the print Your temperature's probably too high, or your retraction settings need adjusting in the slicer. This one drove me nuts on a bracelet for Olivia — took four tries to get it clean. Small detailed prints show stringing worse than big blocky ones, so don't panic if your first bracket looks fine and your first figurine doesn't.
5. Layers shifting sideways partway through Something physically moved — a belt's loose, or the print snagged on something. Check your belt tension. Also check that nothing's sitting near the printer that could get bumped.
6. The "shipwreck" — everything melted and sagging That's an unlevel bed or a nozzle sitting too close, and it's usually both. I still have my very first print on the shelf looking exactly like this. Amber calls it the shipwreck. It's there so I remember week one.
7. Spaghetti — the print comes loose from the bed partway through and the nozzle just keeps extruding into open air This is what happens when adhesion fails mid-print instead of at the start. I let a 9-hour print run overnight once and woke up to two hours of good print and seven hours of plastic string. I don't run long prints unattended anymore, and neither should you. Watch your first layer, check in every hour or so after that, especially on anything over 3-4 hours.
8. Part comes out the wrong size Measure before you design, and measure the actual space, not what you assume it is. I designed a kitchen drawer divider that came out 2mm too wide on every side because I forgot drawer walls have thickness. Reprinted it the next day. Second one still fights me a little going in, so measure twice and give yourself a little clearance anyway.
9. Print takes way longer than the slicer said Usually infill percentage or wall count crept up somewhere in your settings. For most household stuff — bins, brackets, drawer dividers — 15-20% infill and 2-3 walls is plenty strong. You don't need 100% infill for a phone stand.
10. Curved bases lifting at one spot, or small round prints not behaving Dang if I know the full fix on this one. I've read three guides. It still gets me sometimes on small circular bases — one edge decides to peel while the rest is fine. If you figure it out before I do, tell me.
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General rule: when a print fails, look at your bed first, your temperature second, your speed third. That covers most of it. Bring your failures to class. I'll bring the shipwreck.

FlashcardsPrintable flashcards — 3D Printing 101

Print it, fold it, stick it on the fridge.

3D Printing 101 — Flashcard Set

Print on cardstock, cut along the dashed lines below each card row, keep the terms facing out. I made mine and ran them through a rubber band for a week before I gave up and used an actual binder ring — do whatever survives your bag.

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FRONT	BACK
What is FDM printing?	Fused Deposition Modeling. A nozzle melts plastic filament and lays it down in layers until the shape exists. It is not "printing" in the paper sense at all — closer to a very patient hot glue gun with a plan.
What is FDM not?	It's not resin printing, not injection molding, and not going to give you glass-smooth surfaces or fine jewelry detail. Different tool, different job.
Name the four parts that matter most.	Hotend (melts the plastic), bed (the surface you print on), extruder (pushes filament into the hotend), motion system (the belts and rods that move it all around). Everything else is support cast.
Why does "just stacked layers" matter?	Because every print is literally a stack of 2D shapes glued together. That's why layer lines show up, why overhangs are hard, and why the printer can struggle with anything that isn't built with gravity in mind.
Why aren't we doing resin printing in this class?	Resin gives finer detail but means liquid chemicals, a wash-and-cure station, gloves, ventilation, and disposal rules. For drawer organizers and brackets, FDM is the right tool. Save resin for miniatures later, if you want.
Kit or pre-built — what's the honest tradeoff?	Kit costs you a weekend and teaches you the machine, bolt by bolt, so when something's wrong later you already know where to look. Pre-built saves the weekend but you're troubleshooting a stranger. Neither is wrong.
What does $200–$400 actually buy you in 2026?	A solid, small-bed FDM printer that will print PLA reliably once it's dialed in. It will not be silent, huge, or multi-material. It will be enough.
The "3D printing saves you money" myth — what's the real math?	Filament, electricity, upgrades, and failed prints all cost something. For one-off niche parts it wins. For anything you could buy off a shelf for a few dollars, it usually doesn't. Do the math on your own use case before you believe anybody's math, including mine.

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FRONT	BACK
What do you need to set up your "corner"?	A dedicated, stable, non-wobbly surface, a real outlet (not a chain of extension cords), and airflow. A closet with the door shut is not ventilation.
Why start with PLA, always?	Low print temps, minimal warping, no special enclosure needed, forgiving of a beginner's bad settings. It is the material that lets you learn the machine instead of fighting the material.
What's PETG or TPU for, and why wait?	PETG is tougher and more heat-resistant; TPU is flexible rubber-like filament. Both need different temps, different speeds, and more patience with stringing. Learn PLA's rules first so you know what "normal" looks like before you troubleshoot a harder material.
Why does filament need to stay dry?	Filament pulls moisture from the air. Wet filament pops, hisses, and prints rough with weak layers. Store it sealed with desiccant when you're not using it.
What does the label on a spool actually tell you?	Material type, recommended nozzle temp range, recommended bed temp, and diameter (almost always 1.75mm for hobby printers). Treat the label as a starting point, not gospel — your printer will have opinions of its own.
Plain and simple, what does a slicer do?	Takes a 3D model and cuts it into layers your printer can actually print, then writes out the exact instructions — the g-code — for every single move. No slicer, no print.
Name the five settings that actually matter early on.	Layer height, print speed, temperature, infill percentage, and supports. Learn these five well before you touch anything else the software offers.
Why slow down the first layer every time?	The first layer is the foundation for everything above it. Rush it and you get poor bed adhesion, and everything built on top of a bad foundation is also bad. I still slow mine down every single print, no exceptions.

