Please share a model link in your comment if it’s relevant.
I printed an ikea pegboard holder for my paper towels. It’s in use every day
Miniature buildings, trees, walls and terrain parts for my Dungeons and Dragons campains.
Sink cover to catch bits. Every time I move to a new place, I print a new one. Just a simple PLA one lasts literal years. I had my last one for close to 4 years of daily pouring down boiling soup and other crap until I poured some 35% vinegar accidentally.
What PLA resists deformation when subjected to boiling water?
Well it doesn’t fall apart and boiling water is only 100C, and it’s not like it’s sitting in the boiling water for long
I’ve printed some basic gridfinity bins (the vase mode ones are super quick and sturdy enough for what I’m doing) and baseplates.
I also custom modeled a hook for my headset that would only work for my specific desk.
First thing I ever printed was a spout to replace the elephant trunk on my Rancilio Rocky coffee grinder. It allows me to use the grinder with basically 0 ground retention so it was a huge improvement and allows me to accurately use the grinder for single doses. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:101392
Another thing I made were some spacers to correct alignment on the freezer door of my French door refrigerator. They’ve been working great for years now and keep the door seal in perfect alignment. I custom made these and they’re unlikely to be useful to anyone else.
I also am very fond of some wire organizers I use for managing USB charging cables so they’re not a jumbled mess. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5340635
The single most useful print is just a simple cylinder to repair a broken knob on a nearly brand new kitchen stove. A new knob cost $35 at the time and had a 2 month lead time from the factory, (it was during the covid lock down).
It took longer to turn on my computer and start up my CAD program than it did to design the repair part for the knob. 30 minutes later, I had the sleeve printed and super glued over the broken part and the knob reinstalled on the stove.
That’s been 7 years ago, the repaired knob is still there and in use daily. And one more knob got the same treatment. It probably took less than 10 cents of PLA and electricity for both repairs.
I printed new treads for my beach cart in TPU.
Drops for drones, drone parts.
Drops? Or props?
If props, do you use a generator that you might be able to share?
With the exception of crap for the kids and cake toppers, everything I print is to solve a problem I/we have.
Here are the gridfinity drawers I designed and printed for under my desk. https://www.printables.com/model/1129785-gridfinity-under-desk-drawer-system
I’m about to start printing triple stacks of these to put better drawers into my IKEA KALLAX shelves than the ones IKEA sells.
New interior door handle for a john deere 450clc excavator. Red pla, so far, has outlasted the original
Most useful was probably this holder for two 1/2in PEX pipes. Printed in ABS, it holds cold and hot pipes in parallel, and uses a #8 screw for attachment. All commercially available holders are for a single pipe, and use nails. Hammering nails in tight spaces (and doing so twice) is not particularly convenient for me, thus, this contraption was born.
Other than that, stuff that is so practical it is easily forgettable: wall mount for a garage door opener, Y splitter for an exhause fan, various covers and containers.
Earbud Charger Charger. Put your earbuds in the charger and put the charger in the charger charger and the charger charger keeps the charger charged.
In other words, an earbud case holder. The earbud case can charge wirelessly so I put a wireless charge coil behind where the case sits. I put a piece of metal on the back of it so it sticks to a magnet mount in my vehicle but I plan to 3D print part of my dash with this built into it.
But what charges the charger charger?
The vehicle. If the case goes dead you simply buy a vehicle, drive around until charged, then you can sell the vehicle or push it off a cliff or whatever
I printed bushings for the augers we have on the bottoms of a couple grain bins. They’ve lasted for about 10 years in ABS, and the old ones were ridiculously expensive to replace even though they were just made of maple. Probably run a couple of million bushels of grain through those augers since I replaced them.
I also replace the impellers in a couple of pumps we use to pump river water up to cattle, and the design I cribbed is probably twice as effective as the originals, making it more efficient for the solar panels we use to power them.
I’ve replaced various implement parts around the farm with other prints, things like parts for our seeder and sprayer.
Some light fixtures using rbgw- including one that has a “secret” party mode. (It’s for my niece and it has a Stary Night, but with unicorns, screen.)
Various shelving, and such.
Probably the most stand out thing, though is a robotic snow sweeper. It’s very bespoke so I won’t be publishing it, but it goes out and clears my driveway whenever it snows. The chassis, wheels and sealed housing were all printed, as well as fairings to reduce snowy build up.
It doesn’t matter how bespoke. You should publish it!
Dude. We are about to sell our home because clearing snow off our long, steep driveway is a massive pain. It has taken years off our lives. We were seriously looking into snow removal robot but inflation and tariffs put that way outside our price range. You might be underestimating a potentially huge market. I would’ve never thought that’s something that could be DIY’d!
Dude, it takes a couple weeks just to map the area that needs to be cleared, and have exactly zero desire to monetize my hobby. figuring in my powerful need to eat, and have a home, if I even were to sell it, it’d be just as expensive as comercial options with far, far less support.
which is also why I’m not releasing the design files on it. I don’t want to deal with the inevitable questions.
Fair enough, life is complicated enough as it is! 🫡 Glad you were able to simplify at least one part of it. I completely understand not monetizing a hobby, as it would suck all the joy out of it.
Most useful as in something I wouldn’t have otherwise is probably some gridfinite thing. SD and usb stick holders maybe.
Most used is probably a plain headphone hook for office. Daily use and storage for years.
Most saved time and money? Jigs and dummy parts at work which have helped avoid more expensive processes and mistakes in more expensive processes.
