I’ve had a 3D printer for a few years now, but 3D printing has not become a hobby for me. Instead, I treat it as an appliance, which is to say that I tend to use it to print something utilitarian and not really think about it otherwise. Aside from the occasional demo print like a calibration cube or a benchy, my prints are usually things like a knob to replace a broken one on some appliance, custom small parts organizers, or the surprisingly valuable “weirdly shaped one-time-use object that otherwise costs tens of dollars and several days shipping time” that some friendly person has uploaded to the internet for others to enjoy. I view this as a huge win for the tech. I may get into designing helpful little objects for myself and others in the future, but for now, I’m just happy to have access to it when I need to fix or replace a part that isn’t otherwise quickly available to me.

My next goal with 3D printing is to not own a printer anymore. I would still like to have access to one via my public library, a makerspace, or some other shared resource that can use it more efficiently than I do as a private owner. My printer is on the smaller end; I certainly can’t justify upgrading to a larger one for the rare occasion that I want to print an object that exceeds my printer’s capacity, but that makes a lot more sense for a shared resource. I would be thrilled to spend a Saturday morning dropping by my library to queue up a print and helping some other folks do the same.

None of this is to say that I don’t appreciate it as a hobby. I think it’s swell that folks have access to this sort of on-demand production for utilitarian, artistic, and all sorts of other use cases. (There are also plenty of classes of products that don’t seem like a good fit for 3D printing to me at all, but that’s a whole other topic.) And I’m glad that, for the most part, these printers are usable without a bunch of specialized learning before getting your first print in hand. I know this is a sliding scale and that everyone’s definition of “easy to use” is going to be different, but 3D printing seems to be getting more and more accessible, and that’s probably a good thing.