Get Started
Your first STEMFIE print is one small build plate, and it tells you everything you need to know about your printer. Here is the whole path, from empty build plate to first kit.
What you need
- A 3D printer Any consumer printer will do. No printer at home? Libraries, schools, and makerspaces often have one.
- PLA filament The easiest material to print and the one STEMFIE is designed around.
- A slicer The program that prepares files for your printer. Your printer's own slicer is fine.
Step 1: Print the calibration file
Start with the STEMFIE Calibration File: one small build plate with a STEMFIE block, three screws, a handful of nuts, and two tools, a spanner and a driver. Printing it tests the two things that matter most: that threads turn and that pins fit. And when it is done, you have a first STEMFIE build in your hands.
The download page also shows these pictures, so you can use it as the assembly guide. Print with the default PLA settings of your slicer, at 0.2 mm layer height.
Step 2: Check the fit
- Turn the nut onto the screw. It should go on by hand, with a little resistance.
- Push a pin or screw through a hole. It should slide in without force and sit without wobbling.
- If it is too tight, lower your slicer's flow rate a little, or check that your printer is calibrated. If it is too loose, do the opposite. One or two test prints usually settle it.
- For a finer adjustment, most slicers have a setting called XY size compensation (sometimes dimensional or horizontal compensation). A small negative value shrinks the outer walls of a part, a positive value grows them, and holes usually have a compensation of their own. A few hundredths of a millimeter is often all it takes.
Once the calibration part fits, every other STEMFIE part will fit too. That is the point of the Standard.
Step 3: Build a kit
Now pick a kit. A kit is a complete project in one download, with every part you need. Good first builds are the Rubber-Band-Driven Car, the Small Toy Car, and the Spinning Top.
Step 4: Go your own way
Browse the parts catalog, print a handful of beams, braces, and fasteners, and build something nobody has built before. Everything you print stays compatible with everything STEMFIE releases later.
Thousands of parts, one grid. Browse the catalog →
Need help?
Follow STEMFIE on MakerWorld or YouTube, or subscribe to the newsletter. Teaching with STEMFIE? The Learn section has free Curriculum Kits, each with a teacher's guide and a student worksheet.
⚠️ Contains small parts that are a choking hazard. Not suitable for children under 3. Suitable for ages 3 and up under adult supervision.