---
title: "3D Printing: is it Worthwhile?"
date: 2023-11-16
author: Matt
url: https://www.mattwarren.co/2023/11/3d-printing-is-it-worthwhile/
---

# 3D Printing: is it Worthwhile?

I got my hands on my first 3D printer back in 2018. My goal was to use it to enable a couple projects that I had in mind but which I had hit a wall and unable to build them with the tools I had. The 3D printer was supposed to unlock a world of making things that don’t exist, and bringing ideas to life.

Over the last 3 years, I have printed a lot of things. The 3D printer gets more use than the paper printer in my house. That’s a great accomplishment.

some of the 3D prints have stood the test of time:

- custom printed house numbers
- A decrative doorbell cover
- SD card storage box
- soap tray
- storage organizing bins
- various wire management clips
- decrative moon light (test with lithophane)
- mounts for Alexa and Google devices
- special organizing hooks and trays

Lots of other projects were fun to build, and educational:

- RC boat
- mini geodesic dome
- glider model

Many of these projects just would not have happened without a printer in the house.

Keeping it in mind is an important step to get the most out of tools like a 3D printer. I follow several social media accounts and Youtube channels that focus on [3D printing](https://www.mattwarren.co/2018/12/3d-printing/) and it helps spark projects. If the ideas aren’t coming at you, it’s very difficult to see problems in real life and imagine how a 3D printer will solve that for you.