Your printer is built. Now let’s load filament so it can print. You will mount the PLA spool on the holder and feed the filament through the feeder and PTFE tube down to the extruder. This step takes patience - a clean, sharp tip is the trick.
Your kit comes with PLA filament - the easiest material to print. You will learn about other filament types on Day 4.
Open the filament box and remove the spool. Find the end of the filament hooked into the side of the spool and unhook it - keep a grip so it does not unwind.
2
Cut a sharp 45-degree tip
Cut the end at a 45-degree angle with scissors or the pliers to make a spearhead point. A sharp tip feeds far more easily.
A sharp 45-degree point feeds easily; a blunt or bent tip catches at the tube
3
Mount the spool
Place the spool on the holder so it feeds toward the feeder (unwinding in the right direction).
4
Insert into the feeder
Push the tip into the small gold hole on the side of the feeder until it stops.
5
Squeeze and push through
Squeeze the feeder’s clamp lever to open the drive wheels, and push the filament through into the white PTFE tube. Watch the tube change color as filament travels through it.
6
Feed to the extruder
Keep pushing until the filament reaches the extruder head and stops. If it snags, re-cut a sharper 45-degree tip and try again.
Re-cutting a sharp 45-degree point is the single best fix for stubborn loading. A blunt or bent tip catches at the tube entrance every time. This is one of the most fiddly steps in the whole build - stick with it.
The PLA spool is mounted and feeding the right direction, and the sharpened filament is fed all the way through the tube to the extruder head.