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FRONT	BACK
What are supports and infill, and how much should you think about them?	Supports hold up overhanging parts mid-print; infill is the internal lattice that fills a "solid" part. For most everyday objects, default settings are fine. Don't overthink either until a specific print tells you to.
Before you blame the printer, filament, or settings — what should you check first?	Bed leveling. A surprising number of "my printer is broken" problems are actually "my bed is not level," and it costs nothing to check.
What is "the test boat" and why run one?	A small standard test print (often literally boat-shaped) that reveals adhesion, stringing, and layer quality fast. Run it after any real change — new filament, new settings, new anything — and judge the result honestly, not hopefully.
Where should you look for free 3D models, and what should you avoid?	Reputable model-sharing sites with real reviews and print counts. Avoid anything with zero comments, no photos of an actual printed result, or dimensions that don't match your printer's bed size.
What does "prepping a model" for your printer mean?	Checking scale, orientation, and whether it needs supports before you slice it — not just hitting print and hoping. Five minutes of prep saves an hour of failed print.
What's the rule about long unattended prints?	Never start a long print and walk away for good. Watch the first layer fully, check in periodically after that. Plastic, heat, and hours alone is not a combination to trust blindly.
What is "spaghetti" and what usually causes it?	When a print detaches mid-job and the nozzle just extrudes loose plastic into the air — looks exactly like spaghetti. Usually bed adhesion failure or warping pulling the piece loose.
What is stringing, and is it a big problem?	Thin hair-like strands of plastic between separate parts of a print, caused by filament oozing while the nozzle travels. Annoying but fixable — usually a temperature or retraction setting issue, not a disaster.
What's the "corner lift on curved bases" problem?	Curved or rounded print bases have less flat surface gripping the plate, so corners and edges are more prone to lifting mid-print. Bed prep and first-layer settings help, but this one still gets me sometimes even now.
What's the actual process for designing something like a drawer divider?	Measure the space, print a piece, check the physical fit, log what didn't work, adjust the model, print again. It's not one clean design — it's a small loop you run until it fits right.

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I still check bed leveling before I blame anything else on my own printer — even after two years and probably a hundred prints. It's the most boring troubleshooting step and also the most correct one, which is a lesson that applies to more than just printing, honestly.

Memory helpsMnemonics & memory helps

Print it, fold it, stick it on the fridge.

Mnemonics & Memory Helps ### 3D Printing 101 — Jacob's cheat sheet

Print this page separately if you want. I keep a version of it taped inside the printer's electronics cover, which tells you something about how often I still need it.

A few of these are corny. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. The corny ones are usually the ones that stick, so I've stopped being embarrassed about it. Mostly.

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1. FDM in one sentence: "Hot Glue Gun, But It Listens"

Unpacks: What FDM actually is — a nozzle melts plastic filament and lays it down in a controlled path, one layer at a time, following instructions instead of your hand.

That's the whole mental model. It's a glue gun that takes orders. It is not a laser, not a mold, not magic — it's extrusion with really good discipline. If a student remembers "hot glue gun that listens," they've got 90% of what FDM is.

Margin note: I still describe it this way to relatives who ask what the machine "actually does." Works every time.

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2. The four parts that matter: "H-B-E-M" — "He Builds Everything, Mostly"

Unpacks: Hotend, Bed, Extruder, Motion system — the four things you're troubleshooting 95% of the time.

Hotend — melts it
Bed — holds it
Extruder — pushes it
Motion — moves it

When something goes wrong, you're diagnosing one of these four. "He Builds Everything, Mostly" is silly, but when a print fails, running through H-B-E-M in order is a genuinely fast way to find the problem instead of panicking at the whole machine.

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3. Why layers limit you: "A Staircase Is Never a Ramp"

Unpacks: Every print is stacked 2D shapes, which means curves are always slightly stair-stepped, overhangs need support past a certain angle, and thin layers only get you so much smoothness before you're fighting physics instead of settings.

A staircase can look like a ramp from far enough away. Up close, it's still steps. That's every FDM print, forever. Lower your layer height and the steps get smaller — they don't disappear.

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4. Resin — why we're not doing it: "Beautiful but a Biohazard"

Unpacks: Resin printing gives you much finer detail, but you're working with liquid photopolymer that's toxic uncured, needs gloves and ventilation and a wash-and-cure station, and the mess potential is real. For a class working out of home space with kids and pets around, FDM is the responsible starting point.

I'm not knocking resin. I'm saying it's a second hobby, not a first one.

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5. Kit vs. pre-built: "Kit Teaches, Box Just Works"

Unpacks: A kit forces you to assemble the machine, which means you understand every part when it eventually needs troubleshooting (and it will). A pre-built gets you printing on day one but you're a stranger to your own machine when something loosens or misaligns six months in.

Neither is wrong. But if you're the type who wants to understand the tool, not just own it — kit teaches, box just works. I built mine from a kit and would do it again.

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6. What $200–$400 gets you: "Bed, Belt, Basics — Not Bells"

Unpacks: At this price range in 2026 you're getting a solid, reliable machine that handles a real bed, decent belts and motion, and the basics done right. You are not getting: dual extrusion, auto bed leveling that's actually trustworthy, enclosed chambers, or high-speed everything. That's the "bells" — nice, but not what you're paying for yet.

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7. The money-saving myth, run honestly: "Free Parts, Not Free Time"

Unpacks: Yes, once you own the printer, each part costs pennies of plastic. No, the printer itself, the failed prints, the upgrades you'll inevitably buy, and the hours you spend tuning it are not free. I did this math on drawer organizers. I will not tell you which way it came out. Filament is cheap. The hobby is not.

