[dtengineering]

If you are planning on using it to create useful objects during build season, why not design and print something like them right now.

Maybe you'd like to print some small gears or pulleys, for instance... give them a try now so you can try different settings to see what gives you the best resolution and reliability.

Maybe you'd like to print some mounts or covers for sensors... try mounting a few typical sensors on one of your old robots using some parts you have designed.

Do you have the option of using different materials... ABS is tougher, but PLA is harder. ABS also shrinks more when printing and is a little more difficult to get the first layer stuck to the print bed. If you are using ABS see how big you can print something without having warping be an issue.

Try printing hollow cylinders... check inside diameters and outside diameters. I find my outside measurements are usually pretty good, but inside measurements are often undersized a bit. You'll want to know about any offsets that you require before build season starts.

The phone cases and thingiverse stuff are fun ways to get started, but I doubt you're going to find the parts that you need for your robot on thingiverse. If you want the machine to be useful, go take a look at last year's robot and find a part that you think should have been made on a 3D printer. Make it... see if it works.

Oh, yeah... take some time to get to know how the machine works, read some forums to find out what part is going to fail first, and consider ordering a spare. After one year with a Solidoodle I've had a student melt the PEEK tube, I've had the resistor heater burn out, and I've done an exceptionally thorough job clogging the hot end.

Now I keep spare resistors and a spare hot end in stock, so that if I have a clogged hot end I can just swap it out with a good one and work to clear the clog without significant down time.

You don't want down time during build, eh?

Jason