Why you should get a 3d printer

I got a 3d printer a while ago and it has been a fun "toy".  I print little toys and things, and my son has been messing with it some.  BUT today it paid for itself.  

I have a RICOH printer in my office. For the last couple of years (possibly five years or more), the drawers that hold the paper have had a broken piece, according to Ricoh, which is no longer available (NLA). As it is part of the drawer frame, purchasing a whole new drawer is not an option either, as those are also NLA. If you can find them, they are $500-$ 1,000, especially if the plastic piece is not broken, and it is a matter of when it will break, not if.

So, on a whim, I went over to Thingiverse and entered the printer model, and there it was: the little plate that replaces the tab broken off, which you can print, glue, or screw onto the drawer frame, making it as good as new. 

So I look at it as the 3d printer has now paid for itself by just printing these two small pieces (one for each paper tray. It has saved me from having to either find and purchase new drawers or, worse, get a whole new printer.  

Here is the image from the listing on Thingiverse of the piece.  So simple, but it solved a big problem for owners of these RICOH printers. 

 So a win for me today and justification for my purchase of the 3d printer!!!   
 

Edit:

The actual parts I printed  one installed and the other one for the 2nd drawer  

The fear of dealing with something I know nothing about and will get frustrated with, keeps me from buying one.

In reply to Noddaz :

I was like you. It was why I went with the Bambu. It really is simple to set up and there is so much stuff out there for free for you to try printing. Knowing CAD is obviously a bonus that lets you design your own things.

I bought my first printer 10 years ago (chronicled somewhere on GRM). It paid for itself (well, 80%) with the first print. I do print some toys and stuff, but I like it for useful things. I printed some stuff for my daughters wedding 3 weeks ago, and my son's grad party next weekend.

I'm fairly new to the game but have found the best way for me to learn something is to own it so I feel kinda obligated. What I didn't know was just how grassroots and DIY oriented much of it is, and how generous many folks are with their designs. 

And yes, I've crashed it a few times but the fixes are cheap compared to crashing CNC router, where I sent an $80 cutter to it's death right out of the chute.

Also, 3D printing feels like some sort of Star Trek magic. 

It seems like Star Trek magic until you examine it and it's basically an inkjet printer with a hot glue gun attached to the head that can also go up and down.

In reply to red_stapler :

It is that simplicity that makes it so cool. 

I've wanted to get one for a while, but I can't really think of anything I'd use it for other than messing around.

In reply to dean1484 :

To anyone looking to buy. Look into Bambulabs before you buy. They are an incredibly dishonest, predatory company. Had I been looking for a printer 2 months later than I did, I would not have purchased from them.

In short they changed the terms of use after the sale, limiting what features are available, forced an update that put your home network in their hands, lied directly, tried to scrub the internet of the evidence of what they had done (didn't work, nerds found the old web pages) and gaslit their customer base after they got busted. 
There are other companies out there that put out a product that's arguably as good, same or less money, and don't have the history BL does. 

I've been wanting one for years. I fix a LOT of stuff around the house. I tossed NERF gun the other day that just needed a replacement plastic spindle, but it was too cumbersome to repair. I was eyeing an Ender 3 years ago but didn't buy one due to having access to a friend's printer. Friend moved, so now I have an excuse I guess.

The only drawback I have now is where would it live. I have a detached garage but it would need an enclosure to keep dust/dirt off it. No room in the house.

I'm starting to think a 3D printer is more of an investment in self-reliance than just a toy, especially if certain replacement parts become scarce. No I can't print a strut tower, but an interior piece or household appliance part is within reality.

In reply to red_stapler :

Yeah, like I said. Magic.

Totally. I bought a camera a little while back that was missing the eye piece–the little rubber or plastic ring that surrounds the viewfinder.

So, go without it, right?

Well, that eye piece covered a sharp metal ring. I saw it scratching up my glasses. 

An OE eye piece, when I could find a 50-year-old piece of rubber/plastic, fetched pretty good money.

