A little over 10 years ago, I got into Reprap because I was intrigued with possibility of a machine that could print most of its own components. A self-replicating factory still sounds like a cool idea.

I was intrigued with the possibility of being able to replace any random component in my car or some other context where replacement plastic parts would be the same quality, but cost an order of magnitude more.

I have grown to enjoy 3D modeling, and now have a fair bit of experience with openscad. I am learning Blender very slowly.

Mend Before You Spend

I think the heart of the issue is that I got into raprap/3D printing because I wanted to create stuff and avoid buying replacement parts.

I have greatly enjoyed the fact that more and more people have access to rapid prototyping technology.

I say this to clarify that I don’t wanna sound like some sort of snob like as though 3D printing is no longer cool just because other people have gotten into it.

The Bone of Contention

My issue is when this hobby is combined with the hustle mindset; it just becomes instantly disgusting to me.

Well, imagine my nausea given that a troubling number of people have lost the plot so thoroughly that instead of using the marvelous machine to spare them occasional inconveniences of replacing an expensive part by replicating it, they run these things ragged.

Where I see a replicator, some folks see a factory.

So to me it seems beyond baroque that they use the fabulously flexible machine that can make nearly anything set to (1) try to mass produce with this rapid prototyping process and (2) chug out models that are freely available on thingiverse or printables.

My issue is with the people that think to themselves that if they 3D print a bunch of things, then they can sell them for a profit. And of course they go in wanting to make a large profit; the machine becomes an investment in making more stuff, rather than a hedge against expensive repairs and an outlet for 3D art.

Often, these “entrepeneurs” make huge stocks of unwanted stuff, assuming they can make huge profits. And then these veritable landfills that consider themselves a “shop” will lay out duplicates of the same plastic items in a slightly different filament from the tables across, and besides them, on their own table.

The gradual creeping presence of these cheap, sub-Temu quality toys made from popular free models in every nook and cranny where stuff is sold is annoying and irritating. These items seem bound for the trash. I worry people will come to think of 3D printers as trash-making machines.

My take

My draw to Repraps probably seems pessimistic, idealistic, and backwards to the folks that print piles of stuff to sell at markets and conventions. The jargon is now 3D printer; Reprap is the forgotten ancestor project before cheap, vitamin-heavy kits came to popularity.

I do not hate on the vitamin-heavy kits. Here, “vitamin” is from the classic Reprap jargon: it refers to parts in a printer that cannot be manufactured by the printer, or manufactured by the user generally. If a vitamin-part breaks, the loss is significant.

I really do believe in the power of automation to make life easier, and to make things that you can use to fix or build other things which you use all the time. I do not want to depend on a company (which may not exist anymore) to make products that I must buy. I would rather just make my own item as-needed and only use a little material instead of depending on a company and a delicate global supply chain.

So some things I tell myself:

• Use it to make your own ideas. Design and then make your ideas into objects.

• Print silly things or toys. What’s the point if you can never have fun? Give these things away because they are trivial to make. Try designing your own fun things!

• Use it to solve problems. If something breaks in half, put the pieces together and take a crack at designing a simple replacement. Spare yourself the trouble of finding replacement parts as often as feasible. Try to never buy a replacement plastic part again.

• Print infrequently, scale to demand/need. Don’t backstock parts unless they’re known consumables or spare parts for a repair.

• Use it to bootstrap a kit for someone else.

• Be mindful of fume mitigation, waste material minimization, and using an enclosure to simplify temp control.

• Have fun!

Aspriational:

• Keep it FREE, private and yours. If the government can get companies to have spyware on your printer “for your safety,” then rent-seekers will eventually scan for other forbidden forms of their choosing. Perhaps in a future where printer spyware is commonplace, a company won’t allow you to print replacement parts for your own printer. Resist this. Refuse to pay rent to use your own machine. Think that will never happen? Just look at 2D printer toner “innovations.” Prevent this eviction of your user dignity by not letting them be able to control your machine through unfree firmware.