List of Practical Consumer Based 3D Prints

Alright, so I had my mother say to be last night "This 3d printer is neat, but it's not practical".

I froze up for a few minutes then thought, let me print her out some things which are practical for the next time I see her. I already thought of a couple things I will be taking her, but I thought I would start a thread here so that others can contribute to ideas (not for me but for everyone).

What are some practical things which a 3D printer is good at printing out for the consumer level? By practical I mean the cost and time are greater than the price you will pay at a store for the same product, or the ability to customize the object outweighs and time or price differences:

I'll start:

- Missing game pieces
- Customized Light switch covers
- Any tiny plastic parts which may be discontinued or expensive to find.
- iphone case

Well just go to Thingiverse and look at household collection. http://www.thingiverse.com/thingiver...ions/household

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Originally Posted by PhotoSteve

Well just go to Thingiverse and look at household collection. http://www.thingiverse.com/thingiver...ions/household

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Nothing on Thingverse is actually "practical" for consumers.

I don't think 3D printing is actually very practical for the avg Joe at the moment... it sure could be useful though.
I have a wall air conditioner that's blocked off by my couch, so I'm designing a vent to redirect the airflow over and to the sides of the couch. I can't go out and buy such a thing, and my current cardboard method is ugly and not very effective. Several things like that I'm designing while I wait for the printer I want to become available.

[QUOTE=atoff;9161]Nothing on Thingverse is actually "practical" for consumers.

Well if you would have looked at the link the first couple it shows are
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44328 Citrus Juicer
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26767 bag holder
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:112117 custom screen for open holes

[QUOTE=PhotoSteve;9165]

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Originally Posted by atoff

Nothing on Thingverse is actually "practical" for consumers.

Well if you would have looked at the link the first couple it shows are
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:44328 Citrus Juicer
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26767 bag holder
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:112117 custom screen for open holes

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And yet still not practical in terms of justifying the cost. I can pick up a citrus juicer from the 99cent store for example.

3D Printing has helped me with replacement parts that I can't find elsewhere online, or that are too expensive to buy online or in a store. It just makes it a little more conveinent.

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Originally Posted by Maggie

Alright, so I had my mother say to be last night "This 3d printer is neat, but it's not practical".

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Print a prosthetic duck leg. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...t-chicken.html

[QUOTE=atoff;9166]

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Originally Posted by PhotoSteve

And yet still not practical in terms of justifying the cost. I can pick up a citrus juicer from the 99cent store for example.

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My printer estimates that I can print the juicer at normal settings for $1.44 in 5 hours and 33 minutes.

That’s over your estimate of $0.99 but I can have it right now in any color I want.

Imagine browsing a website like Amazon, but you can simply print whatever you buy. No shipping, no handling, no angry calls to UPS… just a juicer sitting on your print bed.

We’re already there with sites like thingiverse.

I can drive to Target and buy a toothbrush holder, or I can go here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:265761 and print one for nearly nothing.

I had assumed that all my prints would cost more than the same item could be mass produced in China. As I tally the cost of my prints, it’s a lot closer than I thought. Combine that with the incredible convince of being able to just “click” on an item and watch it print in front of you… I’d say it’s already practical, or at least desirable.

[QUOTE=hercemer;9295]

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Originally Posted by atoff

My printer estimates that I can print the juicer at normal settings for $1.44 in 5 hours and 33 minutes.

That’s over your estimate of $0.99 but I can have it right now in any color I want.

Imagine browsing a website like Amazon, but you can simply print whatever you buy. No shipping, no handling, no angry calls to UPS… just a juicer sitting on your print bed.

We’re already there with sites like thingiverse.

I can drive to Target and buy a toothbrush holder, or I can go here http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:265761 and print one for nearly nothing.

I had assumed that all my prints would cost more than the same item could be mass produced in China. As I tally the cost of my prints, it’s a lot closer than I thought. Combine that with the incredible convince of being able to just “click” on an item and watch it print in front of you… I’d say it’s already practical, or at least desirable.

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I stand by what I said, it's not at all practical for the every day consumer. You're considering only the cost of the filament, what about energy cost, your time, cost of the printer, etc.etc. If your goal to purchase a printer is to print 99cent object all day I'm pretty sure by the end of the day you'd have spent over $1k at minimum for $10 worth of "useful" items. Lets be real, is that crappy plastic hair brush you printed on Thingiverse comparable to what you could have purchased? In the future? Sure, absolutely... right now? No, not practical.

It's very useful for tinkerers, hobbyists... but the average consumer isn't going to spend the time to learn to model decent items and spend hours modeling the object, then wait for it to print. The items on Thingiverse are for the most part nothing more than novelty. I've browsed and browsed, and I can't find a single thing that interests me on that site. Let me print a worthless gear heart or two why don't I? lol

It might sound like I'm against 3D printing, but that's not at all the case, I think it's fantastic... just not "PRACTICAL" for the every day average Joe right now.

