So you are a beginner to 3D printing! What is the “Stuff” you are going to need to start your journey of 3D Printing? What are the essential supplies, accessories & tools should you have in addition to a 3D printer? Here we cover everything you are going to need to start 3D Printing!
Yes – We are assuming you already have the 3D printer – but if not – please see my post: Best 3D Printer for a Beginner in 2020? The Winner is (Still) the Creality Ender 3 Pro!
- Raw Materials / Supplies (consumables):
- Filament (PLA),
- Bed adhesion supplies (glue stick, blue painters tape, Aqua Net hair spray),
- Sandpaper (assortment – rough to fine)
- Large ziplock bags
- Desiccant
- Tools
- Equipment/Accessories
Ok – So there is pretty much everything I think you are going to need – but what is everything for and why? Some of the items might be obvious – but others – maybe not so much so! Let’s go through each one!
Raw Materials
Filament
Filament is the raw material from which everything is made! There are roughly 20 different types of filament that you may be able to print with (depends on the capability of your 3D printer). However, I would STRONGLY suggest that you BEGIN with PLA – which stands for PolyLactic Acid.
Why? Simply because it is the easiest to start working with, is the safest filament material and is the most forgiving! If you want to read more about filaments, suggested printing parameters for each, best uses and properties of each – please check out my post: It’s All About The Filamanet.
Here is an Amazon link to the filament we have started out with, and been very happy. As of February 2020 the cost for a single 1kg (2.2lbs) of PLA was $19.99 or 2 spools for $32.99.
Bed Adhesion Supplies
To print successfully – things MUST have a solid foundation! That means your first layer HAS to stick to the build plate! How do you make that happen? Well, honestly – a number of ways. Sometimes just having a heated bed (build plate) is sufficient – but other times it takes more than that.
That is where the glue stick (purple), blue painter’s tape and Aqua Net hair spray come into play! Whichever of the 3 you use – please make sure that you apply it UNIFORMLY over the build area on the plate!
Sandpaper
You will find yourself wanting to clean up some models that you have printed. Depending on the print resolution, texture of the print surface, and what the model is for – you will want a variety of grits for sand paper to smooth out the model surfaces.
Large Ziplock Bags
It’s best to take care of your filament and keep it dry. That’s where the ziplock bags are going to be necessary. After all – if you want a cake to turn out – you make sure you are using flour that is dry and not clumpy. So why would you expect it to be any different with 3D printing – where the filament is the raw material you are using to build everything!
I would make sure that the plastic bags you use to store your 3D printing filament are HEAVY DUTY – since you are going to want to be able to re-use them. I would also recommend that you REINFORCE the area of the bag below the ziplock with clear packaging tape, or something comparable – since that is where they tend to split and separate first.
Desiccant
The desiccant is to be used along with the ziplock bags to keep your filament dry. I would just make it a habit to save any silica gel packets you receive when purchasing other merchandise to use it to help you keep your filament dry. I would recommend putting 2 -3 silica gel packs in with every spool when storing it in a ziplock bag.
Tools
Spatula/Scraper
The spatula/scrapper will be an indispensable tool for REMOVING models from the print bed. Yes – we want them to stick well during the printing process – but eventually they need to be removed!
If you are using glass rather than a flexible magnetic (removable) build plate – the scraper/spatula will be even MORE essential!
Tweezers
I find tweezers very helpful for removing those stubborn stings of filament that we in hard to reach places. Get a hardy pair of tweezers that have some rigidity to them – not the flimsy ones that are included with makeup kits sometimes.
Needle Nose Pliers
Sometimes the filament strands or excess/ debris that you need to remove from the model in clean up is simply too big for tweezers to handle. In those instances needle nose pliers can really be your best friend!
Paper Clamps
These are helpful for holding down the edges of the magnetic build plate and/or the blue painter’s tape onto the printer bed.
Exacto Knife
You are probably going to be printing some 3D models that require supports for certain parts of the model. Supports are great – in that they enable you to print objects and overhangs that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to print with a typical FDM 3D printer. But when the printing is done – you will want to remove those supports – and to do so an exacto knife will really come in handy! Be careful with the fingers!
