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You unpacked and assembled your brand new Creality Ender 3/Ender 3 Pro and now don’t know what to do with it? 3D printing is an educational and rewarding pastime anyone can enjoy. With the 3D printing program CURA and a Creality Ender 3/Ender 3 Pro, you will be able to make things beyond your wildest dreams.

Part 1
Part 1 of 7:

Downloading

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  1. 1
  2. 2
    Download or create an .stl file.
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  3. 3
    Download the bed level file, CHEP_Ender_3_bed_level.gcode, from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3235018 . Transfer to a microSD card.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 7:

Setting Up CURA

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  1. Go to Settings > Printer > Add Printer... .
    • Select Other .
    • Select Creality Ender 3 .
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Part 3
Part 3 of 7:

Using CURA

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    • Choose your desired .stl file to print and click Open .
    • Move - Click, hold, and drag the desired axis to move object.
    • Scale - Change the size of the object by percentages.
    • Rotate - Press, hold and rotate on the desired circle axis to rotate object. Pressing the Lay Flat icon to position object flat on surface may reorient object.
  1. Go to "Print Setup" area with "Recommended" selected to adjust the Layer Height , Infill , Support , and Build Plate Adhesion .
    • Layer height - Select your desired layer height. The lower the layer height, the higher quality the print, but the longer it takes to print. [1]
    • Infill - Select desired infill percentage. The higher the infill percentage, the stronger the print, the longer the print time. [2]
    • Generate Support - Used for overhangs greater than 45 degrees.
    • Build Plate Adhesion - Brims or rafts may be used to help plate adhesion and to reduce warping.
  2. Click Custom and go to Material to adjust printing temperatures based on the material's manufacturer recommendation.
  3. Then press Save to Removable Drive .
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Part 4
Part 4 of 7:

Loading the Filament

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  1. Rotate the control knob to highlight desired selection, and press it to confirm selection.
    • Press the control knob to highlight and select Prepare .
    • Highlight and select Move Axis .
    • Highlight and select Move 1mm .
    • Highlight and select Move Z .
    • Rotate the control knob until the screen reads ~40-60mm and the print nozzle is ~40-60mm above the print bed.
  2. Wait for the nozzle to reach 185 degrees.
    • The red circled number indicates the current nozzle temperature and the number above represents desired temperature.
  3. Squeeze the extruder lever and feed the filament through the extruder hole. [3]
    • Continue feeding the material until it comes out of the print nozzle.
  4. 8
    Turn off the printer or proceed to Leveling the Print Bed .
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Part 5
Part 5 of 7:

Leveling the Print Bed

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  1. 2
    Turn the printer on.
  2. [4]
    • Press and rotate the control knob to highlight and select Print from SD .
    • Highlight and select the CHEP_Ender_3_bed_level.gcode .
    • Wait until nozzles comes to a stop before proceeding.
    • Continually slide a piece of paper back and forth underneath the nozzle. The nozzle will "scratch" the paper if it's at the correct level.
    • Using the adjustment screw of each corner below the heat bed, raise the bed by turning clockwise/lower the bed by turning counter-clockwise, while continually sliding the piece paper.
    • Press the control knob to level other corners of the bed. The center point used to check if the bed is calibrated correctly.
    • Repeat this until you no longer need to turn adjustment knobs.
  3. 4
    Turn off the printer or proceed to Printing the Object .
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Part 6
Part 6 of 7:

Printing the Object

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  1. 1
    Insert the microSD card if not already inserted, and then turn the power on.
    • The circled numbers on the bottoms will match the ones on top.
    • Caution: Do not touch print bed or print nozzle at this point. It may cause burns!
    • The material will stick to the bed in an even layer if properly leveled. If little to no material is extruding, then lower the print bed. If the material is not sticking, then raise the print bed.
    • Check to see if the object is printing properly. If not, press on the control knob, select Stop Print .
  2. 6
    Turn off the 3D Printer by switching the power button into the on position.
  3. 8
    Remove rafts, skirts, and/or supports from the object if necessary.
    • Use sandpaper to smooth out object if needed.
    • If printing an object with multiple parts that need to join, sand the adhesion area and use superglue.
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Part 7
Part 7 of 7:

Cleaning the Build Plate

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  1. 1
    Remove the binder clips and remove the build plate.
  2. 2
    Clean the build plate bed by scraping off excess material with scraper tool and washing with warm soapy water and let dry.
  3. 3
    Align the build plate onto heat bed. Secure with binder clips.
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      Warnings

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      Things You'll Need

      • Creality Ender 3/Creality Ender 3 Pro
      • microSD card (comes with 3D printer)
      • microSD card adapter (comes with 3D printer)
      • Snippers
      • Scraper
      • PLA
      • Dish soap
      • Printer paper
      • Sandpaper (Optional)
      • Superglue (Optional)
      • Computer with:
        • Operating System (one of the following):
          • Vista or higher (64-bit)
          • Mac OS X 10.11 or higher (64-bit)
          • Ubuntu 14.04 or higher (64-bit)
        • System requirements:
          • 4 GB of RAM
          • 205 MB of Hard Drive Space
          • Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 or newer
          • Open GL 2 Compatible Graphics Chip
          • Open GL 4.1 for 3D Layer view

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