Margin note: I still get asked "so does it actually save you money" at nearly every session. My answer has gotten shorter over the years, which should tell you something.

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8. Setting up your corner: "Cool, Clear, and Wired for One"

Unpacks: Space needs — decent airflow (cool, ventilated, not a sealed closet), a clear surface free of clutter and curious pets, and its own dedicated outlet if you can manage it (wired for one — don't daisy-chain a heated bed off a power strip full of other things).

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9. PLA first, always: "Forgiving Plastic for Forgivable Mistakes"

Unpacks: PLA prints at lower temperatures, warps less, smells less unpleasant, and tolerates a beginner's bad settings far better than anything else on the shelf. Your first fifteen prints will have mistakes in them. PLA is the material that lets you make those mistakes without also fighting the plastic itself.

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10. PETG and TPU — later, not never: "Stronger, Bendier, Slower to Learn"

Unpacks: PETG is stronger (better for functional parts, more heat-resistant), TPU is bendier (flexible, good for things that need to flex or grip), but both are slower to learn — stringier, fussier about temperature, less forgiving of bad first-layer setup. Learn on PLA. Graduate to these once your basics are solid, not before.

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11. Filament storage: "Chips Go Stale, So Does Filament"

Unpacks: Filament, especially nylon and some PETG, absorbs moisture from the air. Moist filament pops and hisses while printing and gives you rough, weak, bubbly prints. Store it the way you'd store an open bag of chips — sealed up, with something absorbing the moisture (silica gel packs), not left open on a shelf.

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12. Reading a spool label: "T.D.W. — Temp, Diameter, Weight"

Unpacks: The three numbers on a spool label that actually matter for setup:

Letter	Stands for	Why it matters
T	Temp range	Sets your hotend and bed temperature in the slicer
D	Diameter	Almost always 1.75mm, but check — wrong diameter means bad extrusion
W	Weight	Tells you how much print you've actually got left

T-D-W. Check it every new spool, especially diameter if you're buying a new brand.

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13. What a slicer does: "The Recipe Writer, Not the Cook"

Unpacks: The slicer takes your 3D model and converts it into the actual line-by-line instructions (G-code) the printer follows — temperatures, speeds, paths, layer by layer. It doesn't print anything itself. It writes the recipe. The printer's the cook. If a print comes out wrong, check the recipe before you blame the cook.

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14. The five settings that matter: "L.I.S.T.S."

Unpacks: Everything else in the slicer is noise until you've got these five right.

Layer height
Infill percentage
Speed
Temperature
Supports (on or off, and where)

I apologize for this one specifically — "lists" for "five settings" is barely a mnemonic, it's basically a label. But every new student asks "what do I actually need to touch" and this is the honest, short answer, so I'm keeping it.

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15. Slow your first layer: "First Layer, Last to Rush"

Unpacks: The first layer sets the adhesion for the entire print. Slow it down every single time, even when you're impatient, even when you've done it a hundred times. It's the one layer where rushing costs you the whole print, not just that layer.

Margin note: I still slow mine down manually even though my slicer profile already does it. Old habit. Not sorry.

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16. Supports and infill: "Support the Overhang, Not Your Anxiety"

Unpacks: Add supports where the model actually overhangs past a steep angle — not everywhere "just in case." Same with infill: 15–20% is plenty for most things. Overthinking these two settings wastes filament and print time for no real benefit. Trust the defaults until you have a specific reason not to.

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17. Bed leveling first: "Level Before You Blame"

Unpacks: A huge share of print problems — poor first-layer adhesion, uneven extrusion, warping at the edges — trace back to an unlevel bed, not a mysterious setting or a bad filament batch. Before you change anything else, level the bed. Every time. It's boring and it's usually the answer.

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18. The test boat: "If the Boat Floats, You're Fine"

Unpacks: The classic calibration test print (a small boat-shaped model) checks overhangs, bridging, and small details all at once. Run it, look at it honestly — not the way you want it to look, the way it actually looks — and you'll know exactly what your printer needs tuned before you commit to a real project.

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19. Finding good free models: "If It's Popular and Photographed, It's Probably Fine"

Unpacks: On the reputable model-sharing sites, look for models with real print counts, multiple photos of actual finished prints (not just renders), and recent comments. That combination filters out most of the broken or badly-designed junk without you needing to be an expert yet.

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20. Prepping a downloaded model: "Check It Before You Trust It"

Unpacks: Before printing anything downloaded, check the scale (it may not default to the size you expect), check the orientation, and run it through the slicer's preview to look for obvious support or overhang problems. Don't hit print just because someone else's photo looked good — their printer, filament, and settings aren't yours.

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21. Never run long prints unattended: "Check In Like It's a Toddler"

Unpacks: Long prints need periodic check-ins — not constant supervision, but genuine eyes-on every so often, especially in the first layer and at any layer change or color swap. A print left completely alone for six hours can fail in the first twenty minutes and you won't know until you've wasted the other five hours and forty.

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22. Spaghetti and warping: "Cold Corners Curl"

Unpacks: Both spaghetti (a detached print turning into loose strands) and warping (edges lifting off the bed) trace back to temperature problems — usually a cold bed, a draft, or poor first-layer adhesion letting corners cool and lift before the rest of the print catches up. Cold corners curl. Keep your corners warm and stuck down.

