5 expensive hobbies where owning a 3D printer will really save you money

The NASA 3D printers hosted on the International Space Station (ISS) print tools and spare parts on request. Here on Earth, 3D printers can sometimes make expensive components and accessories for a more affordable price than you can find in stores. However, does that make one worth buying?

3D printing (sometimes called additive manufacturing) uses computer-aided design (CAD) models created online or created by you to build three-dimensional objects. Entry-level printers like the Creality Ender-3 V3 SE cost around $170, while more advanced systems reach $700 or more. Most common 3D printers use filament, which costs around $20 per kilogram. If you make 50 $10 items from a kilo of filament on a $170 machine, you save money. Combine the cost of materials and hardware to calculate the cost to identify where you can save. You may not even need to own a printer as some libraries and manufacturing locations offer access while online services print for a price.

Most home printers use FDM (fused deposition modeling), where plastic filament, usually polylactic acid (PLA), is pushed through a heated nozzle to make something. More expensive 3D printers use resin (SLA / DLP, resin-based stereolithography and digital light processing, respectively) or polymer powder (SLS, selective laser sintering). The following ideas focus on how FDM printers save you money within a series of popular hobbies, but you want to upgrade to SLA printers where small details are important to you.

Drone or remote controlled vehicle enthusiasts can save money printing spare parts for their machines – it’s popular; Some 3D modeling sites have entire sections for drone components. While you shouldn’t print flight-critical pieces (like propellers) for your expensive drone until the materials, design, and strength have been validated, other parts (eg, camera mounts, antenna guards, and arm guards) are fair game.

Anyone who has ever crashed their drone knows that components require regular replacement, so if a part normally costs $10, a 3D printer that can cook it for less will pay for itself over time. Not only that, but just like in the space station, the whole process can be cheaper and faster than ordering online.

If you work with vehicles or run a busy garden, your 3D printer is a real reservoir of solutions. Mechanic or horticulturist, you probably go through a number of replaceable components that can be printed cheaper than buying; this is especially true if some are sold in larger quantities than anyone needs or are expensive because they are highly specialized.

From garden signs to plastic clips, planters to soil dibbers – even bird feeders – you’ll find that you can print many useful items. Press in the garage hard to find car interior pieces, broken buttons, tool organizers, wrenches and a multi-axis vise. The convenience of finding just the right tool for the job should save money, time and frustration in any garden or garage.

The ability to find the right tool for the job also makes 3D printers useful for home automation. You can print all the obvious things, including cable management systems, shelves for multiple hubs, wall mounts and small spare parts, but the tech also lets you indulge your taste for smart home projects.

For example, if you use near-field communication (NFC) stickers around your home to control smart devices, you can make them much less utilitarian and much more interesting by adding housings or push button mechanisms to them. You can afford to be imaginative, like with a simple but useful tap-for-Wi-Fi sign that uses NFC to provide guest access, but you just want a desktop robot. If you want Apple-style home control, ditch the chassis for a Home Assistant touchscreen at a fraction of the cost of Apple’s $299 HomeView, or ditch a wall mount for almost any tablet.

Photography and video enthusiasts complain about the price some camera manufacturers charge for highly replaceable items such as lens caps, cable clamps and battery holders. That changes with 3D printing; After all, why should a branded lens cap cost so much when you can print a universal lens cap for a few cents? Search, and you will find 3D printing files for so many useful camera accessories.

In addition to replacement, press mechanical V-Lock battery plates, custom microphone and lighting mounts, selfie handles or compact and portable tripods. What’s really useful is that you can create or tweak CAD files to create individual custom tools for grabbing specific shots.

Gamers, Dungeons & Dragons players, model railroaders and scale model enthusiasts: 3D printing opens the doors to new fantasy experiences. Print new characters, monsters, buildings, trees and terrain to make your next scenario sing, or strengthen your track layout with a railroad spike or long-lost logo. The large trove of models at MyMiniFactory shows that a thriving trade in these things already exists. Tabletop gamers are already printing historically accurate uniformed troops for their next recreation—and likely need a resin printer for detailing. Finally, and perhaps even more importantly, players can never lose their dice again.

While there are many ways a 3D printer can make a difference, if you’re thinking about investing in one for your hobby, think about how often you’ll use it, your skills when you do, and the actual operating costs before you take the plunge. You also need space as 3D printers require a lot of ventilation, so don’t use them in your lounge or bedroom. In most cases, the best place to start is to work with another printer to see if the tech is right for you.