One of the most commonly recommended upgrades I’ve found (For all printers) is switching to a glass bed (Technically tempered Borosilicate). While it is not a hard nor expensive upgrade, it can be a bit time consuming. Since your bed is very important to the print process, this shouldn’t be something to rush, so I’d recommend at least two hours to complete (not including print time). Please note that the process here should work just fine for the Wanhao Duplicator i3 and similar series printers however you may need to verify what the correct glass size is.

Over the last two weeks or so that I’ve had my printer, I’ve learned a number of things. I haven’t had a chance to put “to paper” (or… blog, as it were) all of them, however last night I did my first print in PETG thought it was worth a quick mention while the hot end was still warm. Possibly the most important thing I’ve learned is that most people stick to one filament type and not jump from PLA to ABS to PETG like a bunny on crack. Turns out you need to refine your settings and do some calibrations, so I’ve learned a thing or two about that along the way.

The field of Additive Manufacturing at Home, aka 3D Printers isn’t terribly new. However it is still a field in which it’s new to most people. It’s also a field that is very rapidly evolving. Therefore the hardest part for me to write is “which 3d printer to pick” because by the time you likely read this, there will be other new options to consider. So rather than telling you what to select, I’m going to share my thought process and a few things to keep in mind.