I’m Kayla, and I built my own 3D printer from a kit. Twice, actually. The first one was an Ender 3 V2. The second was a tiny Voron 0.1 that I put in a clear box on a shelf. Sounds bold, right? It wasn’t always pretty. But it was fun. And loud. And sometimes a little melty.
If you want the blow-by-blow account—complete with photos of plastic puddles and triumphant Benchys—you can peek at my extended build diary.
You know what? I’d do it again.
Why I Even Tried This
I wanted parts that stores don’t carry. A clip for my dishwasher wheel. A custom phone stand. A knob for a wobbly kitchen drawer. I also wanted to learn the “why” behind the machine. Not just push a button. Build it, break it, fix it—that part hooked me.
I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t. But that’s fine. The learning is the point.
What I Built, For Real
- First build: Ender 3 V2 kit. Cost me about $200. I spent a Saturday and half of Sunday building it. I used the tiny hex keys, blue tape, and a bit of patience I didn’t think I had.
- Second build: Voron 0.1. Smaller, faster, and trickier. I printed most parts on the Ender first, then built the Voron in a weekend and a few late nights.
I used PLA for learning. Then PETG for parts that bend a bit. ABS only after I made a simple enclosure out of two IKEA Lack tables and clear panels. Yes, it smelled. I kept a small fan running and a window open. If you’ve ever battled temperature swings in a tight space like a DIY grow tent, you’ll understand why that enclosure made all the difference.
The First Time It Worked (and the First Time It Didn’t)
My first print was the little test cube. Then a Benchy boat because, well, everyone prints that boat. It took about two hours at 0.2 mm layers, 60 mm/s speed, 200°C on the nozzle, 60°C on the bed. The boat looked okay from far away. Up close, it had tiny zits on the sides and a droopy smokestack. I stared at it like it was a newborn puppy anyway.
The first time it failed? The nozzle scraped the bed. Horrible sound. I hit stop, took a breath, and leveled the bed again with a piece of paper under the nozzle. Slow passes, tiny turns. That fixed it. For a while.
Tools and Tweaks That Saved My Sanity
- A feeler gauge (but plain paper works fine)
- Blue threadlocker on the frame bolts
- A digital caliper for checking part sizes
- Capricorn Bowden tube (feeds smoother)
- Silicone bed spacers instead of coil springs
- A PEI flex plate so parts pop off without a fight
- A metal extruder arm (the stock plastic one wore out)
- BLTouch for auto bed leveling—game changer
- Cura and later PrusaSlicer; I like the clean supports in PrusaSlicer
- PID tune and E-steps set once, then checked after upgrades
If that sounds like code, here’s the gist: I told the printer how hot to stay (PID), and how far to push the filament (E-steps). After that, layers stayed even, and holes measured true.
Real Things I Printed That Actually Helped
- A dishwasher wheel clip: lasted three months in heat and steam, then I reprinted in PETG and it’s still alive.
- A headphone stand with my initials: light, sturdy, and looks store-bought.
- Garden hose guide: thick walls, 20% gyroid infill, took a beating.
- A phone stand with a cord slot that fits my charger just right.
- A new knob for a thrifted dresser. Painted it gold. Fancy on the cheap.
- A Lego bin label rail for my kid’s room. Snaps on and off. Makes clean-up less… painful.
- Those garden hose prints later got paired with drip stakes I modeled after testing out components for a DIY irrigation system that actually works. The combo keeps my backyard neat without daily hose duty.
And yes, I printed a spool holder that fits on the shelf. Why buy one when you can spend three hours making one?
What Went Right
- Price: The Ender 3 V2 got me into the hobby without pain.
- Skill: I learned how to fix clogs, set Z-offset, and tune temps by sound and sight.
- Flex: I can change parts, try new hotends, swap fans, or even switch firmware.
- Community: Tons of profiles and advice. Someone already tried the weird thing you want to try. And when I needed a break from firmware deep-dives and still craved some lively human conversation, I hopped over to ContactosFogosas where quick chats with new people gave me a refreshing mental reset before tackling the next clogged nozzle. Every now and then, I’d physically step away from the humming machines and hit the local scene—my favorite wind-down spot is the cozy lounge at Tryst in Carlsbad where you can browse upcoming events, check the cocktail list, and plan an easy meetup that recharges your social battery before the next marathon print session.
I also leaned on the concise wiring and firmware tutorials over at the Service Center Team, which probably saved me a whole Saturday of head-scratching.
What Drove Me Nuts
- Bed leveling drifted until I switched to silicone spacers.
- Stock fans were loud. I swapped them, and now it purrs.
- Warped bed on the Ender. The PEI plate masked it. BLTouch solved the rest.
- Tangled filament once mid-print—ran a filament guide and a dry box after that.
- Clogs with cheap PLA. I got better spools and kept them dry with silica packs.
- Wires everywhere. Zip ties and braided sleeve helped, but I still catch a cable now and then.
I said I liked the mess. I don’t like every mess. There’s a thin line.
Small Tech Bits, Plain Talk
- Bowden vs direct drive: Bowden puts the feeder away from the hotend (lighter head, sometimes stringy). Direct drive puts it on the head (great for flex filament, a bit heavier).
- Z-offset: The tiny distance between nozzle and bed. Too low, it scrapes. Too high, prints won’t stick.
- Input shaping and Klipper: On the Voron, I tried Klipper. It makes fast prints look smooth by reducing shake. The Benchy dropped to under 30 minutes and still looked sharp. Magic? No. Math.
Time and Money Check
- Ender 3 V2 kit: about $200
- Upgrades I kept: about $120 over three months
- Filament: PLA spools around $20–25 each; one spool lasts a lot longer than you think
- Build time: 6–8 hours the first time, with coffee breaks and one “Where did that screw go?” moment
- Average print: a phone stand is 3–4 hours at 0.2 mm layers
Who This Is For (And Who It’s Not)
- Good fit: Tinkerers, curious kids with patient parents, makers who like fixing things and learning slowly.
- Not a fit: If you want perfect parts on day one. If noise bugs you. If you don’t have a little corner to call “The Print Zone.”
If you need simple and fast, get a pre-built one like a Prusa that comes tuned. If you want to build the car and drive it too, the DIY path is a blast.
Little Lessons I Wish I Knew
- Dry filament matters more than fancy settings.
- Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. Start at 50–60 mm/s.
- Write down what worked. I keep a tiny notebook with temps and notes like “PETG hates wind.”
- Calibrate once a month, or after any big change.
- If the first layer looks bad, stop. Fix that, and most problems disappear.
Final Take
DIY 3D printing made me braver with tools. It gave me parts that fit my life, not just a shelf. It can be fussy. It can sing. Some prints fail. Some save the day. When that first layer lays down like butter, it feels like a small miracle.
Would I build again? Yep. I already did. And the next thing I print might be silly—like a potato chip clip with a tiny smiley face—but it’ll fit my bag, and it’ll make me grin. That’s worth the work.