The blog
Build logs, tutorials & CAD notes
Everything I've written since starting this hobby, filterable by the kind of post it is.
Warping: why corners lift off the bed
Corners curling up mid-print is a heat and adhesion problem, not a mystery. Here's what actually stopped it for me.
Layer shifting: why prints suddenly look offset
A clean print that suddenly shifts sideways partway through usually isn't a mystery -- it's almost always one of three…
Stringing between parts: the retraction fix
Thin hairs of plastic strung between every part of a print usually come down to one setting family: retraction. Here's…
The dreaded spaghetti print: causes and fixes
When a print detaches and the nozzle just draws squiggles in the air, here's what usually went wrong, and the…
Why your print won’t stick to the bed
Corners lifting, whole prints sliding off mid-job, or nothing sticking at all -- here's my checklist for bed adhesion problems,…
Clogged nozzle? How I diagnose and fix it
No filament coming out, or barely a trickle? Here's how I tell a clog apart from a jam or a…
Fusion 360 notes: parametric sketches finally clicked
The mental shift that made constraints and parameters make sense after weeks of confusion.
Designing your first printable part in CAD
A beginner-friendly walkthrough for sketching, extruding, and exporting your first STL file.
My first month with an FDM printer
What surprised me, what broke, and the five settings that fixed most of my failed prints.
Welcome to ThePlantes
Welcome to the blog — I’m Mark, and this is where I document a hobby that took over more of…