In January 2021 I finally bought my first 3D printer, and ten days later it still hadn't stopped running. This is the video where I tried to answer the question everyone kept asking me: why did you buy a 3D printer?
Ten days, non-stop printing
I bought an Artillery Genius about a week or ten days before filming this, and since then it had been printing practically non-stop. My print number three was a vase I found for free on Thingiverse and sliced in Cura, and it came out great. Then I tried another filament and printed a Baby Yoda that honestly looked amazing.
I even set up a webcam with a dim light so I could check on the printer from my phone during the night. Every now and then I'd glance at it just to see if it was still going. Who owns a 3D printer knows exactly what I'm talking about.
So why buy one?
The first answer is simple: I'm a geek. I love tech and I like keeping up with things that innovate very fast. A couple of years earlier, a 3D printer would have cost more than 2,000 euros. I bought the Genius for around 200 euros. Had I known the effect it would have on me, I would have bought one much sooner.
The second answer is the results. When my wife saw some of the prints coming off the bed, she fell in love with the printer too. And I'm a lover of figurines and fun stuff: a Homer, a Funko-style Venom, all found on Thingiverse, which is a great place to start.
A steep learning curve
I won't pretend it's easy. The learning curve is steep. Some prints came out like a Baby Yoda without a head, and an octopus kept failing because I couldn't get the temperature right (probably the wrong filament for that model too). But after a few adjustments the results arrive, and that's the best feeling.
Two days before this video I had also downloaded Fusion 360 and started designing my own models. While I was filming, the printer was making a desk stand with my daughter's name, revolved 45 degrees. Not bad for someone who's no expert.
The start of a series
This video was the beginning of my 3D printing journey on the channel. The plan was a series about the filaments I was testing, starting with a cheaper one and a more expensive, well-known one, so you could learn along with me.