[QUOTE=atoff;9297]

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Originally Posted by hercemer

It might sound like I'm against 3D printing, but that's not at all the case, I think it's fantastic... just not "PRACTICAL" for the every day average Joe right now.

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I agree with you completely in terms of the 'average joe right now'.

Improved ease of use, material options, and material costs will obviously start to change that. But so will demand for complexity and customization. Consumers don't think in terms of personal products just like they don't think in terms of personalized medication. We compromise by purchasing cheap mass produced stuff. If people want to use 3D printers to replace coat hangers it's an easy calculation.

On the other hand, something that might turn that around is printing custom foot orthotics. Custom orthotics are extremely expensive. I think they run around $400/pair. If people start thinking in terms of customization then an $800 printer (RepRap) that can print one pair of orthotics in several hours starts to look practical. 3D printed orthotics can't happen now because we also need the scanner and the software. But it is an example of how demand for customization can make a 3D printer practical for average joes.

[QUOTE=Bradley;9369]

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Originally Posted by atoff

I agree with you completely in terms of the 'average joe right now'.

Improved ease of use, material options, and material costs will obviously start to change that. But so will demand for complexity and customization. Consumers don't think in terms of personal products just like they don't think in terms of personalized medication. We compromise by purchasing cheap mass produced stuff. If people want to use 3D printers to replace coat hangers it's an easy calculation.

On the other hand, something that might turn that around is printing custom foot orthotics. Custom orthotics are extremely expensive. I think they run around $400/pair. If people start thinking in terms of customization then an $800 printer (RepRap) that can print one pair of orthotics in several hours starts to look practical. 3D printed orthotics can't happen now because we also need the scanner and the software. But it is an example of how demand for customization can make a 3D printer practical for average joes.

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Definitely, things like this will be very possible soon... http://gizmodo.com/a-new-flexible-fi...ake-1541334417
But I can see it being even better. Perfectly custom fit shoes that actually wrap around and give support on an individual basis, clothing and jewelry that's user designed, watch bands (I have thin wrists, watches typically look foolish on me, but if they fit snugly and were as thin as I'd prefer...), belts... all things I can see being easy to print once quality, speed, and software improve. Future's bright! It's why I want to get into the 3D printing world while it's young. I don't actually have very good design skills, in fact, they're quite garbage, but I do have ideas I'd like to see come to light.

[QUOTE=atoff;9387]

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Originally Posted by Bradley

Definitely, things like this will be very possible soon... http://gizmodo.com/a-new-flexible-fi...ake-1541334417
But I can see it being even better. Perfectly custom fit shoes that actually wrap around and give support on an individual basis, clothing and jewelry that's user designed, watch bands (I have thin wrists, watches typically look foolish on me, but if they fit snugly and were as thin as I'd prefer...), belts... all things I can see being easy to print once quality, speed, and software improve. Future's bright! It's why I want to get into the 3D printing world while it's young. I don't actually have very good design skills, in fact, they're quite garbage, but I do have ideas I'd like to see come to light.

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My design skills are terrible too. But your watch idea is an example of good application. And finding good applications is pretty key right now.

Well, replacement stuff or parts of new stuff. My dad broke some things on his boat recently so I came up with those 2. Haven't printed them yet though.
Attachment 2435Attachment 2436

I think these bracelets are practical and cool.
http://thingiverse-production.s3.ama...w_featured.jpg

Useful and practical things I've used the printer for.

1) resized table cloth clips to fit our new balcony table. Total cost for 4 - £0.08 minimal cost and bugger all time invested as I resized them in makeware before printing.
2) printed out some resized 'bag' clips for a friend who wants to use them for clamping umbilical cords on newly born piglets. Cost for 8 - about £0.20. Resized in opesncad - didn't write the script.
3) new handle for my gtech electric sweeper. These break regularly due to built in obselescence. Okay I spent a few hours on the model and printed a few before I got the connector exactly right.
But even adding in the 4 failures it still cost me less than half the cost of a replacement handle in materials. And my design is a lot stronger than the original.
4) Took about 10 minutes to knock up the food saver discs to stop lemons, cucumbers, aubergines, courgettes etc drying out if you don't use the whole thing all at once. Cost - about 3 pence each. And available in any size I want.

Only had it a few weeks - but it's nothing if not a cheap and practical tool for replacing and manufacturing any number of unique and useful things.

I will agree that it's not practical for the average joe. But that's just down to the fact that it's not 'plug'n'play'

But for someone with imagination, it' an astonishingly practical machine.