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The trick is to justify buying one for your business, and then using it yourself after hours.
As a business asset, it has paid for itself fivefold in less than a year. As an employee of said business, i have unlimited access to a machine that I could never personally justify the expense of.
Yes, I just finished printing a rudder core for my sailboat.
For all the headache its caused, its also saved me from several trips to the store to find cable ties, chip clips, a hair dryer holder, pencil cups, spice racks, etc.
Absolutely. The experience has been a blast, but I also print miniatures for tabletop games and the printers have paid for themselves multiple times over if I had bought all the minis I have printed. Granted, I wouldn't have bought that many, but that's not important.
Yep. So much so that we have 3. One cheap resin, one older FDM, and a Bambu FDM. The only regret…sorta…is the resin. Shoulda got a better one. I mean, it works, but it is super fiddly and finicky. I think a better model would have been worth spending on. We print costume parts, but I also design and print all sorts of stuff for things like headset hangers, cup holders, toolbox organizers, parts bins, etc.
For me yes definitely, I've used it to fix a half a dozen things around the house, people love 3D printed tchotchkes, seasonal decorations, and just yesterday I actually ended up printing some stuff out for my RC rock crawler.
So my printer (elegoo neptune 4 pro) is 300-400 I think and the filament is nearing $200 now. Printers are cheap, filament cost accumulates.
Yes, in the same way a kayak, PS5, or e-reader are worth it. I learned so much and had a great time learning to use it with my kids. We occasionally made useful items, but never turned a profit or saved a life.
Still totally worth it.
Though, to be fair, we bought a basic Anet machine on Ali followed by a second hand knock-off so it wasn't the thousands you can spend today.
Absolutely. If you learn Freecad.
Just a few of the things I've designed and made recently.
I would put it in the same class as lathes or mills you probably aren't saving money by buying one but it may open more avenues for you.
I will say though with the price of printers vs mills & etc, a cheap printer will get you much closer to breaking even. You might save more than you spend if you can use an Ender 3 judicially but overall it's mostly for those odd projects or when a custom part is needed.
I wouldn't buy a printer to try and be profitable per say, I would buy one for the things you cant/don't want to buy. If you can use some 3d modeling software, you can begin to solve problems for almost no money.
Stuff like a vape holder and extended cup holder for my partners car, or a couple little shelf brackets for our IKEA cubes, or replacement closet rod supports. It takes a few minutes in CAD, a couple hours or printing, and 15¢ of plastic, and saves a trip to the store. Making custom, exactly how you want stuff is really nice.
Knick nacks are fun too, but ultimately your house will fill with things you don't particularly want or use.
Two years ago I wanted to build a custom keyboard. The cost 350 and a 3D printer + filament cost 200, the rest about 60-70...
So yes, it was worth it. Also I regularly print stuff now, which is just a net positive at this point.
How did the keyboard turn out? Is it Classic ISO or Planet 6?
More like this:
https://github.com/abstracthat/dactyl-manuform
Aw that's rad, I've yet to have found a thumb cluster that feels like the right amount of keys and shapes, this is very interesting
My first printer was a self built reprap from parts from aliexpress in college.
I then helped fund peachy on kickstarter and a stupid poured resin counterweighted printer called the Phoenix.
I then had an Geeetech A10M, a Prusa Mk2 and ender 3, as well as one resin printer.
All I have left is the Prusa mk2 that hasn't worked right for over a year and doesn't print anything.
I definitely have never made back my money. To many dumb purchases and early generation jank all over the place but it was fun. The first thing I ever did with my first hand built printer was make a lithopane of my deceased dog and eventually my grandfather.
I've made so many stupid things and spent so much time on it as a hobby that it filled my days with activities, reason to communicate with others and frustrating nights all alike. Its not for everyone and its not really a good idea but if you have the means or like a hobby of tinkering and building in the modern world there is very little experience like it.
My first printer was a self built reprap from parts from aliexpress in college.
my first was a hacked inkjet printer with my mom's PVA hotglue gun strapped to the print head. (should have seen my dad's face when he asked if he could have his printer back, so he could print some tax documents. His mistake. he should have known by then to ask what I wanted it for. I'm not sure mom ever figured out what happened to her hotglue gun...)
I also remember the industrial tech/graphics design teacher in highschool being like "Uh. cool. but why?" (and then being like, "HEY can you bring it in for the class? ! that's actually really cool")
Yeah I had a friend build one out of like balsa wood and a couple CD trays and the rest of us were stunned... And not very impressed after like 5 minutes which a shame cause it really was a beginning stop that showed what was possible.
I am definitely less into making those kinds of jank printers just cause the costs were never quite zero, and we have so much better options.
So like that hot-glue-models that came out? you could tell it was supposed to be a cube-like object. For a middleschool hacking components out of junk electronics... well... it was both hilariously awful... but in hindsight I should have been very proud of it.
it did do what I needed at the time, though, so there was that. I wouldn't really recommend PVA as a filament material, though.
I built my own because they were quite expensive, lots of fun but very little real use at all. I'm planning on reviving it because it's lots of fun to tinker with.
I bought a Makerbot, so emphatically NO it was not worth it. Never buy one of these shitty printers.
Not really. I purchased one with pretty significant maintenance/process requirements, had I gotten one a little more seamless (self leveling/etc) I think I'd use it far more often than I do now.
It's almost definitely a pain in the ass, but you can probably add self leveling to your existing printer.
Tried! Added one of those white barrel self leveling poke tools (can't remember specifically what they're called). It was a huuuuuge pain in the ass and only works about 50% of the time oddly, lol.
