Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

Hello, everyone. I'm brand new to the 3D printing world, but am very excited to continue to learn about this amazing technology.

I'm a 23 year-old college student at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN and I'm studying Chemical Engineering.

I first heard of 3D printing about 3 or 4 years ago, but only recently began to really read into it. The more I read, the more I knew I had to be involved as this revolution unfolded. After a fair amount of research on the different designs and functionality of the printers, I decided to purchase the Rostock MAX v2! The ability to produce relatively large prints, the fact that I get to build it and learn the in's/out's of the components, and the delta design are some of the main reasons I chose it. The open-source community and massive room for upgrade installation is really exciting!

But, as I said, I'm definitely a Novice (or maybe even less knowledgeable than that!) and know little about the different components within the printers and the software used to communicate with them. I've read dozens of articles and even more topics on this forum, as well as a couple other forums. My printer should arrive in 1-2 weeks (I'm assuming; I ordered it last night) and I would like to be knowledgeable as possible when it arrives. Are there any write-ups that you guys recommend for someone that knows very little and wants to know everything there is to know about 3D printing? (I'm being slightly modest, I can hold a conversation about the process and have been able to educate several of my peers/relatives about them. However, I know that many of you here know FAR more than I do.) I'd love some material that covers the basics of the different components and steps within the process. I'm sure there's a "3D Printing for Dummies" out there, huh? Haha!

Also, the two major "must, right-out-of-the-box" upgrades for the MAX I've seen have been the power supply and vibration dampeners. Could anyone possibly link me to some recommended power supplies or at least some specs I should look for? And for the dampeners (and other various upgrades), do you guys recommend some specific websites for stuff like that? And any other recommended upgrades for now and future investments? I don't plan on changing too much right away; I'd like to get to know my new toy before I tinker too much.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and will hopefully become fairly well acquainted with you folks within the next few months

**off to read my manual**

-Adam

Welcome to the club.

http://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/wiki/index was a great resource for me when I was getting started. Otherwise, reading the build manual will provide you with all the in's and out's you will ever need for your machine.

You didn't mention whether or not you wanted to learn CAD or if you already had those skills, but just in case you're looking for something to do while you wait for the machine to arrive, you could start tinkering in that arena. I recommend OpenSCAD if you're into coding or otherwise DesignSpark Mechanical is an excellent and more traditional choice - both free of cost.

Adam, welcome to the forum, the place to come for answers to your problems or just to get questions answered.
The power supply most like to use as an upgrade is the Corsair 750 watt, modular supply as listed here:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Modular-B ... tt+modular
What is important is that the supply has a dedicated single 12V rail and we feel the Corsair series are one of the best but certainly not the least expensive.
The dampeners are a great idea and are a lot easier to install at the beginning of the build.
Happy building and be sure to contact us for help if needed.

Ben: I have a little bit of experience with 3D drafting, but will hopefully be practicing quite a bit in the near future! Thanks for the suggestions on which programs to look into. And definitely that reddit link as well!

Eaglezsoar: Thanks for the power supply link! Exactly what I was hoping for. Any suggestions on where to purchase the dampeners? As you mentioned, I'd like to have those on their way so I can install them upon my initial build.

And thank you guys for the welcoming responses

Welcome! I've gotta put a plug in for DesignSpark Mechanical. I learned using AutoDesk Inventor, but let it get rusty for 10 or 12 years. Recently I tried Sketchup, FreeCad, Open SCad, and couldn't wrap my head around the lot of them. Tried DSM, and was making parts the same day. Since then I've done a ton of new designs. I'm printing my newest design right now: http://repables.com/r/472/

Sounds like you've got the attention to detail that will help you get started and calibrated quickly. Don't fall into the "modify everything" trap, it's a deep rabbit hole. Try your best to keep the machine assembled and just enjoy printing!