Then I found someone 3D printing replacements. I forget the exact cost, but it was like $4 for the plans or two printed ones for like $9.

I can now use that camera. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

This is exactly where I said printing would go 10 years ago. 
it's just such an amazing technology. 

I still have my Ender 3 but haven't printed anything in at least 1-2 years.  I don't need more knick knacks to sit on a shelf, kinda small to do most things I dream about.  My Star Wars have various models, one that intrigues me is fairly large, and has 4 spools all connected at once, and will change to the color needed at the time.

But I'm trying not spend big $$ for another hobby I might get bored with.  Having more fun with the vinyl cutter.

DrBoost said:

In reply to David S. Wallens :

This is exactly where I said printing would go 10 years ago. 
it's just such an amazing technology. 

Oh, totally. When we first started hearing about 3D printers, a friend in Asia used one to recreate a NLA clip on a Toyota. It seemed so futuristic. And today, here we are. 

Noddaz said:

The fear of dealing with something I know nothing about and will get frustrated with, keeps me from buying one.

This is a real risk.  

If you buy a low end printer, it requires a lot more care and feeding.  If you don't have the patience and expertise, you will get frustrated.

In conclusion, don't buy an Ender.

I picked up a Raise3D E2 a little bit ago and have made some pretty good stuff

-Insert for a Pelican case to hold my grill thermometer/fan set

-Little case for earplugs

-Battery holders for M12 and M18 batteries

-Visor mount to hold the controller for my BantamX in my big dumb van so I dont need suction cups

-Couple of yeet cannons.  

-Some little plastic cats for my wife, and a little dumpster fire

Its pretty neat.

I have a Ender-3 that I am just starting to learn how to use. I have already printed a mount to hold up a security camera dongle and I am seeing a ton of stuff around the house that I can make suff for on it.  

Have you guys found any source particularly for automotive parts? I just blew through a lot of time tying to figure out how to not spend $150 on an unnecessary rear view mirror when all I need is the plastic surround for mine (SO I CAN SELL THE POS CAR)

I didn't find anything on thingverse but dean I swear it felt like an epiphany when I saw this thread. I got my printer two years ago and I've printed a cup holder fix for my Z4 annnnnnnd that's all.

I've owned multiple printers, including a ender3. ender3 was probably my least favorite, but all spent more time troubleshooting and fixing than printing. coreXY has completely changed the game. The speed and accuracy is absolutely incredible. if you're used using a ender3, a Bambu will blow your mind. 
 

for the average user, I think the Bambu hate is blown out of proportion. I use Bambu studio, I have no desire to tinker with anything else. They are restrictive on anything out of their programs, but if that's the trade off for a machine I never have to touch, I'll take it. I know creality has a xoreXY machine now, but after my last experience with a creality product I wouldn't touch it.  

In reply to lnlogauge :

The bambu hate has nothing to do with any restrictions on things outside of studio. It's about dishonesty, straight out lies, predatory practices (where you, the customer are the prey), changing terms of use AFTER you have agreed that gives them the right to access ANYTHING on your network, to retrieve and store that info, and sell it on, and a proven attempt to scrub the internet of evidence of their actions. 
No, the slicer is the least of our worries

In reply to DrBoost :

I haven't heard anything on giving them the right to everything on your network, and I can't find anything to support that. Source? 

I have had a Creality bed slinger of some type for about 5 years, until I recently picked up their "Bambu+" K2 Plus last spring.  It's a CoreXY enclosed machine with a long nozzle (and heater, for faster extrusion) and filament switcher.

It's really been a game changer in terms of speed and accuracy.

I've been dinking around with Gridfinity stuff in an effort to forestall entropy on my workbench a bit, so I made a parametric socket organizer.

Using the parameters (orientation, bin name, socket names, socket height, socket width), I generated each of the trays in this drawer:

You can use it if you like, I put it up here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6995690

I'm a crusty-ass C programmer in real life, so I use a CAD program called OpenSCAD, which indulges my inner and outer crusty C programmer.