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23. Stringing: "Ooze Between Islands"

Unpacks: Stringing happens when the nozzle travels between two separate points of the print and a little plastic oozes out along the way, leaving thin hair-like strings. It's a retraction and temperature setting issue, not a mystery flaw in the model. Think of it as the nozzle drooling slightly between stops.

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24. Corner lift on curved bases: "Round Things Lift First"

Unpacks: This is the one I still fight, so I'm not going to pretend it's fully solved. Curved bases have less surface area gripping the bed at any single corner compared to a flat-edged square, so they're more prone to lifting at the edges before the rest of the print secures them. More brim, slower first layer, and a genuinely level bed all help. None of them are a total fix. I mention this so nobody feels bad when it happens to them too.

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25. Designing your drawer divider: "Measure, Print, Check, Fix — Repeat Once"

Unpacks: The actual design loop that works:

Cheat sheetOne-page note card — 3D Printing 101

Print it, fold it, stick it on the fridge.

3D Printing 101 — Fridge Note Card

Tape this up. You'll reference it for months.

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The Basics (What's Actually Happening)

FDM (what we're doing) melts plastic filament and stacks it in layers to build a shape. That's it. It's not magic, it's a hot glue gun on rails that follows a very patient plan.

Resin printing exists and makes gorgeous detail — but it's messy, smelly, and needs real ventilation and PPE. We're not doing it. If you fall in love with miniatures later, revisit it then.

Every print is stacked layers. That's why overhangs, bridges, and curves are the hard part — plastic doesn't like hanging in mid-air waiting for the next layer to show up.

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The Machine, In Four Parts

Part	Job	If it's wrong, you get
Hotend	Melts the filament	Under-extrusion, blobs, jams
Bed	Where it all sticks (or doesn't)	Warping, first-layer failure
Extruder	Feeds filament in	Skipping, grinding, gaps
Motion (rails/belts)	Moves the hotend around	Ringing, layer shifts, ugly walls

Margin note: When something looks wrong, I check these four in this order before I touch a single setting. Nine times out of ten it's the bed.

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Buying In

Kit vs pre-built: Kit = you learn the machine, cheaper, more patience required. Pre-built = faster start, less troubleshooting instinct later. I built mine. I'd do it again.
$200–$400 in 2026 gets you a solid, reliable FDM printer that will do 90% of home projects well. You are not under-buying at this price.
The "this saves money" myth: Run your own math before you believe it. Filament, upgrades, failed prints, and your own time all count. Sometimes it pencils out. Mine did, eventually. Ask me again in another year.

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Setting Up Your Corner

Needs: stable table, a dedicated outlet, and airflow — not a sealed closet.
PLA doesn't demand a fancy fume setup, but crack a window anyway.
Keep it away from foot traffic. Long prints run for hours; you don't want to bump the table.

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Filament, Straight Talk

PLA first. Always. Forgiving, low temp, doesn't warp much, smells fine. Learn on this before anything else.
PETG and TPU are great — later. They need different temps, different patience. Don't skip ahead.
Moisture ruins filament. Dry air keeps it printing clean. A sealed tub with silica packs beats a fancy dry box for most of us starting out.
Reading the spool label: it'll tell you material, diameter (almost always 1.75mm), and a temp range. Start in the middle of that range, adjust from there.

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The Slicer (Plain English)

A slicer takes a 3D model and cuts it into layers your printer can actually print, then writes the instructions (G-code). You are not printing the model — you're printing the slicer's plan for the model.

The Five Settings That Actually Matter 1. Layer height (thinner = nicer, slower) 2. Print temp (matches your filament label) 3. Print speed (slower = better quality, especially first layer) 4. Infill percentage (15–20% is fine for almost everything) 5. Supports on/off (only when geometry actually needs them)

Margin note: Slow down your first layer every single time. I still do this on prints I've run fifty times.

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Before You Blame the Printer

Level the bed first. Always. Before you touch a setting, before you blame the filament, before you post on a forum at 5 a.m. like I did.
Run a test boat/cube on anything new — new spool, new settings, new printer. Judge it honestly: are the walls smooth, is the top flat, are corners lifting?
Don't run long prints unattended. Check in. Walk by. Catch the spaghetti disaster at minute 20, not hour 6.

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Common Fails, Quick ID

Looks like	Probably means
Spaghetti mess	Print detached from bed — leveling or adhesion
Corners lifting on curved parts	Warping — my ongoing fight, still not fully solved
Hairy strings between parts	Stringing — retraction setting or temp too hot
Layers not bonding	Temp too low, or speed too fast

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Finding & Prepping Models

Stick to reputable model-sharing sites with reviews and print photos from other users — skip anything with zero comments or prints.
Before printing: check it's scaled correctly, oriented sensibly (flat side down when possible), and doesn't need supports you didn't plan for.

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The Real Project: Measure, Print, Check, Repeat

Measure your drawer. Print a divider. Check the fit. It's always a little off the first time. Adjust the number, print again. That loop — measure, print, check — is the whole hobby, honestly.

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You will mess up your first print. Everyone does. Level the bed, slow down, and try again — that's the whole method.

From your classmates

Recipes, cheat sheets, and notes that class members typed up and shared.

