Forums are key to getting a 3D printer quick help. Read on to find some help places for 3D printers!

3D printing can be a fun hobby, but at some point we all need help fixing, optimizing, or trying something new. And while some 3D printing companies, such as Ultimaker, are good at providing useful guides, many users are faced with issues not listed in the manual.

So where do you go to ask or find help with 3D printing? Well, if you've ever looked for something about 3D printing, there's a good chance your answer will be found in a forum. Forums, groups and online communities are some of the best places to get help for your machine because they contain so much knowledge from all kinds of manufacturers.

In this article, we will look at several different groups and forums to get help or learn about 3D printing and related topics. But before we get into the specifics, let's look at what's important.

What to look for

When looking for a forum or site to get help with 3D printing, make sure you have an active user base (Source: subreddit r / 3Dprinting)

There are a few things to keep in mind when looking for an online community for discussing 3D printing. First, make sure that the group has an adequate user base and is actually designed for 3D printing. Second, make sure there are plenty of active users. Asking questions in inactive forums can leave you unanswered for a long time.

Third, the platform must have a friendly interface, clean and easy to use. This means that you should easily find or ask questions on the site. Finally, the site should cover a wide range of topics related to 3D printing. You want a platform with a combination of problems, solutions, fun projects and other topics.

Now, let's get started!

Thingiverse

You probably know Thingiverse as the super popular repository of 3D models, but Thingiverse also has a forum and groups that offer help with 3D printing. Just know that the site can sometimes be quite confusing, and its forum pages are quite simple.

The most popular band is Engineering, followed by Creality Ender 3 and Prusa i3. The last two forums are specific to the respective printer, but they contain a lot of useful information. These two groups have over 19,500 and 14,700 users, respectively, covering more than 4,000 topics combined.

Topics suggested in these forums range from problems with print quality and nozzle clogging to problems with product delivery and print modifications. If you have a 3D printer that is moderately popular in the 3D printing community, chances are there is a Thingiverse band for it.

In the Thingiverse groups, you can ask questions as topics or publish 3D models, as enhancements, for your specific 3D printer. Users answer questions by replying to your post, and you can use the "Follow" button to receive notifications when a topic receives more comments or answers. This can be extremely useful if you have an urgent problem or just want to get useful information over time.

You can use the Thingiverse group search tool to find posts and other information related to your search. Much of the information about Thingiverse is reliable and users can tag posts to report them.

  • User base or forum size:  Over 23,000 users and 4,000 topics
  • Activity:  Quite active
  • Popular topics:  Problems with print quality, product delivery, machine modifications

Ultimaker

The Ultimaker Community Forum contains information and help on more than just Ultimaker machines (Source: AL21784 via Ultimaker)

Ultimaker is a popular manufacturer of 3D printers, threads and software (ie Cura), and the Ultimaker Community Forum is another great place to get help. This forum (https://community.ultimaker.com/) may seem outdated, but it is full of great content and the community is constructive.

There are many different groups in the forum, with two excellent choices being the "Third Party Products and Modifications" and "Improve Your 3D Printouts" groups. The first group has over 23,300 publications and contains a lot of information about printers. The second group has over 25,700 publications and is designed to find ways to improve print quality and prevent print failures.

You can post questions with a caption and a photo, and other users can see and answer them. Even if you do not answer, as is the case in many forums, just reading the comments section on such a problem is an effective way to resolve your own without posting and waiting for answers. To find past posts or past information, you can use the search tool, which will return posts with similar text.

  • User base or forum size:  Over 230,000 publications
  • Activity: Quite active
  • Popular topics:  Print quality problems, mechanical problems

Facebook

Facebook groups are very popular and exist to provide you with the help of the community you are looking for (Source: Kuba Veselý via Facebook)

Facebook is the largest online community in the world, and its groups are an excellent platform for 3D printing assistance. Three of the most popular bands include 3D Printing STLs, 3D Printing for Noobs and Creality Ender 3 Group. Facebook groups have been around for a long time and their interface is quite easy to use, so getting help shouldn't be a problem.

The 3D Printing STLs, 3D Printing for Noobs and Creality Ender 3 Groups have over 121,000, 68,000 and 82,000 members, respectively. All three are great for getting feedback and help from the community, but the first option is best for finding 3D printing models, while the other two are more focused on problem solving.

You can post your questions and topics in these groups, and wait for others to answer, but all three groups have a large volume of questions each day, so you may not get an immediate answer. Facebook groups, such as the one run by Creality Ender 3 Group, are also great places to find gifts and 3D printing upgrades.

Many Facebook groups for 3D printing are limited, and your Facebook account must be approved in order to post or view other posts. This limits the number of bots, spammers and scammers from infiltrating Facebook groups. However, there are no requirements to log in, so you only have to wait a short time to be approved.

Most of the information on these forums is accurate and users can report comments and posts if they do not comply with the group's rules. Groups also have a search feature that allows you to find articles or posts related to your search.

  • User base or forum size:  Over 121,000 users
  • Activity:  Quite active
  • Popular topics:  3D printing models, print quality problems, upgrades, gifts

YouTube

Although not a forum in itself, YouTube contains many useful discussions (Source: Proper YouTube Printing)

Next is YouTube, Google's massive online video platform. With over 2 billion users and more than a billion hours of videos watched every day, you can almost certainly find what you're looking for. Although YouTube may not be considered as community-based as other platforms, many 3D print content creators like to answer questions in their videos, making it a great platform to help. YouTube's video chat interface may not be the most advanced, but it works well enough.

While it's hard to say how many users of 3D printing are on YouTube, it's probably safe to assume that the topic has at least a few hundred thousand viewers based on the number and comments alone. Needless to say, there is a lot of relevant information for 3D printing and many videos are for installing upgrades, reviewing printers and troubleshooting quality issues. There are also many prominent YouTube printers for 3D printing, such as TeachingTech, 3D Printing Nerd and Maker's Muse.

To get help, you can ask a question in the comments and they can answer you. Other users (without creators) can also respond, which makes YouTube a community platform as well as a video hosting site. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find older comments without looking at each one, but it should be easy to find other videos using YouTube's search feature.

Typical interactions may involve a user commenting on a content creator's video and receiving responses from the creator and other users. A new video can even be made to specifically address the issue. More popular content creators usually post accurate information because on a video platform, creators usually back up their claims with video, which can provide more information than a regular forum post.

  • User base or forum size: Hundreds of thousands
  • Activity:  Quite active
  • Popular topics:  Upgrades, machine repairs, cutting settings

LinkedIn

The 3D Printing Group has a lot of information on the use of 3D printing on LinkedIn today (Source: Jackson O'Connell)

LinkedIn is a well-known social media site focused on business and, like Facebook, they have their own groups. The LinkedIn 3D Printing Today is LinkedIn's most popular 3D printing group, with more than 69,000 members. This group has fewer troubleshooting posts, focusing instead on the benefits and uses of 3D printing.

You can start a "conversation" in a LinkedIn group, and then others can comment and like your post. To find older information or posts, you can use the LinkedIn search tool to search a specific group or the entire LinkedIn platform.

Most of the information is related to news and has a reporting feature that can be useful for removing fake posts. In addition, access to this group is limited and you must be approved. This keeps bots and scammers away.

  • User base or forum size:  Over 69,000 members
  • Activity:  Somewhat active
  • Popular topics:  Use of 3D printing, advantages of 3D printing

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