Before we attempt a print there are a few things that we will want to check to make sure we don't have a disaster.

The first thing that we want to check is that the endstops work. To do this we want to 'home' the printer. Get ready to 'emergency stop' the printer if the endstops don't stop it for you. If the printer is not hitting the endstops, stop the print and adjust them until it does. Now home the printer again and we should nearly be good to go.

The next thing that we want to check before we start printing is that the bed is level. To do this get a small piece of regular paper. We want to get the print head as close to the bed as possible without pushing it into the bed. Start by moving the print head to the front left hand corner of the bed. Get the extruder as close the the bed as possible so that if you push the piece of paper under it you can only just not move it. That way we can ensure that the extruder is only the height of a piece of paper away. Next lift the extruder 10 mm up and move the print head to the front right of the bed. Now try the same trick again with the piece of paper. If the bed is too high tighten the screws on the bed so that the bed is lowered a bit. If the bed is too high loosen it a bit. Now repeat this for the other 2 corners so that our bed is completely level with the extruder.

If your prints don't stick to the bed it might be because the bed is too far away from the extruder.

The extruder will need to be calibrated so that it pushes the filament out at the correct rate. To do this we mark a couple of centimeters on the filament the other side of the extruder, tell the extruder to move by that amount and then calculate if that was correct. If it does not move the desired amount then we will need to adjust the firmware configuration file. Note that you will not be able to upload a sketch to your Arduino if the board is connected in repetier host.

Now you should be ready to print. If you are using a heated bed note that it can take some time to preheat it.

The first thing that you will want to print is not that exciting but unfortunately it is necessary - it is a calibration block. You should be able to find one on Thingiverse - here is one with X-Y directional information: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:298812