Cheat sheetfirst_layer_troubleshooting_cheatsheetshared by Isaiah Anderson
FIRST LAYER TROUBLESHOOTING (Isaiah's Version)
So I took the 3D Printing 101 class this summer at the community ed building and I actually finished it, which if you know me is a BIG deal because I have a habit of starting stuff and moving on to the next shiny thing (ask my wife about the the woodworking bench that's been "almost done" since spring). But this one stuck. I feel like first layers are where everybody fails first, including me, so I wrote down what actually happened when mine went bad and what I changed. Sharing in case it helps somebody else in class.
SYMPTOM: Filament not sticking at all, just drags around WHAT IT MEANS: bed too far from nozzle, or bed dirty WHAT I CHANGED: releveled the bed (used the paper trick they showed us), then wiped it down with rubbing alcohol! Fixed it immediately. Felt dumb for not cleaning it first honestly.
SYMPTOM: First LAYER looks see-through / gaps between lines WHAT IT MEANS: nozzle too far from bed WHAT I CHANGED: lowered z-offset a hair. Literally like one click on the knob made a difference.
SYMPTOM: Filament squishing out too much, looks like a pancake WHAT IT MEANS: nozzle TOO close WHAT I CHANGED: raised z-offset back up! This is is basically me overcorrecting from the last problem, so don't do what I did, go slow.
SYMPTOM: One corner sticks, OTHER corner peels UP WHAT IT MEANS: bed isn't level, not the software's fault WHAT I CHANGED: MANUAL releveling, all four corners, twice! I RUSHED this the first time and PAID for it.
SYMPTOM: Print starts good then just stops STICKING HALFWAY WHAT IT MEANS: bed coolde down or wasn't heated enough to begin with WHAT I CHANGED: bumped bed TEMP up a a few degrees, closed the door on my printer area (had it kind of in a drafty spot, rookie mistake)
Honestly most of my problems were ME problems, not machine problems. Slow down, relevel, clean the bed. Works every TIME.
Cheat sheetmy-slicer-settings-that-actually-worked-finally.txtshared by Kelton Martinez
MY SLICER SETTINGS (the ones that finally worked) 🙈
So I took the 3D Printing 101 class this summer at community ed and honestly spent like 3 weeks fighting my printer before anything looked good. sharing what finally worked in case it saves someone else the pain. this is for MY printer (Ender 3 v2, the used one I got for basically nothing off an ad - thrifty win for sure for sure)!
THE ACTUAL NUMBERS:
Nozzle Temp: 205C Bed Temp: 60C Print Speed: 50mm/s First Layer Speed: 20mm/s (slower = way less warping, no idea why this matters so much but it does) Layer Height: 0.2mm Infill: 15% for most stuff, 25% if it's gonna get used/abused (Anthony's toys lol) Retraction Distance: 6mm Retraction Speed: 40mm/s
RANDOM NOTES THAT AREN'T "SETTINGS" BUT MATTER:
- Cooling fan at 100% after layer 2. before layer 2, fan OFF completely. do not ask me why, someone in class said it and it just... worked ✨
- Brim, always. even when I don't think I need it. especially when I don't think I need it, honestly.
- Glue stick on the bed. not tape, not hairspray, just a regular glue stick like it's 3rd grade art class. cheapest fix that's ever worked for anything in my life.
THINGS I TRIED THAT DID NOTHING: - Changing nozzle temp by 5 degrees increments, placebo, I think - "Ironing" top layer - looked worse for me, maybe user error
At the end of the day (ironically, I know) these are just the numbers that work for MY specific used printer in MY specific garage temperature. your mileage will vary. i fact-checked half this doc against Reddit threads while writing it and changed like 3 numbers already 💀 that's the process I guess.
Ask me in 6 months if I'm still doing this

Zoom dial-in transcripts

We run an optional Zoom Q&A between classes — join by computer or dial in by phone. Transcripts are auto-generated, so forgive the mess.

