Intro to 3D Printing (Prusa MK4s Operation) w/ Kevin

3D Printing on Prusa for Beginners is one of the most popular, free beginner-friendly courses offered at Clear Creek Makerspace, and is designed to be an easy intro to the exciting world of 3D printing. Over 60 minutes, you'll learn how to operate some of the best desktop 3D printers on the market, and even start your very first project!

Today, 3D printers are used across a growing list of industries, from movies and museums to mechanical engineering and the Met Gala. You’re just as likely to see this technology in dentist’s offices, construction sites, and Michelin-starred restaurants as you are to find them in schools, libraries, and small businesses.

As 3D printing continues to skyrocket in popularity, we think it's important to highlight how easy 3D printers can be to use, even for folks who don’t consider themselves particularly tech-savvy. No coding or programming required! If you can operate a paper printer, chances are you can easily operate a 3D printer.

As part of the FDM101 course, you'll learn:

The basics of 3D printing

• What 3D printers are
• How 3D printers work
• Pros and cons of 3D printing
• General 3D printer anatomy

How Prusa 3D printers work

• Prusa anatomy
• Slicer software
• Slicer tips and tricks

Desktop 3D printing best practices

• Loading, unloading, and storing filament
• Preparing to use a Prusa 3D printer
• Starting your print and monitoring its progress

Pronouns: he/him

Kevin Wiley is a freelance project manager for creatives and a curriculum architect for OpenPathEducation.com. He's a good person to ask about 3D printing and 3D Scanning, if you see him in the Fab Lab. When he's not teaching at Clear Creek Makerspace, he's busy with his many side gigs: live-streaming and capturing video for weddings, concerts, and other special events; managing projects and careers for creative professionals; running kickstarter campaigns; wrangling gigantic quantities of data; and providing logistics, marketing, and business consulting. If you ask him about his ferrets, he will probably never stop talking.