So I was also a 3doodler kickstarter backer, and received a version 1 pen as reward. Which has also been sitting in its box on the shelf waiting for my round tuit drought to end.
Fortunately for it, 3doodling something needs a considerably shorter round tuit than getting the other 'trons going.
I decided to start by making a couple of coasters on the grounds that they are at least semi-useful.
I needed simple designs in primary colours to get started with. The Homestuck theme..? Well, even if they did turn out a bit crap, my daughter would still love them.
Firstly, I printed out the designs I was planning on making, scaled to the size I wanted.
I then loaded up the pen with ABS filament and doodled directly onto the paper - going around the edge of each colour area first and then filling in the middles with short, closely-packed scribbles. Once completed, the doodles lifted easily from the paper.
Finally, I sandwiched each coaster between two sheets of baking parchment and pressed with a warm iron. Slightly cooler than cotton setting, and press for a minute or so on each side. Once it's cooled, separate from the paper to reveal the finished coaster.
Annoyingly, you end up wasting the ends of filaments once they get too short to eject, and on colour changeover. Next time, I think I shall start a set of "granny square" style coasters or placemats that can be filled in with small squares of random colours to use up this otherwise wasted filament just as the original crochet squares are to use up odds and ends of wool.
The other thing I learned is that constantly holding down the extrude button whilst making small hand movements leads to hand cramp in short order. Looks like the optional pedal control is a necessity for making anything seriously on this thing.
