For Makers Learning 3D Printing

If you’ve not used a printer before, or you’re not getting the results you need from your printer right now, no course in the world can help you with your prints better than this one. Every single element of your 3D printer and how to use it is explained, step by step.

Your instructor Adam will detail every part of your printer, and take you through our honed strategy to ensure reliable printing. He’s going to take care of you, leaving no stone unturned.

This course is structured into 6 modules, each broken down into 3-5 easily digestible lessons ranging from 10-20 minutes long so you can follow along easily in order. 

Starting at bed levelling and getting perfect adhesion, how to choose temperatures and cooling for various materials and types of prints, all the way through to optimising your prints once they’re already looking pretty good. It truly is the full stack.

And if you do need to troubleshoot at the end (also covered) you’ll have a much easier time of things because you know everything was already set up correctly. You’ll be building on a solid foundation instead of forever trying to clean up mistakes you didn’t realise you’d made if you’d tried to learn all this stuff the “traditional” way. 

Sometimes you can have all the information you need to hand, but you feel stuck, or an unexpected problem arises or maybe, you’d just like a second opinion from someone whose done it all before.

I completely get that, I’m still learning every day and having someone to just ask quickly and bounce ideas around with is probably the single biggest aspect of my success with it all to date. I need that feedback from those who have different experiences to me, to keep my learning on point.

So allow me to introduce my team of in-house 3D printing experts, who have years of practical experience that they’re eager to share with you, as and when you need it.

While we can’t pretend that they know absolutely everything about 3D printing, the software, techniques and related projects, their breath and depth of technical knowledge and their ability to explain it all simply, is unrivalled and frankly hugely impressive. 

It’s kinda hard to explain, but it’s the sort of battle hardened knowledge that when you start to ask a question, they usually just get exactly what it is you’re referring to half way through, and they’re invariably spot on with their answer. 

It’s so refreshing to speak to people like that, especially if you’re used to those “copy and paste” gurus who’ve simply seen or heard something someone else say and pedal it forward just to make them seem smart. 

It’s safe to say our team will always give you clarity on your projects, they’ll tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. They’ve been through it all before, so why feel like you need to reinvent the wheel? 

If you have a question or get stuck at any point just shoot them your questions or thoughts and they’ll be happy to help. Simple.

What’s more, they’re not just vast information storing robots - they actually care about your success and your projects, so they’ll work with you to figure things out. They’re the friendly faces you can depend on, and before long you’ll probably start to wish you had mentors like these in loads of other areas of your life, too.

The perfect accompaniment for the core course, each masterclass hosted by either Steve or Denis covers a specific topic in exact and truly unparalleled levels of detail. 

You get all the experience based theory in the core course, so that you can understand how every part of 3D printing relates to each other. And these skills based masterclasses follow on from that to give the hyper practical side to printing.

That means the instructors show you exactly what they’d do if they came out to optimise a certain aspect of your printer or prints. All you have to do is watch and follow along with your machine. It couldn’t be easier. 

Every question you could have is answered as you watch. The instructors assume nothing, and leave no viewer behind. And in the event you do have questions, you can ask them directly to clarify something. Where else online ensures you get answers to all your questions as you learn?

Where necessary, each masterclass is also segmented into the specific slicer you’re using, so you don’t have to watch any content that’s not relevant to you. 

Each masterclass episode is like a concentrated 20-35 minute shot of fascinating and usable 3D printing knowledge, packed with little-known tips and hacks. 3D Printing will feel like second nature after watching just a few of these. 

We release a brand new masterclass each month, when you join you’ll get instant access to a few already and every new one will add to your 3D printing skillset. 

The Slicer is the software you use to tell your printer how to print the 3D model you want. This is where all the magic happens, so it’s important you a) use the right Slicer for what you want to achieve and b) understand how to use all the features correctly to get the result you wanted.

This course was something our first members had been crying out for, and after a lot of planning they’ve been thrilled at what our in-house Slicer masters Susi and Dave have delivered. 

There is nothing available that even comes close to the detail of training offered in this course.

While getting your printer to be simply “click and print” reliable happens mostly with correct printer setup, this course is the missing link to take your printing to the next level. 

You’ll unlock all the clever abilities you didn’t even know about. And don’t worry, we’ll also let you what we honestly feel are just gimmicks that you can ignore. 

That’s because The Institute of 3D Printing isn’t about dumping as much knowledge we can find on you, it’s about getting you up to “printing is second nature” level in a simple, fast way so you can spend more time enjoying what you print, with who you love. 

To call it just one course doesn't do it justice, because each of the big 3 are broken down into easily digestible Basic, Advanced and Expert stages, so you can jump in at your level. The big 3 slicers are Cura (free), Prusa Slicer (free) and Simplify3D (paid). For 99% of printing Cura and Prusa Slicer are perfect for the job. 

With some Slicers packing over 400 features (and counting with continual updates) this course is the perfect antidote to overwhelm. With new content updated when we can as new Slicer updates are released.

No contracts. Cancel anytime.

It’s not just info-packed high quality video courses you’ll find in the training suite, you’ll also get access to our detailed PDF written guides. We’ve published them on a range of topics such as super detailed material breakdowns, with specific data, printing and finishing advice. 

The PDFs look so good you’ll probably want to print them off and keep them to hand. 

There’s also the full list of resources our experts use regularly that have taken them years to find. Keep these to hand to stay at the top of your game. 

There are too many topics of written guides to mention here, I won’t ruin the surprise, you’ll just have to look forward to reading them once you’re on the inside!

