Some Things Require Practice

This week my youngest son and I have been running the 3D printer almost non-stop. We have some PLA filament that needs to be used and so we are printing a bunch of fun little toys. As I type this, I am printing a spinner for my grandson. It may sound like a waste of PLA but there is a reason for doing the print other than just using up material that has a finite shelf life: practice.

Several weeks ago I volunteered to use my 3D printer to make some personal protection equipment for a hospital in California. I originally signed up to help and was asked a number of questions about my experience with my 3D printer. The organizers of the service project didn't want me getting in over my head and not be able to deliver on my commitment. Once they felt comfortable with my help, they sent me the assignment. Ultimately, did I have enough practice?

This past week I got a new computer for my home office. I will be using it for a number of different things and one of them is to help create 3D prints. I loaded up Ultimaker Cura which is used to prepare 3D models for print. In the past, I have sent models to my son and had him prepare them. Now I need to learn how to do it and so that is why I am practicing. It is not as simple as dropping an STL file into Cura and having it prepare the model. There are seemingly hundreds of parameters to tune. I think I have them pretty well dialed in based on some help from my son and so now it is time to give it a shot. Naturally I am starting with something small that only takes about an hour or so to print. If it doesn't turn out then I haven't really lost anything because I learned from the experience and can make adjustments.

I know I have lots to learn about 3D printing and so I will continue to print things. Practice is one of the best ways to learn something new. Remember that as you try to pick up a new skill: it may require practice. Don't let that scare you as it is just a part of learning.