Loading and unloading filament to your printer is easy within BuildBee!

When at the 'Select Material' stage, there is a button for either loading or unloading filament.

Loading

Step 1 - Advance to the 'select material' step

- Choose a model to print from the home screen and confirm your selecting on the next page.

- Select a printer to print on.

Step 2 - Load filament into your printer

- Once you click 'LOAD FILAMENT', your printer will begin to heat up.

While your printer is heating up, run through the following steps:

1. Open the filament, keeping the re-sealable bag and box for storage.
   
2. Unravel a small amount of filament and cut the end off at a 45º angle.
   
3. Sit the filament spool in a safe place next to your Me2, making sure it is out of the way of any moving parts during printing to avoid any complications.
   
4. Run the filament through the handle opening and into the hole on the right side of the filament drive block.
   
5. Push gently on the filament until you can feel it grip slightly in the filament gear.
   

It is best to stay near the printer when loading filament to make sure the extruder grabs the filament properly and pulls it through.

Unloading

For bowden line 3D printers, use the unload button first and then remove from the bowden line.

Step 1 - Advance to the 'select material' step

- Choose a model to print from the home screen and confirm your selecting on the next page.

- Select a printer to print on.

Step 2 - Unload filament from your printer

- Once you click 'UNLOAD FILAMENT', your printer will begin to heat up.

- Once at temperature, the extruder will begin to retract the loaded filament. Wait for it to finish retracting before removing the filament.

- Select the 'BACK' button to return to the 'select material' screen.

Manual controls

You can also use the manual controls in the maintenance console of BuildBee to do this process manually. For more information on how to use the manual controls, refer to the manual controls help article.