I would consider myself a fairly early-adopter of 3D printing. In high-school, I went to a vocational school (BTW – best goddamn decision I ever made. ZERO regrets) for computer assisted drafting (CAD). The first time I was introduced to one was in 2005 was in that classroom, where someone set up a Dimension 3D printer, showing off the capabilities as the future of CAD. Even then, I was mesmerized by the promise – I could use my skills to literally make parts directly from my 3D models? Imagine the possibilities!

In-fact, I was so mesmerized by these machines, that I still remember that the base model cost $16,000 ($25,000 in today’s money) and I was convinced that I’d need to know that so I could pitch getting one of these sweet ass machines inside of whatever office I worked in for prototyping and…just making cool stuff.

I was really into CAD at the time. Like…REALLY into it. I had memorized every command in AutoCAD from the command line, was absolutely FLYING through my assignments, and was way ahead of my class. I literally *ahem* procured an AutoCAD license for my home computer just so I could go home and mess with it more. I. Freaking. Loved. CAD.

So much so, that the first decade of my adult life was around a career in mechanical engineering, almost entirely because I just loved practical 3D modeling. I loved the engineering process, and really enjoyed creating things. I worked mostly in lighter duty things – sheet metal, vacuum forming, and if the quantity justified it – injection molding.

My point is that I really love 3D modeling and at least in the realm of parametric and practical 3D models, I’m pretty damn good at it. I was the person people in the office called if they weren’t sure how to draw something. I was the person teaching the teacher how I approached different things. (I’m NOT however a Blender user, or something like that. Those people are insanely talented. I stick to flat surfaces and lofts).

Even before I became a programmer, I still tried to do a stint as a freelance mechanical engineer so I could work from home. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped. Pre-COVID was so much more difficult to get remote work. Sometimes I wonder how my engineering career would have done if I started freelancing during COVID, but that’s a branch I’ll never know.

Anyway, fast-forward a few years and I’m well into my mechanical engineering career. I was also into Photoshop, and eventually GIMP because it was free, and somehow the CAD passion transformed into a full-fledged open-source computer passion, which is how I ended up becoming a programmer who just in-general loves FOSS, and thinks GPL is supercool.

So, imagine how freaking PUMPED I was when the Prusa Mendel was published through RepRap. This is a free, open-source, 3D printer where most of the parts are 3D printed. Yep. It’s a 3D printer that uses 3D printed parts, and the initial goal at the time was to try to make a self-replicating printer. FREAKING RECURSIVE, OPEN-SOURCE, ENGINEERED 3D PRINTER. How could I possibly resist building one of these things?!

And so I did! and in hindsight, it was A LOT Of work, but once you got it all set, it was pretty reliable, but like any open-source offering, it’s not exactly for the feint of heart. There were several mods, such as a heated bed, and printer spool, not to mention dealing with the software to generate the g-code – it was definitely a far cry from the Dimension 3D printer I saw, but I didn’t really care – I was just excited to be literally printing stuff I 3D modeled.

The torture here is that I ended up shifting my careers just a few weeks after setting up that printer and getting a few prints in. In-other words, I literally went through the painstaking process of procuring the parts, assembling, calibrating, and getting a successful print of a Prusa Mendel, only to turn around and leave it behind at the company I worked for because they paid for it. I didn’t even get to the good part!

Based on my experience, I definitely wouldn’t have considered 3D printing accessible at the time, but it was juuuuuust starting to get there. I bought the entire kit and assembled that printer for about 500 bucks (about $650 in today USD) and you couldn’t go a whole lot cheaper than that. Even if you could, the commercial, ready-made printers were usually north of $2,000 ($2500 today).

Regardless, neither of those options are really affordable without some significant planning – and a lot of the $2000 printers didn’t even have some of the “advanced” things that makes 3D printing a lot more reliable, such as a heated bed. At the time there was literally a popular printer that just relied on you laying down glue and that’s it – and it printed ABS, which would cool on the unheated bed, and warp like crazy, even if you glued it down.

Tack on the fact that you had to have CAD software to actually make something print-worthy. In my case, I wanted to print practical things, not Yoda heads, and Blender just isn’t great at that. I wanted to use something like SolidWorks, which the license cost like $6k a year(!). There were open-source alternatives, but I really could not get into them.

Anyway, the point is, back in 2013, 3D printing was difficult to do really well, and was expensive, even if you went with the open source approach.

So anyway, back to the RepRap. I left that company, and switched to programming shortly afterward, and basically never had an opportunity to 3D print anything, but was constantly keeping a side-eye on how 3D printers were growing.

Fast-forward to 2024, we’re moving back into a house after traveling in a camper for 4 years, and literally the first thing I decided was “I’m getting a 3D printer”. Because at this point you can get an entry model for like $180 bucks.

And “entry level” is not doing this thing justice. I bought this one used, and all I had to do was re-level the thing, and it just works. Comes with a heated bed, a spool holder, a respectable build plate, and a nice little onboard computer to do actions on the printer easy as can be. If I had access to one of these things in 2005, I would have been drooling. Also – the best thing about buying one used is that you don’t have to put the damn thing together, which I hear is a bit of a process, but isn’t one I had to endure. I had my fill with the Prusa 😁.

Also, Thingiverse has grown to the point to where you can almost always find that someone has already 3D modeled something you need, even if you don’t have CAD skills. I’ve actually only printed two things so-far that I designed myself, and that’s only because I couldn’t find something that someone else already modeled up well-enough for my needs.

Another thing that’s crazy is the advent of web-based CAD. These days, you can use OnShape or Fusion 360 for freaking free as long as you’re okay with your models being public. Which, if you’re a maker, you probably don’t care if someone else can snag your super cool design of a *checks notes* 3D printable laptop mount for your son’s laptop. or maybe even a custom GoPro mount for a delta kite.

And that doesn’t even touch on the other things, like the VAST array of different materials you can print now. For example, people are printing shoes because there’s a rubber-like filament called TPU now. I just bought what’s basically nylon so I can model up, and print some hard-to-find replacement feet for my mother in law’s outdoor furniture. And that’s just the beginning.

I’m just excited. 3D printing fulfilled it’s promise to me as the future of engineering and design. It took a while for it to get good, but it really feels like the industry has matured, the products are accessible, and 3D printing is seriously something that most moderately tech-savvy people can handle.

Now, I have to go check on the headphone mounts and cable management clips I’m printing. Later!