Testing and Printing - Printing in Plastic: Build Your Own 3D Printer - page 377

When you change the target temperature, the blue line will immediately jump to that temperature.
However, the red line (the current temperature) will more slowly change to your target temperature. If
the target temperature is higher than the current temperature, the current temperature will attempt to
match the target temperature. Note that increasing or decreasing the temperature can take anywhere
from one minute to fifteen minutes or more.
Let the current temperature maintain at around 100 degrees for a few minutes to determine if
everything is functioning properly. You will see minor fluctuations above and below the target
temperature; this is normal so don't worry about it.
If everything seems fine, go ahead and enter 205 for the target temperature (shown in Figure 20-4).
This is the temperature in Celsius to melt the plastic filament.

Figure 20-4. Set the target temperature to 205 degrees Celsius.

Once a temperature of 205 degrees Celsius is reached, insert some filament (also called PLA) into the
barrel of the Extruder (the red PTFE tube), as shown in Figure 20-5.

■ Note The filament can be purchased from a variety of sources (consult the topic's web site for a complete list)

but you can order a starting amount of 1 pound (lb) of 3mm silver PLA from Ultimachine http://ultimachine.
com/content/pla-3mm-silver-1lb . Of course, you can order whatever color you like, but the silver shows up
well in photos and video.