Zoom transcriptZoom dial-in Q&A — week 2 (transcript)
Auto-transcript from the weekly Zoom dial-in, lightly cleaned up. Mistakes, tangents, and all.
JACOB: —can everyone hear me okay, I see Brian's hand but I don't think you're— you might be muted, Brian.
BRIAN: Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Can you hear me now.
JACOB: There we go.
BRIAN: Okay, I just had a question about the—
JACOB: Hold on, hold on, sorry, let me just, Isaiah I see you joined, welcome, we're like four minutes in, nothing happened yet, we're still figuring out audio.
ISAIAH: [7:02 PM] all good, is this the same link as last week or did I
JACOB: Same link. Yeah. Okay Brian go ahead.
BRIAN: So my question was about bed leveling, cause I did the thing you do with the, when the edge curls up on the corners of the print, and I don't know if that's a leveling thing or a—
JACOB: That's — okay yeah so nine times out of ten, corners lifting up like that, that's warping, and warping is usually a leveling-slash-first-layer problem, sometimes it's a cooling problem too. What's your first layer look like, is it kind of translucent and shiny where it's too close, or is it kind of fuzzy and see-through gaps where it's too far?
BRIAN: Uh, I think, honestly I think too far. There were little gaps between the lines.
JACOB: Yeah so that's not enough squish. Go down like, a hair. Not a whole turn of the screw, like an eighth turn. I did the same thing on my second week ever, I leveled it once and then never touched it again for like a month and wondered why nothing was sticking right in one corner.
KELTON: Can I jump in, this is Kelton, hi everyone —
JACOB: Hey Kelton.
KELTON: — is there like, a tool for this, or are we just doing paper.
JACOB: So paper's fine honestly, that's what I still use half the time, the classic thing is a piece of regular printer paper under the nozzle and you want a little drag, a little friction, not zero not stuck. There are feeler gauges and there's the auto bed leveling sensors built into some printers where it probes like a grid of points and compensates in software. We'll touch on that more in week four I think when we get into upgrades. For now, paper's fine, don't overthink it.
NATHAN: [dog barking] sorry — sorry that's my dog, hold on —
JACOB: No worries.
NATHAN: [muffled] — okay he's out, sorry. My question was actually about the four-point leveling versus like, some printers have nine points now, is that overkill for a beginner machine.
JACOB: Not overkill exactly, it's just more thorough. Four corners plus center is the classic manual approach and it gets you 90% there for a flat bed. Nine points matters more if your bed itself has warp in it, like actual physical dips, cause then averaging across more points smooths that out. For where everyone here is at, I would not go buy a sensor upgrade yet. Get comfortable with the manual method first is my honest take.
ANDREW: [7:09 PM] sorry I'm ten minutes late, traffic on the highway was — what'd I miss, are we still on leveling or did we move on
JACOB: Still on leveling, you're fine, we just started.
ANDREW: okay good
JACOB: So — where was I. Right, cooling. So the other half of that curling thing, especially with ABS, is cooling too fast or too unevenly, corners cool faster than the middle of a big flat part and they pull up. That's more of a plastic thing than a leveling thing, but it looks the same, which is annoying, so —
ISAIAH: how do you tell the difference though if it looks the same
JACOB: Good question — honestly the tell is, if it's a leveling issue it's usually one or two corners specifically, like a diagonal pattern almost, cause your bed's tilted slightly. If it's a cooling thing it tends to be more symmetric, all four corners kind of equally, and it's worse on bigger flat prints than small ones. If you're doing PLA it's almost never cooling, PLA's pretty forgiving, so I'd bet leveling for most of you.
BRIAN: mine was PLA actually
JACOB: Yeah then it's probably leveling, go with the eighth-turn thing.
[crosstalk]
KELTON: sorry go ahead
NATHAN: no you go
KELTON: I was just gonna ask, this is maybe dumb, but does the type of glue stick matter, like the purple ones versus —
JACOB: Not dumb at all. Honestly a glue stick is a glue stick mostly, the purple dye ones are just so you can see where you put it, it doesn't have some special property. I use whatever's cheapest at the craft store. The washable kind, the kid stuff, works totally fine.
KELTON: okay good cause I bought like six of them
JACOB: [laughs] you're set for the class then.
BRIAN: is it supposed to be raining tomorrow, I saw something about a storm coming through
JACOB: I have no idea, I haven't looked, I've been— my kid's been sick so I haven't checked anything besides her temperature the last two days.
ANDREW: it's supposed to clear up by the weekend I think, I'm trying to get the boat out
JACOB: nice. okay should we — let's pull back to leveling for a sec, I don't want to lose the thread before next Thursday. Nathan did you have more on the sensor question or were you good.
NATHAN: no I'm good, that answered it
JACOB: okay. Andrew since you just hopped on, quick recap for you — we're talking bed leveling, corners curling up usually means bed's too far from nozzle in that spot, paper test, eighth-turn adjustments, don't overthink sensors yet.
ANDREW: got it, thank you
JACOB: Anyone have a print that's just fully not sticking at all, like popping off mid-print, versus just curling at corners? Cause that's a slightly different conversation, that's more like, temperature or the surface itself.
ISAIAH: yeah actually mine popped off around like, third or fourth layer, just slid right off
JACOB: Okay so that's usually the base layer bond failing, not so much level, more like — is your bed temp right for the plastic, and did you clean the surface, oils from your hands on the glass will absolutely wreck adhesion. I wipe mine down with isopropyl before basically every print now, it's a habit.
ISAIAH: I have not been doing that
JACOB: [laughs] try that first before you touch anything else, honestly, it's the cheapest fix and it solves like half the adhesion complaints I hear.
BRIAN: what percent isopropyl, does it matter
JACOB: I use 90-something, I think higher is better cause it evaporates faster and doesn't leave residue, but I don't actually know the exact cutoff where it stops working well, I'd have to look that up.
BRIAN: okay no worries
JACOB: I'll — I'll actually check that before Thursday and bring an answer, I don't want to just guess on that one.
KELTON: are we gonna cover supports next week or is that further out
JACOB: That's week three I believe, yeah, overhangs and supports, so hang onto your curling questions cause some of it overlaps.
[7:18 PM]
NATHAN: sorry one more, real quick — is there a difference leveling glass bed versus the flexible steel sheet ones
JACOB: A little, the steel sheets flex a tiny bit under the magnet so people sometimes over-tighten trying to compensate, but the process is the same otherwise. We can get into that more Thursday if people brought their printers.
ANDREW: I might actually bring mine in, is that allowed
JACOB: Yeah, bring it, that's — honestly that's the best way to do this stuff, hands on the actual knob.
BRIAN: my wife's asking about dinner, I think I gotta
