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[eactilton]

I have some experiments I have wanted to build which require a bit of trial and error plus I am lacking the tooling skills to make some of the parts which should be relatively trivial with a 3D printer.

[GOC]

Q: What's the most practical application for 3D printing in your life?

A: The practical uses that my printer sees regularly is printing replacement parts. A lot of product manufactures out there thrive on the fact a little plastic piece breaks and you have to buy the whole damn product again. I just print the piece, repair the item, & continue my day.

[TeamJamesDean]

Definitely it would be creating replacement parts and objects that aren't easy to create in other ways. I have been able to create a handle for the sunroof in my 2000 Honda CRV which is simple but expensive to replace. I also printed a replacement head for my wife's handheld vacuum sealer that was lost at some point and has been impossible to replace. That saved us the cost of purchasing a whole new unit to replace an otherwise good and functional vacuum sealer.

[Steven57]

Just want to build parts to repair, replace, fun, robots, quadcopters, build more printers!

[Des]

I most need a 3d printer so I can print parts that I can then use to cast sand molds for casting metals to make the parts I need for may items I will build like small steam engines, wind generator parts, small lathe for table top use etc....
My big lathe/mill is great but too large to be portable, a smaller lathe I could move around would be great to have and I can build it myself and machine the parts as needing using my big one, but first I have to cast the parts to work with for the small one.

Also, with a 3d printer I could print pieces for tooling such as a divider head I need, cast the parts in aluminum, machine them, and walla I'd have tools I need I can not afford to buy!

But first I need something to make the sand molds with so I can cast the metal parts I need to work with, and 3d printed ABS parts will work great for making sand molds!

[moke1180]

What's the most practical application for 3D printing in your life?

Fix stuff around the house and make the house look cool by 3D printing light fixtures.

[rvanwaes]

What's the most practical application for 3D printing in your life?

3D printing has been great for household stuff - hooks, feet, doodads, replacement parts.

[angelang]

I use 3D printing for data visualization, product design, and small-scale architectural models.

[jennyxie]

We are using 3D printing to make custom-made models, prototypes and parts for product developers, helping them verify and validate inventions and designs!

[jrosser]

for me it is a hobby, my son is now 17 months so I am looking forward to be able to start printing some learning tools for him.