Anything is possible!
Story time:
I share a home with “The Super Geek”. Old school geeky, he loves board games, plays Dungeons and Dragons, still has his full collection of Magic cards and can sing Pokémon theme song…(And often does, just for fun!)
Super geek goes shopping…
So, when aforementioned Super Geek bought himself a 3D printer, I thought it was a gimmick.
Just a silly bit of Nerd tech, for printing little fiddly things to share on your Geek forums. I did not see it as a game changer in my daily life.
The distressed robot
It was simply a machine chilling in the super geek’s study making distressed robotic buzzing noises as it spewed cube after cube of test prints as part of its never ending set up process.
For a while it stayed that way…until I stumbled upon the idea of 3D printed objets d’arts.
Crafty and personalised 3D printed bric-a-brac is my new favourite décor trend!
If you hop online, you’ll see that this trend already has a huge following and due to the fantastically versatile and open-ended nature of 3D printing, the possibilities are infinite!
Whether you choose adorable little 3D printed planters, a translucent mushroom night light, a sparkling white toothy tooth-brush holder or an octopus candelabra…the choices are limitless.
DIY or Get a Guy?
3D printing is easy, but not straightforward. And initial startup costs can be high…
For about less than R10k you can get a very good printer. According to the in-house super geek: “Don’t waste your time and money on any subpar printers. You’ll just frustrate yourself.”
But where do I get the software and designs and what does it cost?
Online, and nothing. Yes. The designs are downloadable and completely free!
The open-source community, where you will find the software designs for each print, are wonderful humans. These people take the time to create intricate and unique designs for anything under the sun, and then make it available…for free.
Online.
For anyone.
A truly online community
This community is also so well connected on blogs and YouTube that you’ll be able to sort out any niggles with just a click or two.
To speak to a real human, give any of these places a call: Most printing Super geeks looooooooooove talking about anything printing related!
For further inspiration, look at these ideas:
Get your print on!