I’ve also included our Ultimate Troubleshooting Guide, which is a fantastic resource for new and experienced alike, and is packed with little tricks and tips so it makes a great refresher even if you’ve been printing a while. With detailed photos of problems you can easily compare to and clear concise instructions to remedy them.

Included in your membership are downloadable MP3 files of content like interviews with leading 3D printing specialists in various fields (topics like design, the future of 3D printing, how to choose filament are covered in depth), or advice on specific topics that don’t require video content to communicate. 

Typical lengths are 35-45 mins long and are packed with tips, so make sure you at least have a pen and paper handy to take notes. 

We offer these because personally I love audio-only content as it’s so easy to digest, perfect if you’re busy doing other things. Listen from your phone or audio device while commuting, running, doing the dishes or whatever you like.

Another suggestion from our early members (you guys are just full of great ideas!) was to create STL files specifically for members to follow along with from the videos. You follow the instructions from the training, print the exact same files on your printer and then aim to get the same result. 

And if for some reason it doesn’t look exactly like the one on the screen, you then get feedback from the experts (who act more like mentors through this process), they can then assess it and let you know steps to further improve, if required. 

It’s kind of like a helpful friend standing next to you, guiding you giving you a warm supported feeling so you never get stuck or feel frustrated (and definitely not like your highschool teacher scrawling red pen all over your work).  

I should point out these test print models are not like the freebies grabbed from sites like Thingiverse. While nothing wrong with most of them, free models are rarely made to optimal standards. The 3D models you’ll find in your membership are specifically designed for learning and easy optimising across a range of factors. 

For example, our temperature tower STL (these are used to help tune in the exact temperature, for the exact filament you use for best results) is unlike any other as it was specifically designed to highlight areas like layer adhesion and very fine details. It’s also minimal in resources, being extremely considerate to material and printing time.

It’s this level of participation, the see exactly how you do it, then do it yourself, then get a professional to help you get it just right at the end (optional) that adds a new dimension to the training suite that simply cannot be matched. 

You won’t find a faster, simpler way to get great, reliable results on your machine.

I always find when I’m learning something new, whatever it may be, I always seem to default to the hardest way to do a thing, without realising it. 

Or at least, that’s how it feels when that’s the only way you’ve known how to do it, and after a while someone way more experienced just casually mentions “but why don’t you just use this to do x instead?” - and then it all just seems so obvious. 

So to stop you from figuring stuff out the hard way (like I did), and to stop continuing to do it that way each time you need it (kind of like repeatedly digging holes in the garden with your hands because no one ever showed you a spade before, or better yet, a freakin’ JCB), I want to give you access to the tools and resources our experts regularly use to get more out of 3D printing, with less effort.

Get access to the tools we’ve created and resources we’ve collated with a 14 day trial. And if you choose to remain a member, you’ll get access to all the future tools and resources we create in future, too. 

Don’t let what you don’t know, limit what you can do.

To truly get the most from your 3D printer, you need to be able to create completely custom models of whatever you want to make. Traditionally the only way you can do this is by learning a CAD or 3D modelling software and investing the time to create your own 3D model from scratch. 

While not a bad idea, not everyone has the time to learn design well enough that it actually proves useful to them. Not only that, but there’s millions of free models already available online on various file sharing sites like Thingiverse and MyMiniFactory. 

And it’d be a shame to waste them.

There’s a good chance that whatever it is you want to create, there’s probably an existing file already out there that’s pretty close. What if you could just modify that, or combine a few models together to create the thing you’re trying to do, then surely that would save you a ton of time?

It would, and it does. We do it a lot. 

Luckily there’s a brilliant piece of software that is specifically designed for manipulating and combining existing models, and so is perfect for this very task. It’s called Meshmixer by Autodesk, and once you know how, you can join and edit existing objects in just a few minutes to create a completely new design. 

Not just that, you can also use it to do a ton more clever tricks that prove invaluable when 3D printing. 

We’ve just released a brand new mini course tutoring exactly how to do all the things in Meshmixer, and it’s going to open a ton of doors for your printing. 

I’m hugely excited about this because it bridges the gap between those who do 3D print and can’t (or don’t have time to) design and those who already really get the full benefit from their 3D printer, being able to create what they what, when they want to with their printer. 

This is by far the most comprehensive Meshmixer for 3D printing course available. We’re giving you the full stack of skills here, but as with everything we keep is simple and easy to follow along in bite sized steps. 

Here’s a small taster of what you’ll discover inside this course:

• How to easily “plane cut” your print, allowing you to remove sections or dice up larger models into smaller pieces for easier printing or to maximise strength from your printed parts. You can also use it to level off the base of a model, if you wanted to rest on a flat surface, for example. 

• Learn our top 3 “productivity hacks”, to mirror parts of objects, duplicate or just hollow a model out a bit to save filament. A must if you print a lot and like saving time and money.

• The ultimate editing skillset: reduce and extrude sections, erase areas and fill them. Never again be limited by thinking “this model would be perfect, if I could just…”

• The fine art of combining models the right way and adding extremely useful fixtures from Meshmixer’s free library into your prints. 

• How to ensure your model is completely watertight (manifold) after editing and repairing corrupt files you’ve downloaded.

• Our favorite brushes you can use to take full control and actually sculpt your models, previously you’d need full 3D modelling software to manage this. 

• Supports are the enemy: they take time and filament. Try this little-known, new way of creating supports that uses less material than you thought possible. 

• And so much more. 

If you’re not yet skilled in designing your own models, this course is a must. If you’re already proficient in design, then this course will prove to be a valuable time saver. 

You can grab it today for $47, or get it for free (and get to keep access even if you choose to cancel) with a Training Suite Membership.