The Lessons

The course has four units. Each lesson is short and ends with a task.

Unit 1: Meet the printer

• Lesson 1. Two ways to print. Filament (FDM) melts plastic through a nozzle. Resin printers cure liquid with light. See FDM or resin.
• Lesson 2. The parts. Frame, bed, hotend, extruder, motors and the board that runs them.
• Lesson 3. Levelling and Z-offset. Why the gap between nozzle and bed decides almost everything.

Unit 2: Learn the slicer

• Lesson 4. Models and slicing. Downloading or designing a model, then turning it into layers.
• Lesson 5. Layer height and speed. The trade-off between detail and print time.
• Lesson 6. Walls and infill. Where strength really comes from.
• Lesson 7. Supports and orientation. Printing overhangs, and turning the part so you need fewer supports.

Unit 3: Pick your material

• Lesson 8. PLA. Easy, low-odour, the default for learning.
• Lesson 9. PETG. Tougher and more heat-tolerant, a little stringier. Compare in PLA or PETG.
• Lesson 10. Flexible TPU. Slow and steady wins.
• Lesson 11. Storing filament. Keeping moisture out.

Unit 4: Fix what goes wrong

• Lesson 12. First-layer problems. Start with why the first layer won’t stick.
• Lesson 13. Stringing and blobs. Retraction and temperature.
• Lesson 14. Warping and cracking. Drafts, adhesion and cooling.
• Lesson 15. Layer shifts and gaps. Belts, speeds and clogs.

Safety note

Printers have hot parts and moving parts. Don’t leave a new setup running unattended, keep the room ventilated, and handle resin with gloves as the maker directs.