3D Printers. Latest Technology Fad Or Finding The Practical Side Of A New Hobby

The Creality Ender III Pro

Last year, my wife presented me with a large, heavy cardboard box for my birthday. I braced myself. What I found inside was metal bits, pieces and a small booklet of instructions on how to assemble a 3D printer. My head exploded. I was caught completely off guard.

When 3D printers first came out, I was interested, but the price was something I couldn't manage and put it out of my head. Since then more developments were made and prices came down. Something I would have never purchased for myself, but my wife was the one who came up with the idea as a birthday present.

I found and started to look through the assembly booklet. I was curious about how the thing worked. The instructions were fairly simple and went together in about an hour. The last page of the instructions advised me to attach the supplied SD card in my computer and read the file about how to print.

Also on the card were a few test items for your first time printing after setting up the printer.

After a couple set up failures and start and stops and the waste of about 20 feet of plastic filament for the free object files on the micro card, I was pretty happy with a little dog that I had printed and showed my wife what I had done. I felt like a kid who had just learned to tie his shoes.

There must be something practical and useful I can print. I did a search online for 3D printer files. My head exploded again.

After some research, I clicked on one of the websites that offered files and tutorials. Where was this technology when I was into remote control vehicles? I found a ton of files for the R/C hobbyist. There were also loads of files for household items, like computer cord clip organizers and utility knife handles, waterproof extension cord boxes and more complicated things like hinges. I settled on the 'Rona-pull' item. A covid-19 inspired door opener with a hook and a nub for touching keypads, which I gave as gifts to family members and friends. For my card playing wife, I printed a Canasta card deck holder which took 25 hours to print. Wanting to surprise her, it was hard to keep from telling her what was being printed, but after a few hours, its shape was taking form and she figured it out. She was thrilled. For myself, I found a file for shelf brackets that I printed out for garage storage.

Granted, 25 hours for a playing card holder is a bit much, but creating something out of a plastic string is amazing. Which begs the question: Where will this technology go from here? Mind blown.