Ace Makerspace Hosted Hands-On 3D Printing Certification Night
On January 7, 2026, Ace Makerspace in Oakland ran a 3D Printing Night that combined a hands-on introduction with a certification session for the space’s 3D printers. The session targeted beginners and intermediate users, delivering practical skills, safety training, and small-print practice that expand safe community access to shared equipment.
Ace Makerspace opened its workspace on January 7 for a focused 3D Printing Night and certification session aimed at getting more people comfortable and certified to use the club’s printers. The evening paired step-by-step, hands-on instruction with a formal certification process so attendees could demonstrate competency before operating the makerspace’s machines independently.
Organizers designed the session for beginners and intermediate users, covering the fundamentals of practical printing work as well as essential shop safety. Attendees moved through core topics such as bed leveling and slicer settings, and received tips on handling common filament types including PLA, PETG, and TPU. Small prints produced during the session let participants practice setup and troubleshooting in real time, reinforcing lessons on part adhesion, print failures, and post-processing basics.
Certification nights like this serve a practical function in community makerspaces: they reduce risks by standardizing machine use, give newcomers a clear path to responsible tool access, and build informal networks where experienced makers circulate tacit knowledge. For those who learn best in person, the benefits are immediate—being able to ask for help while a print is running, watching live adjustments to nozzle temperature or retraction, and seeing how a slicer profile change affects layer quality.
The event also strengthens local maker networks. Certified members can mentor peers, share project techniques, and support collaborative builds in the space. That grassroots knowledge transfer — from bed leveling tricks to filament-specific handling — often shortens the learning curve compared with solo online tutorials, while keeping shared equipment safer and better maintained.
If you missed the January 7 session and want future opportunities or need certification to use Ace Makerspace printers, RSVP and find full event details, including time, location, and cost, at acemakerspace.org/event/3d-printing-night-and-certification-1-7-26/. Certification nights remain one of the most practical ways to gain hands-on skills, troubleshoot with peers, and join a local community of makers.
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