alt Hacker NewsA Year of 3D Printing
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I would encourage people who have never designed physical objects before to try to only print things they have designed themselves as an exercise. For perhaps a year or so.
If you have never designed physical objects before it is really challenging at first. The learning curve is pretty steep and, at least in my case, I discovered that I didn't have a mental language for thinking about functional 3D and mechanical design. You also start to look more closely at the objects around you and think about what went into designing them.
I started doing 3D design about a decade ago, when I got my first 3D printer. At first using free modeling in CAD and then later learning how to do constraint based and parametric designs in Fusion 360. This felt slow and perhaps limiting at first, but when you get used to it, it will save you a lot of time later and allow you to make more useful designs that are much easier to evolve and vary.
I think it took something like 4-5 years before I printed something someone else had designed. Mostly because I used 3D printing to make custom parts for my own projects, but also in an effort to force myself to learn. I know the learning curve was steep, but for some reason I have forgotten how much work it was to learn.
Now there are so many useful designs, designed by people who are a lot better than me available everywhere that I do print a lot of things others have designed. But I think learning to design things yourself is a really good opportunity to learn useful skills.
For instance, I had never anticipated that I, a software engineer, would get paid, by an actual customer, to design parts for their projects. Or even consult on physical design for someone doing product development. I am by no means at the level where I'd put it front and center on a resume, but I can design, and to some degree, manufacture simple mechanical parts.
(Along with 3D printing I've been doing some CNC at a very hobbyist level. I would still say I am very much a beginner when it comes to machining metals, but it is really fun to see that you can make reasonably precise metal parts for real applications (car parts) at home in my garage with not that much effort. This weekend I'll be doing thread milling in aluminum for the first time on a part that requires M3 screws)
One of the most useful things that I print is Gridfinity storage boxes and holders. I try to organize as many of my tools and supplies using it. I sometimes do a little leather working for fun and have a drawer full of hardware, all in their own bins. In my garage my sockets, wrenches, etc. all has a Gridfinity holder. I design my own as much as I use pre-made ones. A while ago I even saw a shop that used it to organize most of their small wares. It’s an incredible system.
Another note: PLA has gotten significantly better in the past few years. PLA+ is legitimately better while being as easy to print and the Polymaker HT-PLA and HT-PLA-GF are even better as you can meaningfully anneal them after printing to make them strong and temperature resistant enough for some very functional prints.
I still have mixed emotions about 3D printing. I do love the idea of being able to print a part when I need it for something. But I do hate myself at the same time for creating more plastic junk. PLA is not really getting recycled, when it fails someone throws it in the trash and it goes to a landfill. Maybe some really diehard enthusiasts are ensuring all their failed prints and broken parts get properly chemically recycled, but I bet most don’t bother and just bin it.
What is the latest on metal 3D printing? How long before I can send off models to a shop and they can print it close to the price of the underlying metal?
I imagine metal printing will never be something that happens at home.
I have not seen any discussions on the impact on PFA's from these homemade 3D plastic goods.
Can't help but wonder looking through the gifs, am I actually insane that I MUST fillet, chamfer, or chamfer AND fillet basically every single one of those edges[1] with with tangency weight of 1.5 where possible, until the shape takes a generic apple/bauhaus/lego/ikea style? I'm aware that doing so don't necessarily improve load distribution, but I just can't stop rounding those corners.
Am I really the only one?
In the past I've mostly printed intersting/amusing things from places like thingiverse. But this year I had a project I needed an enclosure for, and instead of using something off the shelf I decided to print my own.
Being able to design, print, test, change, print again really made the potential of 3D printing shine for me. I must have went through a couple dozen iterations as the hardware choices solidified and I saw what worked and what didn't (like "oh, I actually can't reach that screw once these two pieces are put together"). It was a really rewarding experience and I'm looking forward to the next project.
Gridfinity seems very useful. I might try it. I spent $100 on FB marketplace 2 years ago for a AnkerMake M5C with bunch of rolls of PLA. I've printed hairdryer rack, containers, Labubus as little gifts for neighborhood kids to paint over. I thought about getting a multi-color 3d printer like Anycubic Kobra S1 combo, but the wasting of plastics is holding me back. Snapmaker U1 is much better but more expensive.
Good article, but I really really enjoyed the (non-deterministic!) falling objects with physics engine at the top of the page.
Hello, what are you using to render the models in the webpage? and what format did you export the models as to do that? It looks very nice!
All of this was on a Bambu A1 Mini?
These are the types of things I want to print. My Ender 3 was so finicky, I only got a few out before I gave up.
gridfinity is really addictive. I have no idea what I want to do with it, but I want to print more.
Awesome. This person got way busier than I did [1] (I think I focus more on creating original designs on the printer). When I first got the Bambu in 2024 I did the whole Gridfinity thing. Very fun.
As their post makes clear (even to me) there are actually a lot of things out there you can 3D print. Something I printed last year (and did not even bother to post) was a center-console "compartment" for a 1995 Mazda Miata I have. I swapped out the trashy aftermarket stereo (a previous owner has installed in the Miata) for one that is close to OEM but then I had an empty "hole" in the center console. So I printed a cubby for it.
I too was like the author. Originally got into 3D printing years ago—found it frustrating. Picking up a Bambu printer a yearish ago made made all the difference in the world for me. Previously I had an Ender and it was, endlessly frustrating (pun intended). The Bambu is so next-level, the software so well integrated and polished, that I finally found that I enjoy, and I am not burdened by, 3D printing.
(The only caveat about the Bambu is that people worry about vendor lock-in. I don't believe Bambu have enshittified that way yet, and people are finding workarounds in case they do, albeit by adding complexity in setting up, printing. The price of the Bambu for someone getting into 3D printing is very attractive.)
[1] https://engineersneedart.com/blog/3dprinting2025/3dprinting2...
Lovely 3D header animation! Fits incredibly well with the posts content :)
I'd encourage people doing engineering/functional parts to also try ASA and PC(-CF). Both are pretty easy to print on enclosed printer like Prusa Core One, and they offer unique qualities that are impossible to achieve with PLA or PETG.
Prusament PC Blend is insanely strong and stiff, I saw a 3mm PC bracket bending a high quality metal wood screw into an S-shape without breaking. PC-CF is much easier to print, looks great, and is stiffer still, even if a bit less strong. ASA looks great and is tougher than PC. Both creep less than PLA and PETG. Both shrug off 100C under load.
Multiple states are trying to ban 3D printing and CNCs
Nice. I mostly print parts for other 3D printers...
By: motherfucker - Cults3D - I really like the 3D printing community
At first I assumed it's going to be this guy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGje7toBDzsiIrHIHG-eL...
My favorite model of all time is this digital sundial: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1068443 It's generated using code that knows the shapes of numbers and "punches them out" of a template object at different angles corresponding to angles of the sun/time relationships.
It would be impractical to make in any method than additive printing.