3D printing has never been more accessible. You no longer need to be an enthusiast with the patience of a saint, modern printers take care of bed leveling and calibration for you, and even have smartphone apps for control and monitoring.

If you’re interested, you should definitely buy one. Just don’t buy one thinking that every 3D print is going to pay for itself.

3D printing isn’t always the cheaper option

When you first get a printer, you enter a honeymoon period where you want to 3D print anything and everything. This will likely include many items that are cheaper to buy outright. Economies of scale mean that it’s still often cheaper to buy injection-molded parts than it is to print your own.

Case in point: most 3D printers themselves use injection-molded plastic parts, with Prusa being the exception to this rule. The company produces many of its parts using its in-house fleet of printers, which also happen to be on the pricier side compared to the competition.

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

Justifying a printer purchase on the basis that you can print everything for far less than it will cost you will leave you disappointed. It’s definitely true in many cases, and I’ve experienced it firsthand. I printed a camera lens filter step-down adapter for about 6 cents, something that would have cost me $10 to buy.

Larger items naturally require more filament, a cost that can be measured using the object’s overall weight and whether or not the print is multicolor. For larger, relatively simple shapes, timber will often be the cheaper option (especially considering how durable and load-bearing it is). Some smaller items aren’t worth printing, given how cheap they are to buy.

A classic example is a wall plug. These have minimal filament cost associated with them, but they’re still probably going to cost you more to print at scale (not to mention the time involved) compared to buying a pack of 100 at the store.

Convenience at a price

The obvious trade-off to owning a portable fabrication device is convenience. While a cheap injection-molded piece of plastic doesn’t cost much, tracking it down and waiting for it to arrive in the mail has a cost associated with it, too. 3D printing gives you the ability to find a model or knock something up yourself, which can be the difference between making progress on a project or stalling.

Being able to fix things for which you can no longer find spare parts is, for many, one of the most alluring aspects of 3D printing. Thanks to the massive number of downloadable models on the internet, your chances of success have never been better. Even if you can’t find the exact part, you may be able to modify or adjust existing offerings to fit.

Then there’s the immediacy that 3D printing offers. Take the humble wall plug example we gave earlier. If you only need a few, and you’d rather get the job finished right now, 3D printing is a solid option. If you only need a few oversized plugs and have no need for a pack of 100, you can print exactly what you need instead.

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

Other times, the “cost” doesn’t come from the price of materials but print quality, overall finish, and long-term durability. Layer lines don’t exist on injection-molded parts, but they’re an inescapable trait of FDM printers. It could be cheaper to print your own phone case rather than buy one, but for an item you pick up 20 times a day, you might appreciate the fit and finish that mass-production affords.

The same can be said of durability. These same layer lines present a point of weakness for many models, and the more durable the filament type, the more you’ll pay. PLA basic may be $20/kg, but more outdoor-resistant materials quickly rise in price (like ASA at around $30/kg).

You can’t put a price on everything

Thankfully, 3D printing doesn’t need to make financial sense. There are plenty of reasons to keep printing, and you shouldn’t be put off by the questionable value for money argument.

Yes, a printer will cost you at least a few hundred dollars, and you should probably consider the ongoing filament costs before you fall down the rabbit hole, but there are many compelling reasons to jump in regardless.

3D printing opens a world of possibilities

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

Convenience at a cost is still convenience. Being able to download or quickly create a digital model and then turn it into a physical object is magical. Modern printers take the guesswork out of leveling the print bed and other calibrations; you’ll just need to learn to perform basic maintenance and keep the filament coming.

With a 3D printer, you can enhance your existing hobbies, whether that’s photography, woodworking, building a smart home, or creating your own homelab. You can even lean into new ones like LEGO.

You can use your 3D printer to learn new skills

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

Beyond learning how to use and care for your printer, learning to design your own objects can be a very rewarding experience. Start slow with simple software like TinkerCAD, buy a few basic tools to help you, like a digital caliper, and start making simple repairs around the house.

Having a printer also opens up more possibilities in terms of hobbies. You can, for example, build projects that are dependent on single-board computers like the ESP32 or Raspberry Pi. Many of these will encourage you to learn skills like soldering, painting, and improving the finish of items, and discover new software.

Owning a 3D printer is genuinely fun

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

You don’t need a value proposition if you’re having fun. Spending money on a hobby you enjoy is a good thing, provided you can afford it. For many, 3D printing becomes a hobby. Sure, you need a reason to print items in the first place, but if you’re deriving enjoyment from printer ownership itself, then you’re basically double-dipping.

• 

  Build Volume

  180x180x180

  Printing Speed

  500mm/s

  The Bambu Lab A1 mini 3D printer is ready to go out of the box and can have you printing within 30 minutes. Offering full-auto calibration, this compact 3D printer features a 180mm build volume and is compatible with the AMS Lite for multi-color printing. It also features built-in vibration and flow-rate calibration, which are typically features only found on more premium printers.

  
  

• 

  Build Volume

  256x256x256mm

  Printing Speed

  600mm/s

  The Bambu Labs P2S 3D printer is ready to go out of the box and can have you printing within 15 minutes. It features up to 20-color printing with the AMS unit, has an upgraded built-in camera for remote monitoring and time lapses, and has an enclosed body for printing even high-temperature filament.

  
  

With printers being more affordable than ever, there’s little reason not to go for it if you think it’s something you’d enjoy. If you’re new to 3D printing and are considering a printer, don’t buy a “cheap” second-hand printer until you’ve read this.