JACOB: yeah that's fine, go, everyone go, we basically covered it — okay I'm getting the signal from my kitchen that dinner— alright, see everybody
Zoom transcriptZoom dial-in Q&A — week 5 (transcript)
Auto-transcript from the weekly Zoom dial-in, lightly cleaned up. Mistakes, tangents, and all.
[7:01 PM]
JACOB: —can you guys hear me okay, I've got the, I switched microphones so somebody tell me if it sounds worse
ISAIAH: it's fine, sounds fine
JACOB: okay cause the other one Madison borrowed for a school thing and never gave back, so
KELTON: you're a little echoey but it's fine
JACOB: is that better
KELTON: yeah that's better
JACOB: okay. alright well let's, people are still trickling in, I see Brian's here, Andrew's here, hey guys. Nathan I think said he might be a few minutes late so
NATHAN: [phone audio, crackly] —sorry I'm calling in from the car, is this thing on
JACOB: Nathan we can hear you, you sound like you're in a tin can but we can hear you
NATHAN: [crackly] great that's — [inaudible] — pulling into the driveway gimme a sec
JACOB: take your time. okay so, week five, this week was supports and orientation, how to lay the part down on the bed so it actually prints without turning into spaghetti. so let's just go, who's got questions
ISAIAH: yeah so, the tree supports, versus the — what's the other one called
JACOB: normal supports, or grid supports depending on the software, yeah
ISAIAH: right the grid ones. I did the tree ones on my thing this week cause you said in class they use less plastic, and it worked fine on the print itself but getting them OFF was a nightmare, like they were kind of grabbing onto the part in weird spots
JACOB: yeah so that's the trade off nobody tells you about upfront. tree supports are great for material savings and they're great when you've got an overhang that's like, off in space somewhere weird, not just a flat shelf. but the contact points, where the little branches actually touch your part, if your support interface setting is too tight they'll bond almost as strong as the part itself and then you're sitting there with flush cutters going at 11pm
ISAIAH: [laughs] yeah that was me
JACOB: right, so the fix is in the slicer there's usually a support interface density, knock that down, like 20 percent instead of whatever the default is, and it gives you a little bit of a gap, little bit of a — the layer doesn't fuse as hard, so it pops off cleaner. still not perfect. nothing's perfect with supports honestly
BRIAN: can I ask a dumb one
JACOB: no dumb ones, go
BRIAN: what's the actual number, like the angle, where you need supports at all. I keep just eyeballing it and I'm wrong half the time
JACOB: so the rule of thumb everybody uses is 45 degrees from vertical, anything steeper than that, meaning more overhang than 45, needs support or it's gonna sag or just not print. but that number's kind of a starting point, it changes with your cooling, your printer, even the plastic. PLA you can sometimes push past 45 a little cause it cools fast. something like PETG is stringier and stickier so it's less forgiving, I'd want supports earlier
BRIAN: okay so like 40 degrees on PETG
JACOB: yeah safer to go 35, 40, something like that. I don't actually — I don't know the exact number PETG starts failing at, I've never tested it that precisely, I just go conservative. I could find out, there's probably a chart somewhere
[dog barking in background]
KELTON: sorry that's my — [muffled] Winston, hey, hey buddy no. sorry
JACOB: all good
[7:11 PM]
ANDREW: hey so I joined a couple minutes late, did I miss anything, was there like a housekeeping thing
JACOB: no you're fine, we're on supports and orientation, the week five stuff. we just did the 45 degree rule and tree vs grid supports
ANDREW: okay perfect that's actually what my question's about. so orientation. if I've got a part with a hole going through it sideways, like a horizontal hole, is it better to print it standing up so the hole comes out round, or lay it flat and just deal with supports inside the hole
JACOB: so horizontal holes are their own little nightmare, yeah. if you print it with the hole running horizontal, the top of that hole is basically an overhang, a tiny roof, and it'll sag in, you'll get kind of a teardrop shape instead of a circle unless the hole's small enough to bridge on its own, which for small stuff, like anything under maybe 5, 6 millimeters, plastic can often bridge that without support at all. cools fast enough
ANDREW: what if it's like 10mm
JACOB: 10 I'd support it, or better, rotate the whole part so that hole's vertical instead. that's honestly the first thing I try, can I just turn this thing 90 degrees and make my problem go away. saves you supports, saves you post-processing, cleaner hole
ANDREW: [crosstalk] but then does that mess up—
JACOB: [crosstalk] go ahead sorry
ANDREW: no I was gonna say does that mess up a different surface then, like now something else is facing down that shouldn't be
JACOB: yeah, it's always a trade, that's the whole game with orientation honestly, you're just picking which surface you're willing to sacrifice. I do this thing where I'll rotate a part like four or five different ways in the slicer before I commit, just staring at where the supports would land each time
NATHAN: [crackly] — okay I'm back, sorry, I'm in the driveway now, what'd I miss
JACOB: Nathan we're on orientation, rotating parts to avoid overhangs
NATHAN: [crackly] okay so real quick before I lose you, my print this week the bottom layer, the one touching the bed, came out kind of rough, like bumpy, is that a support thing or a bed thing
JACOB: that's usually not supports, that's more bed adhesion or your first layer height being off, that's separate topic. but real quick — you doing a brim or a raft on that?
NATHAN: [crackly, cutting out] — no I don't think — [inaudible] —
JACOB: okay, we'll come back to that one, phone's cutting out on you
NATHAN: [crackly] yeah sorry, kid's yelling something at me too, one sec
[background, muffled] — DAD CAN I HAVE —
NATHAN: [crackly] not now bud. okay I'm here
JACOB: it's alright. so brim can actually help first layer look cleaner too but that's a whole separate rabbit hole, let's not open that tonight, we'll hit it next week probably
KELTON: quick weather aside, is anyone else's garage an oven right now, cause my printer's in the garage and I swear my prints have been warping more the last week
JACOB: oh yeah, heat matters more than people think, ambient temp messes with warping, especially corners lifting off the bed
BRIAN: it's supposed to hit like 98 this weekend
JACOB: yeah don't print in a hot garage with the door down all day, that's a whole— we can talk about that some other time. cooling and ambient temp is basically its own class
ISAIAH: are you guys doing anything this weekend or
JACOB: I've got a birthday party for my daughter's friend I'm apparently required to attend, so
[laughter]
KELTON: living the dream
JACOB: okay let's, before we lose everybody, anybody got one more supports question, otherwise I think we're good for tonight
ANDREW: nope I'm good
BRIAN: I'm good, thanks Jacob
JACOB: alright, Nathan you still there
NATHAN: [crackly] — yeah I'm good, I'll email you about the bed thing
JACOB: sounds good, do that. alright everybody, nice work this week, see you Thursday for—
ISAIAH: you're muted
JACOB: oh — can you hear me now
KELTON: yeah now we can
JACOB: okay never mind, see everyone Thursday, same

