A Year of 3D Printing
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A Year of 3D Printing
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Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#2Awesome. 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...
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#3One 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.
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#4Lovely 3D header animation! Fits incredibly well with the posts content :)
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#5Awesome. 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 Miat…
Couldn't agree more.
Knowing you can design a simple part in a few minutes and actually print it immediately afterwards is important. Before I got a reliable printer (bambulab a1) i put off even the smallest projects because I knew it would entail a multi-hour trial and error session with the printer.
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#6One 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 organ…
Any reason you are recommending PLA instead of PETG?
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#7Gridfinity 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.
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#8Lovely 3D header animation! Fits incredibly well with the posts content :)
Glad you like it. First time properly delving into three.js - other than the page size I’m really happy with how it turned out
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#9One 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 organ…
Any reason you are recommending PLA instead of PETG?
any reason to use PETG instead of PLA? PLA is plant based, in theory bio-degradable, while PETG is produced from crude oil.
Re: A Year of 3D Printing
#10One 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 organ…
Any reason you are recommending PLA instead of PETG?
Not the person you’re replying to, but I can see the appeal of PLA. It has more color options and prints way easier.
I personally run all PETG because it is ultimately better material post-print, and once you understand how to print with it, it’s not really much harder to deal with.
The day I discovered that I should just run my dryer with the PETG inside while printing was revolutionary. Of course, that requires you own a dryer that allows the filament to print while it’s inside.