Best First Accessories for a New 3D Printer (and the Upgrades to Skip)

Modern printers changed the shopping list

It is tempting to treat a new printer as a project: a better extruder here, a new hotend there, a firmware change for good measure. But current machines from Bambu Lab, Prusa and Creality largely calibrate themselves and come with slicer profiles written for their stock hardware. The accessories worth buying now are the ones that make everyday printing cleaner, safer and less frustrating, not ones that promise speed.

This list draws on manufacturer guidance, tool recommendations from experienced members of the Prusa forum, and published testing from CNC Kitchen. It also uses Cameron's first month with a Bambu Lab P2S Combo, mostly as a cautionary tale about filament moisture.

Buy first: a small hand-tool kit

The tools you will reach for every week are boring and inexpensive. Prusa's own basic post-processing kit is a useful template: a deburring tool for removing brim and cleaning edges and holes, flush cutters for trimming filament ends and removing supports, a needle file set for adjusting holes and mating surfaces, and two precision knives. You do not need to buy that exact bundle, but it shows which tools a printer maker thinks most owners use.

In a long-running Prusa forum thread about which tools to own, an experienced member added tweezers, digital calipers and small needle-nose pliers to that list, plus a set of good hex drivers. Calipers matter more than they sound: once you start designing or remixing parts, measuring a real bolt, shelf or phone before you print saves both time and filament. Tweezers let you pull strings and ooze away from a hot nozzle without putting your fingers near it.

Buy first: cleaning supplies for the build plate

Most failed first layers come from a dirty plate, so keep cleaning supplies beside the printer. Prusa recommends 90% isopropyl alcohol for routine wipes and dish soap with warm water when adhesion fades, and a Bambu Lab support post on cleaning textured PEI plates stresses keeping skin oil off the surface. A plain PVA glue stick is also worth having: Prusa recommends it for PETG, ABS, ASA, nylon and flexibles, partly as a release layer to protect smooth PEI from materials that bond too strongly. Our separate first-layer guide walks through the full fix order.

A second build plate is optional but useful. It lets you start the next job while the last print cools, and it gives you a spare if the first plate gets damaged. Choose the surface that suits your materials, and make sure the plate type selected in your slicer matches whichever one is installed.

Buy early: a way to dry and store filament

Moisture is the problem new owners are least prepared for. Prusa's drying guide says most filaments absorb moisture from the air and lists stringing, blobs, poor surfaces, weak layers and bubbling as symptoms. Its drying table gives 45°C for six hours for PLA and wood-fill PLA, and 55°C for six hours for PETG, with a warning not to exceed the recommended temperatures because the filament can soften and fuse.

Cameron learned this quickly. In his first month and roughly 25 prints with his P2S, the one real failure was a 16-hour PETG mask that strung badly because he had not dried the spool first. His Combo includes the AMS 2 Pro, which has built-in drying, so the remedy was close at hand. If your printer does not include a drying feeder, a standalone dryer is one of the most useful first purchases.

Storage matters as much as drying. CNC Kitchen's tests found a food dehydrator removed noticeably more moisture than vacuum storage alone, and that spools left in open air regained moisture within days. The same tests found sealed boxes with plenty of silica desiccant worked well for keeping filament dry. A cheap hygrometer in the box tells you when to regenerate the desiccant; CNC Kitchen suggests doing that once humidity reads above 10%.

Buy when you need them: spare nozzles and wear parts

Nozzles and hotends wear out, clog and get damaged. Creality's Canadian store policy covers its printers for a year but the hotend and extruder kit for only three months, and Prusa classes nozzles, belts and PTFE tubes as consumables with limited warranty coverage. Having a spare nozzle or hotend on hand means a clog or a damaged tip becomes a quick swap rather than a wait for shipping.

If you plan to print carbon-fibre, glass-filled, metal-filled or some glow-in-the-dark filaments, a hardened nozzle is not optional. Prusa's nozzle guide says brass wears quickly with abrasive materials, and notes that hardened steel may need about 5°C more heat and is slower with some standard materials. Our research review of the Bambu Lab P1S (Bambu Lab P1S review) notes that Bambu says its stock stainless nozzle and extruder need upgrading before fibre-filled filament. Ask the filament maker if you are unsure whether a spool is abrasive.

Skip for now: performance upgrades and unsupported mods

Resist aftermarket hotends, extruder swaps and firmware hacks during your first months. The printer's own profiles assume stock hardware, and changing parts makes troubleshooting much harder. Prusa's warranty explicitly excludes damage from upgrades and add-ons that are not officially supported. Creality's K1 firmware notes say rooted software gets no technical support, and Bambu Lab's Developer Mode comes without official support. Learn the stock machine first; you will then know whether an upgrade fixes a real problem.

Skip a DIY enclosure for open printers unless the manufacturer approves it. Our research review of the Bambu Lab A1 (Bambu Lab A1 review) notes that Bambu explicitly advises against enclosing it. If you want to print ABS or ASA, buy an enclosed printer rather than building a box around one designed to run open.

Large tool kits with dozens of pieces are also easy to skip. Most owners use the same handful of tools, so buy those individually and add more when a project demands it.

Where to go next

If you have not chosen a printer yet, decide whether multi-colour printing and drying are built in or extra. Cameron's hands-on review of the Bambu Lab P2S Combo is at Bambu Lab P2S Combo (AMS 2 Pro) review. Our research reviews of the Prusa CORE One+ (Prusa CORE One+ (Gen 2) review) and Anycubic Kobra S1 (Anycubic Kobra S1 review) explain which add-ons each needs for drying, filtration or colour, based on manufacturer documentation and published coverage rather than our own testing.

From a tech standpoint

Spend your first accessory money on flush cutters, a deburring tool, calipers, plate-cleaning supplies and a reliable way to dry and store filament. Keep a spare nozzle, and buy a hardened one before any abrasive spool. Leave performance upgrades until the stock printer has shown you a specific problem worth solving.