What are the flavors of 3D printing?
Who can I turn to on YouTube when I want to learn more?
What 3D printers do you “currently” recommend?
What filaments do you recommend?
How do I obtain 3D-printed devices if I don’t have a 3D printer?
What if you’re not ready to commit to purchasing a 3D printer? How can you get access to 3D-printed AT without a 3D Printer?
The school district’s STEM teacher(s)
If you’re employed in a school district, or even just a member of a school district, many districts offer STEM and STEAM programs. Those middle school and high school classes often have 3D printers that are sitting mostly idle. You can give those teachers and students a reason to dust off those printers and computer-aided design (CAD) software to produce devices that will change people’s lives.
Online Printing Services
There are several online companies who will print your design. Thingiverse provides easy submission of designs to 3 different services.
I sent my keyguard design to all three to find out what they would charge. The prices vary somewhat but, on average, represent a 2/3 savings over purchasing the same keyguard from a commercial provider like Keyguard AT.
Your Local Library
You may have a local library with a 3D printing service. The Loveland Public Library is a few miles from me, and they’ll charge you just 10 cents per gram to print a design that you email to them. My slicer program told me that my TouchChat keyguard requires 40 grams of filament.
That’s a total of $4.00 for a keyguard and I didn’t have to purchase or maintain the printer nor did I have to purchase and store the filament.
3D-Printing Facebook Groups
This “eye chart” is a listing of Facebook Groups that focus on 3D printing in general, the Prusa line of printers, and the Artillery line of printers.
A majority of the people in these groups are excited about 3D printing as a technology and love their 3D printer – but they’re tired of printing Yoda heads and Baby Groots. Their shelves are full of decorative items and they’re wondering if that’s all there is to this technology.
If you post to a few of these groups and describe your need, I guarantee you’ll hear from someone who is dying to finally use their printer to create something of real value. You may need to reimburse them for the filament and postage but, then again, you may not.
Join a Parent’s Group and Pool Resources
Are you a member of a parent’s group? Could the members of the group pool their resources and purchase a printer and filament?
I suspect that every parent’s group harbors a father (or mother) who’d love to do the research, purchase and house the printer and become an expert in its use.
Where should I look for things to print?
How can I start designing my own 3D objects?