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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → XYZ Printing DaVinci → What do you make ?
Well i have had my printer for a month now and have fixed a few items around the house with printed parts i could not get else where .. This has been super fun and so handy but now i find myself at a point of what do i do now ?
Apart from making the phone cover and other random trinkets what do you people use your printer for ?
I mostly make models for my nephew and niece, figures, star wars vehicles etc, but recently I started to venture into 3D scanning with a view to printing stuff I scan.
It's proving quite difficult to get good results on a budget though.
mostly stuff for gamming/ terrain bits. but I have made parts for friends like a lego darth. holiday decorations. made some replacement darts for a starwars toy
I use mine often to make little models to stick around the house. Impresses all my visitors. 
And my printer saves me for that last minute birthday present.
But the main reason I wanted it was for prototyping, like making cases and enclosures for my circuits and components. Works well for a few projects I have worked on. 
I make small figureines and toys for the family. Ive done a few small prototype jobs for my work. And I like to print the cool stuff I find online like at thingiverse
now i find myself at a point of what do i do now ?
I seem to have way more Ideas and dreams than time. I know I could print more as I can run the printer and do other things.
What I have printed is mostly trinkets for family. I have printed a few holders for my quick change tool holder for the machining hobby. I have been building model steam engines for years I started prints on a couple of those.
The sky is literally the limit as far as what you print. Folks have developed and printed RC cars and RC quadcopters.
You can also print musical instruments. http://www.hovalin.com/make/ Thiniverse and Youmagine are filled with ideas.
Tin
You all sound busy on your machine which is cool .. I will check out those sites you mentioned Tin
Just last night i was repairing some of my old machines and the printer came in handy again
I think that is what i love about printing is to make those parts that are just not available ... I can see these printers being a mandatory tool in every kind workshop in the next decade ..Such exciting times
Exciting times indeed !! People talk about the industrial revolution but IMHO there are many of these. The 3d printing bloom is just one of those. I can remember when PCs/Desktop computers were first on the market . A tool for small business and a toy for the hobbyist. And now a common household item and many homes with several. A window into the outside world and tool to do business and communicate. Laptops are now not a whole lot more money than comparable desktop units.
3D printers ave the potential for helping bring us away from so many disposable products. Mass production has led us to many plastic parts in many applications. Injection molding is cheap. However keeping an inventory of spare parts for everything that was ever made is expensive. And the mark up of individual small parts is high. So the ability to store files in a public place like thingiverse and print on demand is a great thing.
I have had a lathe for years and it has saved me $$ as I can make things.
Tin
3D printers have the potential for helping bring us away from so many disposable products. Mass production has led us to many plastic parts in many applications. Injection molding is cheap. However keeping an inventory of spare parts for everything that was ever made is expensive.
Tin
Hear hear! 
Yes, 3D printing will definitely bring awareness to disposables. Another thing that it does is show us how much work actually goes into manufacturing a product. It may be cheap when it's in production, but when you are prototyping or testing, it may be costly. That's one of the many ways 3D printing helps.
It may be cheap when it's in production, but when you are prototyping or testing, it may be costly. That's one of the many ways 3D printing helps.
I worked in Research development for a boat yard. I was mostly a pattern maker. Or the term in the boat industry Plug builder. The process of developing a new model yacht from scratch was definitely labor intensive and expensive.
A pattern had to be made to make the tool or mold then the first part could be made.
When I left the trade CNC was beginning to take over a lot of the work . Imagine a 5 axis gantry router big enough to carve a rough pattern for a 45 ft Yacht. No I never saw it as the work was farmed out.
Soooo to be able to make a part without tooling fixtures and jigs. Saves lot of time and money . 3D printing allows you to make several version or modifications of the part before committing to production tooling.
Tin
I make HO and N scale wagons and locomotive shells, religious items for the church and female statues that my church probably would frown upon.
This is a fun thread!
Personally:
*Home use
*Work (Day job)
*Musical instrument customization
*Phone mounts
But it seems I mainly use mine for making printer parts for other users!
Upgrade the printers them selfes.
Parts for my dad if he fixes something.
Hooks, hangers, mounts.
Prototypeing stuff.
Printing out funny things from Thingiverse...
HO train stuff wicked idea ! ... I could imagin that would keep you busy as there would be so much that could be done
Very curious about this --- *Musical instrument customization ?
I am a HUGE maker, and print things for projects, like right now I am building a CNC. You can make endless things, if you need ideas go check Thingiverse!
I'm an avid boardgamer, so I mostly use mine for custom game parts....so far.
I am also an engineer, and I can see the potential for prototyping, as well as useful tools like adapters for my camera -> telescope and things like that. I'm still learning the little tricks to get a good model, so I haven't really delved into much yet. Barely scratching the surface....
I use Solidworks for my modelling.
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → XYZ Printing DaVinci → What do you make ?
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