File Set
After removing strands of filament from your printed model with the needle nose pliers, tweezers or the exacto knife there might still be an annoying nub that is too big to be handled with sandpaper. In those cases a regular wood file is a great choice to finish the clean up!
Nozzle Cleaning Kit
Occasional clogged nozzles are just a reality of FDM 3D printing! Best to be prepared for the unavoidable eventuality! Some of the inexpensive kits on Amazon include tweezers and extra nozzles of various diameters. Check out the Amazon link here to see some of the options available!
Measuring Calipers With Digital Display
A must have when you start designing items with CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to work with something already in the physical world! There are surprisingly inexpensive options that are still very accurate! Here is an Amazon link to the model that we like and is available for just about $10!
Magnifying Glass
Some of the stuff you print might be pretty small. So if you are no longer in your 20s – a magnifying glass will really help you see some of the details of your print & help you trouble shoot.
Equipment/Accessories
Raspberry Pi (Cana Kit)
We have a Creality Ender 3 Pro – and know a lot of you will most likely come to the same conclusion that we did – that the Creality Ender 3 Series of printers are simply great 3D printers to start your 3D printing adventures! (To read our review of the Creality Ender 3 Series versus the Dremel DigiLab 3D45 please see our post here.
One of the things we like best about the Creality Ender 3 series – is that it is open source and that it works really well with OctoPrint (an OctoPi)! The OctoPi / OctoPrint allows you to remotely control & monitor your 3D printer from a web browser. It also allows you to make time-lapse videos of your prints – even moving the printer head out of the way for each photo! Finally – it allows us to be in a different room from the 3D printer – yet be able to monitor and watch it – which greatly eased my safety and health concerns with regards to fumes and nanoparticles! See our post here to learn, step-by-step how to build your own OctoPi/OctoPrint.
With regards to purchasing the Raspberry Pi – I would suggest that you buy a kit – so you get the power cable, a case, a micro SD card, etc. I really like the Cana kits – because of the quality of the case, the power switch built into the power cord and the quite fans that come with the kit. Very good quality overall! The Vilros kits aren’t bad either – but I prefer the Cana Kit. You can see the kit that we purchased here on Amazon.
I always look to see if I can get stuff from Amazon Warehouse before buying it new. I was able to get the kit I was looking for “used” from Amazon Warehouse, and saved about $15 in the process.
Webcam
To get the full benefit of an OctoPi/OctoPrint you really need to have a webcam. If you need to pick up a cheap one – try out this one here.
Surge Protector
Good idea to have both the 3D printer and the OctoPi/OctoPrint plugged into a surge protector! I like the Bototek because it has a heavy duty copper cord, some of the best circuitry for surge protection & it is the most highly rated surge protector on Amazon at the time of me writing this (90% of the 3052 reviewers giving it 5 stars and 8% giving it 4 stars) ! You can see it here on Amazon.
Micro SD cards
When buying the Raspberry Pi as kit, you will most likely get a microSD card with the kit pre-loaded with NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software). Keep the microSD card that comes with the kit and buy a new one to use for the OctoPi/OctoPrint!
NOOBS – is an operating system installation manager that helps you install the operating system Raspbian on the Raspberry Pi. I just think it is worth keeping this – because you might want to use the Raspberry Pi for something different down the line.
A new microSD card (for the OctoPi/OctoPrint) can be bought for between $7 -$20 (February 2020), depending on storage size and the read/write speed of the card. I prefer the cards with the faster read/write speeds – since they perform batter and aren’t that much more expensive than the cheaper and slower cards. You get what you pay for! (Click here to see on Amazon the microSD cards I like to use. I would recommend the 32 GB, 64 GB card.)
Conclusion
I hope this helped you identify the accessories & supplies that you will need if you are just starting your journey in 3D printing. Or if you are buying a 3D printer for someone else as a gift – you are going to want to be aware of the supplies, accessories & tools necessary for the gift recipient to be able to start printing 3D models right away! Although you may need to purchase some of the above items I have listed here – I am sure you probably already have many others already at your house.
As always, if you have any constructive input – please leave it in the comments below. Thank you!
Sincerely,
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