Hi all
I was going to suggest as we have very limited mentors to give inductions, Frank @Fnhalluk can be a new mentor. He is in the space a lot and his knowledge of 3d printers is great. I believe he has more than 4 years of experience with them . I know normally someone should be watching while he is teaching but that might not be possible for this case so i think making him a mentor would solve a lot of problems.
Yep sounds like it’s time to clear the backlog and get trainers installed and people trained.
For the willing trainers, I reckon the first step would be to work out what training would consist of, the do’s and don’ts etc.
One of the printers was donated or lent to the space by @tinyfluffs - so perhaps liaise with them when working out what to teach
Thanks YT,
Yes, I’ve been 3D printing for 5 years now, with a printer at home and 2 at work.
It makes sense if there’s an induction existing in some form, if someone could run me through that. Then as Cone says, if it needs some degree of updating then let’s do it and then I’m more than willing to provide training for others.
Frank.
I’m happy for @Fnhalluk to become a maintainer in that case. I gave @garlicbread a brief rundown on the quirks of the printers before I left for Sweden.
The induction has mostly been about the dos and don’ts of 3D printing, and configuring a slicer to use on the member’s laptop. I was giving inductions with PrusaSlicer, but Cura is also fine with the Ender 3s we have in the space.
When a member is inducted, they need to be given a login to OctoPrint which requires configuration on both printer web interfaces. This is separate to the login on the members portal - sadly the systems aren’t linked. If you need to use my maintainer account to set yourselves up, I’ll drop the login details to @Fnhalluk on Telegram 
It would be a good idea to get PrusaSlicer and Cura installed on the iMac in Visual Arts too. If a member doesn’t bring their laptop but they have a USB stick, then they can start a print job from Mac.
For filament storage, if members brings their own into the space, it should be kept on their storage shelf with a DNH label.
The filament that is purchased for all members to use is tracked by the log book. We do need more accurate scales to measure the amount of filament used per print, if someone would like to donate some. Hackspace filament usage needs to be logged, and money put in the 3D printer money box / paid for via the website. I’ve been getting people to pay for the weight of the filament they’re using based on approx £24 per kilo. I left a very crude price chart in the front page of the log book 
The Ender 3 on the left tends to prefer running filament slightly hot. I think that’s just a quirk of the hotend. PLA runs at ~220C but no higher that 225C. You can run PETG prints on the magnetic steel surface, but you have to be careful. Long print jobs using PETG should be done using the glass print surface, as it reduces the risk of damaging the surface. Those steel sheets are rather expensive to replace.
The printer on the right is lacking a BLTouch probe - this would be a solid upgrade as to not have to keep leveling the bed! I was going to get one but alas, Sweden happened 
Happy to take messages from maintainers on Telegram if you need any further information!