Is 3D Printing a Good Hobby To Learn?

Thanks to 3D printers becoming more affordable, 3D printing is becoming an increasingly popular hobby. However, a 3D printer is still a significant investment for most people, which leads many to wonder whether 3D printing as a hobby justifies this expense.  

3D printing is a rewarding hobby to learn because it’s eco-friendly and engages the creative side of your brain, which can help reduce stress. 3D printing is a valuable skill that can save you money and enable you to make fun and unique gifts you can’t find anywhere else.

Are you hoping to learn more about this fun and creative activity? Keep reading to discover all the benefits of taking up 3D printing as a hobby.

3D Printing Is Affordable

Most 3D printers cost less than $200. While this may still seem a bit expensive, it’s a one-time expense, and the printing materials are relatively inexpensive. It is these materials that will make up the majority of your printing costs in the long term. 

These costs are further defrayed because the filament is recyclable, which means you can continually reuse your materials without having to purchase new ones. When you’re done with one project, all you need to do is break the materials down for use in your next creation. This is a great option when you’re getting the hang of 3D printing and need to test various designs before deciding on an option you’d like to keep long-term. 

Even if you purchase new filament every time (which happens if you’re unwilling to destroy the last item you printed for the raw materials), you can find a reasonably priced filament that won’t break the bank. 

One great, affordable option is the TTYT3D 3D PLA Printer Filament from Amazon.com, which comes in 18 different colors and totals 72 millimeters (2.83 in) of filament. You can purchase this filament in various color combinations as well. For example, you could buy an entire roll of red PLA filament, two colors such as silver and gold, or a pack of four colors.  

You Can Make Both Fun and Practical Products

3D printing is a great hobby because you can create wacky pieces that double as fun, practical objects, design pieces for your home, and everything in between. From toys to shoes, household objects, unique phone cases, keychains, or containers, there’s an almost endless variety of what you can make with a 3D printer.  

The beauty of 3D printing is the creative freedom that comes with it. Given the recyclable nature of the filament, if you’re thinking about making an object, but you’re not sure if you can, you try it anyway! 

You’ll be surprised at everything you and your 3D printer can do. People have 3D printed not only game boards, tiny action figures, prototypes, and replica toy models, but also clothes, knitwear, and more. You can make interlocking blocks, toy cars, small-scale cities, toy spinners, helmets, bookmarks, and even food! If you want it, you can probably 3D print it. 

3D Printing Can Ease Stress and Anxiety

Having recreational hobbies that you do just for fun has many health benefits. It’s a well-known fact that engaging your brain in a creative hobby can help reduce anxiety, depression, and overall stress levels. 

Because 3D printing is so creative, you can receive those stress-reducing benefits when you’re working on a print, even if it’s not necessarily what you’d think of as a “creative” project. Creating something with your hands and seeing a project from conception to completion is extremely rewarding and can promote happiness and positivity, even if you’re working from an existing design and are printing a practical object.

3D Printing Can Save You Money

You can make a wide variety of everyday household products with a 3D printer. Instead of purchasing products in stores or waiting for them to be delivered to your house, you can make them at home. 

Having this convenience at your fingertips can save you trips to the store. More than that, it’s generally cheaper to make the products yourself, especially if you have access to relatively inexpensive raw materials. This is especially true for more complex or especially niche items – you’ll likely find that, when printing them yourself, you’re spending a fraction of what it would cost you to buy the same item in the store. 

3D Printing Fosters Creativity

With a 3D printer, you can create new solutions for problems you encounter. If something wears out or breaks around your house, you have the potential to make a replacement product rather than purchasing one from the store. In addition to saving you money, creating your product offers you artistic freedom you wouldn’t have when purchasing a product. 

You can determine the color, size, dimensions, and overall look and quality of your product. You can revamp your creation and add new features to increase its versatility and make it unique. You never know all the possibilities you have within your reach when using a 3D printer. 

Additionally, you can make creative, fun, and individualized gifts using a 3D printer. Making a gift customizable in a store usually makes it more expensive. With a 3D printer, you can easily create personalized gifts for friends, family, and coworkers without paying additional fees. 

There are almost limitless possibilities with what you can make using a 3D printer. You can add someone’s name to a product, use colors they enjoy or create a unique gift that’s unavailable in stores. 

3D Printing Is an Eco-Friendly Hobby

3D printing reduces waste in large-scale manufacturing and helps eliminate waste in small-scale products. Say you’re going to sew a shirt. You’ll have to buy more fabric than you need to make the shirt because you’ll have to make cuts and trims to the garment. When you’re done, you’re left with not only a shirt but several pieces of scrap fabric that go to waste.  

With 3D printing, you only use the exact amount of materials needed for your project. You don’t have to buy any extra wood, plastic, or other materials you’d generally use when hand-making a product. Printing on demand helps eliminate excess waste from production materials.  

Additionally, if you mess up a product or need to start over, you don’t have to throw away your current project or materials. With 3D printing, you can recycle the materials you already used and use them again in your next project. 

This practice further eliminates waste because even if you mess up on a project, you can still reuse those same materials and start over. 3D printing is even more environmentally friendly if you use filament made from biodegradable sources such as coconut, soy, seaweed, and wood fiber.  

Final Thoughts 

3D printing is an excellent hobby because it’s creative, practical, and can help lower stress and anxiety. By practicing 3D printing, you can make unique gifts for family and friends or replace everyday items in your home. You’ll learn a helpful skill while also tapping into your creative side. 

3D printing is also easy on the environment. With recyclable filament, you don’t have to worry about product waste when making your creations. Because the filament is reusable, you’ll also save money on materials, and you can save money by making items yourself instead of buying them in stores.