AliasVortex

Echoing that the best place to start is to get a handle on programming as a concept. Not because we’re trying to gatekeep the good stuff behind the scary programmer voodoo, but because otherwise you’re basically attempting to edit a book in a language you don’t speak (and the reader is very picky about grammar).

That said, you can absolutely teach yourself to code! Hell, if you figured out self hosting I’m willing to bet you’ve probably already got a handful of transferable skills.

In the interest of disclosure, I learned programming as part of my degree (took a Java class as a resume booster my first semester and ended realizing that I preferred coding to calculus and switched my major), so I’m not exactly a wealth of knowledge in the self study department. However I would recommend a course that has labs/ challenges/ projects to practice what your learning. Everyone learns differently, but I’ve personally found that I picked up programming concepts better when I got hands-on and applied them in my assignments.

The programmer’s open secret is that generally once you know one programming language, it’s pretty easy to pick up another. For example, Java and Python might write them in different ways, but at the end of the day a loop is a loop and as long as you know you need to repeat some code until some condition is met, it’s perfectly acceptable to Google “loop in Python” or “[Java concept] in Python”. In other words, it doesn’t super matter which language you start with; just pick something and stick with it (bonus points if you can turn around and tinker with an OSS app with what you’re learning).

Woo! Congrats on pinning down the source!

I’m taking a complete shot in the dark, but it both X and Y axes and almost looks like similar spots every layer, which makes me think that’d it be something mechanical that’s only manifesting those conditions (like flow rate or speed). Maybe check your bolts, belts, and rails? My gut says loose toolhead/ extruder (wiggling could cause weird lines like that), but that’s more a guess than an “I’ve seen this before” kind of thing. Failing that, I’d be curious to see if that pattern shows up in a flow rate test.

I know many folks have sworn off Discord, but if you haven’t, maybe try asking there too?

Hi and welcome! Do you have a budget and a rough idea of the kinds of things you’d be looking to print?

Naively, I’d second the core one recommendation, assuming that the price tag isn’t a problem and that you aren’t looking to print multi-color (it’s still possible on that machine, just not something that comes stock).

Pretty much the same. I’d be curious to try PHA, but can’t justify spending 2-3x the cost of my cheap prototyping PLA (Zyltech) or functional ABS (LDO or Polymaker).

West3D stocks Ambrosia PHA for $35 /kg. They also occasionally do sales (just had 20% off for the 4th), so you could probably get it cheaper if you’re willing to wait.