Around the web

Sites we keep coming back to — some picked by your instructor, some shared in class.

Fused filament fabrication (Wikipedia) ↗
The vocabulary page. When I say FDM, extruder, or layer height, this is what I mean. Dry but accurate.
3D printing (Wikipedia) ↗
The big-picture overview, more history than you need but good context.
Teaching Tech calibration site ↗shared by Isaiah Anderson
The calibration walkthrough we leaned on in week 4. Work through it top to bottom with your own printer.
All3DP ↗
Readable articles when you're comparing printers or filaments. Take the top-ten lists with a grain of salt.
RepRap wiki ↗shared by Kelton Martinez
Where home 3D printing actually started. Deep rabbit hole, enter at your own risk.

Practice corner

6 quizzes and 2 games — playable by anyone, no account needed.

Open the practice corner →

Materials & extras

Downloads

Handout 1: Supply & Shopping List

The Printer

Filament

Tools You Actually Need

Nice-to-Have, Not Day-One

What NOT to Buy Yet

Shopping Notes

Handout 2: Cheat Sheet — Core Settings & Techniques

Before You Print Anything

Filament

Print Speed & Layer Settings

Fit and Measurements

Unattended Printing

When a Print Fails

The Math Worth Knowing

Handout 3: First Print Checklist

Before You Slice

While Slicing

First 10 Minutes — Watch It

Long Prints (Anything Over 2 Hours)

After It's Done

Handout 4: Troubleshooting Guide

3. Corners lift up mid-print (warping) Usually your first layer temperature is a little low, or there's a draft in the room. Keep the printer away from vents and doorways. If it's a big flat print, a brim helps — that's the extra ring of plastic around your base you can peel off after.

5. Layers shifting sideways partway through Something physically moved — a belt's loose, or the print snagged on something. Check your belt tension. Also check that nothing's sitting near the printer that could get bumped.

6. The "shipwreck" — everything melted and sagging That's an unlevel bed or a nozzle sitting too close, and it's usually both. I still have my very first print on the shelf looking exactly like this. Amber calls it the shipwreck. It's there so I remember week one.

9. Print takes way longer than the slicer said Usually infill percentage or wall count crept up somewhere in your settings. For most household stuff — bins, brackets, drawer dividers — 15-20% infill and 2-3 walls is plenty strong. You don't need 100% infill for a phone stand.

10. Curved bases lifting at one spot, or small round prints not behaving Dang if I know the full fix on this one. I've read three guides. It still gets me sometimes on small circular bases — one edge decides to peel while the rest is fine. If you figure it out before I do, tell me.

3D Printing 101 — Flashcard Set

Mnemonics & Memory Helps ### 3D Printing 101 — Jacob's cheat sheet

1. FDM in one sentence: "Hot Glue Gun, But It Listens"

2. The four parts that matter: "H-B-E-M" — "He Builds Everything, Mostly"

3. Why layers limit you: "A Staircase Is Never a Ramp"

4. Resin — why we're not doing it: "Beautiful but a Biohazard"

5. Kit vs. pre-built: "Kit Teaches, Box Just Works"

6. What $200–$400 gets you: "Bed, Belt, Basics — Not Bells"

7. The money-saving myth, run honestly: "Free Parts, Not Free Time"

8. Setting up your corner: "Cool, Clear, and Wired for One"

9. PLA first, always: "Forgiving Plastic for Forgivable Mistakes"

10. PETG and TPU — later, not never: "Stronger, Bendier, Slower to Learn"

11. Filament storage: "Chips Go Stale, So Does Filament"

12. Reading a spool label: "T.D.W. — Temp, Diameter, Weight"

13. What a slicer does: "The Recipe Writer, Not the Cook"

14. The five settings that matter: "L.I.S.T.S."

15. Slow your first layer: "First Layer, Last to Rush"

16. Supports and infill: "Support the Overhang, Not Your Anxiety"

17. Bed leveling first: "Level Before You Blame"

18. The test boat: "If the Boat Floats, You're Fine"

19. Finding good free models: "If It's Popular and Photographed, It's Probably Fine"

20. Prepping a downloaded model: "Check It Before You Trust It"

21. Never run long prints unattended: "Check In Like It's a Toddler"

22. Spaghetti and warping: "Cold Corners Curl"

23. Stringing: "Ooze Between Islands"

24. Corner lift on curved bases: "Round Things Lift First"

25. Designing your drawer divider: "Measure, Print, Check, Fix — Repeat Once"

3D Printing 101 — Fridge Note Card

The Basics (What's Actually Happening)

The Machine, In Four Parts

Buying In

Setting Up Your Corner

Filament, Straight Talk

The Slicer (Plain English)

Before You Blame the Printer

Common Fails, Quick ID

Finding & Prepping Models

The Real Project: Measure, Print, Check, Repeat

From your classmates

Zoom dial-in transcripts

Around the web

Practice corner