My First 3D Printer: The Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro
The first print: a drawer handle
I've set up my first 3D printer — an Elegoo Neptune 3 Pro — and the first thing I ever pulled off the bed was a drawer handle. It worked out pretty well: clean surfaces, no warping, and it actually fits the drawer it's meant for. That's the whole point of owning one of these, in one small object.
Why the Neptune 3 Pro
Honest answer: it was inexpensive, and for a first machine that's exactly what you want. It's a solid entry point that doesn't hold your hand too gently:
- ~225 × 225 × 280 mm build volume — plenty for handles, brackets, and most household parts
- Heated bed to 100°C with a magnetic PEI sheet that pops off in one piece
- Direct-drive extruder and auto-bed leveling, so the fiddly part of getting a first print right is mostly done for you
- Broad material support — PLA, PETG, TPU, and even ABS/ASA (the latter two happiest with an enclosure)
It sits on the cheaper side of the market, which made it an easy yes for a hobby I wanted to try before committing to a premium machine.
The dragon test
The drawer handle proved it could print flat-ish functional parts. The next question was how it handles something organic and detailed, so I printed a dragon. Honestly, the early attempts printed with flaws — and chasing those down turned out to be the most valuable part of the whole exercise. Each failed print told me exactly what to adjust, and I spent the time dialing in the settings that actually matter: Infill (enough to make the body rigid without wasting plastic), Build Plate Adhesion (brim vs. raft vs. plain, so wings and tail stop lifting), and Supports (where they're genuinely needed instead of everywhere).
It was a good exercise in making adjustments to improve print quality, and the final dragon was a build I was genuinely pleased with — the scales and wing membranes held up at normal viewing distance, and I kept a mental list of the settings that got me there.
The dragon also sold me on filament variety. I'd been running basic colors, so I ordered more spools in the fun options — gold silk first. Silk PLA catches the light and makes even a simple dragon look twice as good, and I'm planning to work through the other silk colors to see which ones render best on which models.
What it's actually for: the house
My plan for the printer is practical before it's decorative: printing the various parts for my house maintenance projects — the brackets, covers, knobs, and miscellaneous bits that are annoying to buy off the shelf in the size or shape I need.
It's already working toward that. I've started printing MultiBoard panels — the open-source pegboard-style organizer you slice from templates and print in strips — to organize the tools and parts I've accumulated in the basement. Once that wall goes up, the "where is my other wrench" problem gets permanently solved, using only plastic I pushed through a nozzle.
Where it goes from here
I think this is a good start in the hobby for me. The Neptune 3 Pro does what I bought it for, and the next step is already forming in my head. If I buy a second printer, this is the wishlist:
- Multiple print heads — for multi-filament prints, so gold silk accents and base colors come off the machine in one job
- Hotter extrusion and bed — comfortable headroom for ABS, ASA, and other materials that want more heat
- A larger bed — room for bigger functional parts and full MultiBoard sections in fewer pieces
Until then: more silk colors, more house parts, and the basement wall is waiting.