And Why Hands-On Training Beats Tutorials Every Time

FDM 3D printing workshop, Our FDM printing looks deceptively simple. A hot nozzle, a spool of filament, a buzzing little machine that pushes plastic into shapes. Yet anyone who’s owned a printer longer than a fortnight knows the truth: FDM is equal parts creativity, mechanical intuition, and controlled chaos.

That’s precisely why hands-on training is invaluable.

Online videos can show you menus and slicer settings. They can’t show you the subtle grind of a stepper motor that’s about to skip, the faint tick of an extruder struggling with back-pressure, or the way a poorly levelled bed announces itself in the first five layers. Those skills live in the real world, not on a screen.

The Heart of FDM: Understanding the Machine

At its core, FDM is a mechanical system: motion rails, belts, gears, thermistors, heaters, bearings. When you understand that ecosystem, the mysteries evaporate.
Stringing stops being a vague annoyance and becomes a symptom of thermal overshoot.
Under-extrusion becomes a question of filament path friction.
Layer shifts become belt tension and frame stability.

Once the mechanics make sense, everything else follows.

Troubleshooting as a Creative Skill

FDM troubleshooting is problem-solving in its purest form.
A print fails. Why?
The machine leaves clues: a brittle first layer, a glossy slump at the corner, a rough band mid-way through the model. Learning to read those clues is what transforms a frustrated beginner into a confident operator.

Workshops provide the one thing the internet can’t: a controlled space to practise failure and recovery, with someone beside you who already knows the pitfalls.

Why This Workshop Exists

The Minifactoreum’s FDM workshop was designed for real users, not engineers with years of experience.
It’s built for hobbyists, model makers, cosplayers, teachers, prototypers – anyone who wants to understand their printer rather than fight with it.

This is not a slicing tutorial. It’s a mechanical deep-dive delivered in clear, accessible language. You’ll learn what your printer is doing, why it’s doing it, and how to make it behave.

What You’ll Actually Do

• Diagnose and fix common print failures
• Learn bed levelling, nozzle changes, calibration, temp tuning
• Understand motion mechanics, extrusion systems, and safety
• Optimise your prints for strength, detail, and reliability
• Take home whatever you print during the session

By the end, you won’t just “own” a printer. You’ll understand it.

Join the Workshop

Short half-day session. Only £25.
Hosted at Games Haven.
Booking and details: www.minifactoreum.com
Phone: 0115 778 6186