Sounds like you're talking about a bltouch or a clone, they were in the market super early, I think they were one of the first.
There are more options out there now, but most do work on the same concept.
Financially yes. I pretty much only print functional things. I probably have saved enough money just in printing chip clips to buy two printers.
financially worth it?
Probably not.
Did it give me brief respites of light against the clawing, ever encroaching abyssal darkness of life and misery?
Yes.
My 3D printer does occasionally prove itself useful. I print stuff to help me out in the shop, adapters for shop vacs, tool holders, stuff like that. I could do without it but it is a useful tool to have.
I print warhammer for friends for money. So that plus the money I saved on models for myself, I'd say it's worth it.
But it's also a hobby, learning how the things work and how to model is a lot of fun!
The Ender probably wasn't. It was a lot of effort, and mostly not the interesting kind, and fairly little reward. Although when it worked, it was really good. In the end. Sometimes. And it's way too big.
The Kingroon, very much yes. It's cheap, kind of trashy, but compact. Just prints stuff. Parts detach great. Works just about every time. Quiet out of the box. Just kind of annoying to preheat at the start and end of the session to load and unload filament. Very annoying touchscreen. But those are minor things and I'm not tempted to fix it or upgrade anything. I have actual projects to do. Too many actual projects to do.
Oh, and why? Custom parts that are impossible to buy and a lot of work or impossible to machine or fabricate otherwise. Saves a trip to the local library or hackerspace or wherever things could be printed.
I am also in the ender boat.
95% of my problems went away when I took the thing completely apart (like, further apart than what it comes in the box), and rebuilt it from scratch, making sure every bolt was tight, every moving part was free,corners perfectly cornered, etc.
I think it had just enough factory misalignment and loseness in a few key areas that compounded to cause me tons of headaches.
That, plus a few cheap upgrades (steel bed and better bed springs) really erased almost all the mechanical issues.
I print all kinds of usefull stuff.
Custom installation panel for after market navigator/media center for my car, upholstery fasteners for the same, custom panels for usb button box, cable organizers for lan cabling, newspaper reading stand, you name it.
Might not be financially feasible, but it's fun.
Literally use it every day for a year now but It's also an extensions for My other hobby. Also Great way to make presents for people. Before I got a printer I made a list of things I planned to make for it. I suggest doing the same before buying one. That way is can help figure out the size you want too.
I think you shouldn't forget that we're here at c/3dprinting, where only enthusiasts join together. Of course everyone here is a huge fan of 3D printers, those who got frustrated and sold their device aren't here anymore.
First of all, I'm very happy about having a printer, but more onto that later.
I had two ones yet, and both sucked.
The first was older, shitty and way too big. I wasted many weekends tinkering with that crap, until I accidentally destroyed it and sold it. My second one is the one I still use. It's a device from China, and the company doesn't exist anymore. So, if I want to buy replacement parts, I can just pray generic ones fit. And the customer support has always been shit, and the whole company and products seem very wonky in hindsight.
If I would have to buy another printer, it would definitely be something popular, like a Prusa one. It should be very small, silent and easily repairable. I don't care anymore about fancy features (maybe except auto leveling), it should just not annoy me.
Having a printer is like having a drill or soldering iron. You don't need it daily, but you're glad that you have it when you need it. And my friends are too! I'm printing more for my family, neighbours and friends than for myself.
Having a printer without CAD skills is nonsense. But once you can create your own stuff, you have endless capabilities.
I couldn't live without one by now.
My first 3d printer was a xmas gift from my partner and its been a blast to tinker with, I have found it useful for printing parts, toys, parts, all sorts of stuff. I purchased a much larger one so I can do larger and faster prints, and while I think the build has been worth it, I would NOT recommend buying the FYSETC kit I did.
FYSETC kit
Find Yourself Stuck, Escape The Challenge?
Forget Your Silly, Edgy Tech Chase?
Fuck Your Skull, Embrace The Computer?
Fried Yogurt Stick, Extra Thick Cheese?
...
No? Then, tell me, what kind of kit is this?
Buying a 3d printer and learning CAD is unlocking a super power. You can put something from your brain into the real world. It's great for hyper specific parts.
Tell me. Can you buy food safe microwave safe plastic to print with?
If so. Google the "Fasta Pasta" and tell me of you can print one half the size of a normal one.
I want one. But my microwave is too small. And nobody makes a small one.
No but I think I can 3D print stuff for playdough extrusion. Good idea!
Uuh...looks like any food- and microwave safe HDPE container can do what that thing does. Just go buy one that fits your microwave?
Learn to model things in CAD. That's what is limiting me from getting real use out of my printer. It's fun to print models you find online, but the real value is in printing your own designs.
Financially? Definitely not
But it's an enjoyable (and occasionally frustrating) hobby, so I'd say it's worth it.
For me, absolutely.
It's probably made up its worth in repairs, which is one of the main reasons I bought it. Haven't had to buy new things or overpriced repair parts. Also making fun presents for family, friends, teachers, or kids. For the relatively cheap price I got mine for, totally worth it.
100%. I've printed some cool stuff and some stupid stuff, as well as a bunch of functional parts that have improved my life around my house. More importantly it's given me a huge creative outlet to get more and more outlandish with my CAD designs and push my experience limits, which is great because that helps me be a lot more efficient at work.
Financially it was a total waste of money but that doesn't matter when it's a hobby. A hobby with practical marketable skills, and also the ability to let me prototype some independent ideas I've been brewing for a while to maybe sell for some side cash...