financially worth it?

Probably not.

Did it give me brief respites of light against the clawing, ever encroaching abyssal darkness of life and misery?

Yes.

Buying a 3d printer and learning CAD is unlocking a super power. You can put something from your brain into the real world. It’s great for hyper specific parts.

Define “worth it”??

For many, it’s a hobby. For many more, it’s an adjunct to whatever hobby they do have. Hobby’s don’t have to save you money; and I’m militantly opposed to monetizing hobbies as a way to “justify” them.

Personally, I’m mostly 3d printing custom components (that I’ve designed), for R/C aircraft of various sorts. (Like, my cyclogyros, or the flying saucer powered by a 3d printed ducted fan; which is, more or less, a scaled model of the saucer from the OG Day The Earth Stood Still. or the thermal airship using toaster wire that has taken on a lot of different forms, ranging from 20’ star destroyers to whale sharks to a robot named Buoyant Bob that hands out candy on Halloween.)

I also enjoy 3d printing as a hobby, in of itself, too. (and spend waaayyyyy too much tinkering on the printer. its fun.) But it doesn’t have to save me money, and I feel no need to compare it to other forms of hobbies. It’s what I enjoy.

edit: lets put this in perspective. This would be like asking a golfer if they found golf worth it. the only real questions are “Do I enjoy it” and “can I afford it”. not “can it save me a buck”.

Yes, I just finished printing a rudder core for my sailboat.

For all the headache its caused, its also saved me from several trips to the store to find cable ties, chip clips, a hair dryer holder, pencil cups, spice racks, etc.

The trick is to justify buying one for your business, and then using it yourself after hours.

As a business asset, it has paid for itself fivefold in less than a year. As an employee of said business, i have unlimited access to a machine that I could never personally justify the expense of.

Absolutely. If you learn Freecad.

• Radar detector mount
• Furniture pieces
• Pegboard holders
• Custom vent for indoor fireplace

Just a few of the things I’ve designed and made recently.

Two years ago I wanted to build a custom keyboard. The cost 350 and a 3D printer + filament cost 200, the rest about 60-70…

So yes, it was worth it. Also I regularly print stuff now, which is just a net positive at this point.

100%. I’ve printed some cool stuff and some stupid stuff, as well as a bunch of functional parts that have improved my life around my house. More importantly it’s given me a huge creative outlet to get more and more outlandish with my CAD designs and push my experience limits, which is great because that helps me be a lot more efficient at work.

Financially it was a total waste of money but that doesn’t matter when it’s a hobby. A hobby with practical marketable skills, and also the ability to let me prototype some independent ideas I’ve been brewing for a while to maybe sell for some side cash…

I wouldn’t buy a printer to try and be profitable per say, I would buy one for the things you cant/don’t want to buy. If you can use some 3d modeling software, you can begin to solve problems for almost no money.

Stuff like a vape holder and extended cup holder for my partners car, or a couple little shelf brackets for our IKEA cubes, or replacement closet rod supports. It takes a few minutes in CAD, a couple hours or printing, and 15¢ of plastic, and saves a trip to the store. Making custom, exactly how you want stuff is really nice.

Knick nacks are fun too, but ultimately your house will fill with things you don’t particularly want or use.

I think you shouldn’t forget that we’re here at c/3dprinting, where only enthusiasts join together. Of course everyone here is a huge fan of 3D printers, those who got frustrated and sold their device aren’t here anymore.

First of all, I’m very happy about having a printer, but more onto that later.

I had two ones yet, and both sucked.

The first was older, shitty and way too big. I wasted many weekends tinkering with that crap, until I accidentally destroyed it and sold it. My second one is the one I still use. It’s a device from China, and the company doesn’t exist anymore. So, if I want to buy replacement parts, I can just pray generic ones fit. And the customer support has always been shit, and the whole company and products seem very wonky in hindsight.

If I would have to buy another printer, it would definitely be something popular, like a Prusa one. It should be very small, silent and easily repairable. I don’t care anymore about fancy features (maybe except auto leveling), it should just not annoy me.

Having a printer is like having a drill or soldering iron. You don’t need it daily, but you’re glad that you have it when you need it. And my friends are too! I’m printing more for my family, neighbours and friends than for myself.

Having a printer without CAD skills is nonsense. But once you can create your own stuff, you have endless capabilities.

I couldn’t live without one by now.

My first 3d printer was a xmas gift from my partner and its been a blast to tinker with, I have found it useful for printing parts, toys, parts, all sorts of stuff. I purchased a much larger one so I can do larger and faster prints, and while I think the build has been worth it, I would NOT recommend buying the FYSETC kit I did.