At this point, 3D printers are basically magic wands for adults. You feed them some plastic and a dream, and out comes a miniature castle, a custom gadget, or some weird little creature that now lives on your desk.
This list is full of jaw-dropping, clever, and occasionally totally unnecessary things people have brought to life with a 3D printer. We’re talking practical problem-solvers and art you didn’t know you needed. These 3D printing creations are wild.
Just don’t blame us if you start pricing out your own printer by the end.
1. “This Kid Answered A Request From Local Hospitals To Create Ear Guards, To Help Take The Pressure Off Healthcare Worker’s Ears From Wearing Masks All Day. He Also Made The 3D Printing Patterns Available To Everyone”
2. “Last Weekend We Began Delivering 3D Printed Bionic Hands To Ukraine! First Up, A 24 Year Old Soldier”
3. “Printed A 4-Foot T-Rex And Buried It In My Yard For My Nieces To Discover And Excavate”
4. “This Eagle Was Shot In The Face And Got 3D Printed Beak Which Made Him More Badass”
5. “Wife And I (Mostly Her) Added Hearing Aids To Our Niece’s Gift. They Match Hers”
6. “Ugh… Another Bird Feeder… But This One Is For The Common Good!”
7. “I Had To 3D Print This Just In Case!!”
8. “I Designed A 3D Printed Mirror Array To Propose! The Mirrors Are Angled So That Just Before Sunset, They Reflect The Sunlight To Spell ‘Marry Me?’”
9. “My Wife Got A New Job As A School Bus Driver. Her First Day Of Training She Only Hit One Cone. I Was So Proud Of Her I Had To Make Her Something To Remember The Day”
10. “A Moon Staff That I Made For My Renaissance Faire Costume This Year. Turns On By Hitting The Base Of The Staff On The Ground”
11. “I 3D Printed Matching Helmets For Myself And My Nub. ‘Don’t Talk To Me Or My Son Ever Again.’”
12. “Kirby Fume Extractor”
13. “Someone Kept Drinking My Milk From The Office Fridge, So I’ve Made A Lock For The Milk Bottle”
14. “A Walk Around Of The 1:1 T-Rex Print. Started Printing The Ribs Today”
15. “Began Making Bootleg Collectibles With My Mars 3”
16. “My Wife Keeps Asking For Help In The Kitchen, Apparently This Doesn’t Count”
17. “Finished My Iron Man Lamp”
18. “Dragon Finally Done! She’s Not Perfect, But After Some Surgery, She’s Beautiful. Almost 5 Feet Long!”
19. “Ultimate Tic Tac Toe”
20. “A Friend Of Mine Recently Lost A Lot Of Weight. So I Made This Figure To Celebrate That!”
21. “Ran Out Of Filament Overnight But The Print Was Too Pretty To Waste So I Found A Hat On Thingiverse And Made A Spooky Squirtle Instead!”
22. “I 3D Printed A Completely Pointless New Lid For My Sharpie, Based On A Medieval Mace In The Royal Armouries Collection”
23. “Yes! Finally Dialed In Wood Filament On My Printer!”
24. “I Made A Reusable Grocery Shopping List”
25. “I Printed Eyes For My VR Headset”
26. “My Latest Dual-Pattern Mechanical Dice Box”
27. “Made The Rocketeer Helmet And Pack Myself”
28. “Tired Of Having Your Charging Cable Stolen? Try Security By Obfuscation”
29. “Checkout My Carina Nebula Version Of My Jwst Night Light!”
30. “I Designed Drawer/Cabinet Knobs In The Shape Of Rock Wall Climbing Holds”
31. “I’m Happy With How My Chess Board Came Out”
32. “Over 3500 Print Hours, To Hold 100 Raspberry Pi Cameras. For A Custom 3D Scanning Rig”
33. “Now With Random Eye Movement. Powered By A Arduino. Any Suggestions?”
34. “I Love 3D Printing!”
35. “Business Card Embosser. I Know That I Am Not The First With This Idea But I Managed To Design It From Scratch With Only Two Prototypes And Am Quite Happy With The Result”
36. “I Pranked My Family By Secretly Upgrading My Submarine Into A U-Boat!”
37. “4 Days Later”
38. “I Designed And Printed A Working Desktop-Sized Model Of An Escalator”
39. “I Had A Stupid Idea That I Think Is Hilarious. Meet Licking Lickitung”
40. “Pet Bottle To 3D Print!”
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