#3DPrintingOnYoutube is back, and I want to hear from you!

How it works:
1 - Answer the 5 questions (feel free to change it up or add your own experience into the mix!)
2 - Upload a video to YT
3 - Add #3DPrintingOnYoutube in the title or video description.
... or share your answers in the comments below!

00:00 How it works
0:48 1 - When did you first hear about 3D printing?
1:59 2 - What was the first thing you 3D printed?
3:11 3 - Do you view 3D printing as a hobby or tool and why?
4:47 4 - What is the BEST 3D printer? (according to you)
5:46 5 - What is your number 1 tip for beginners?

Tagging @3DPrintingNerd and @katzcreates I would love to hear your thoughts on the questions :)

[godfreytube]

My first ever 3D print was in high school around 2013 or so. My tech teacher just got a Makerbot Replicator, and I had just had a CT scan of my head for an injury. I was able to convert my scan into an STL and got my teacher to print it in some glow in the dark filament. I was hooked ever since, and my skull haunted the classroom for years after I graduated 😁

[wimwiddershins]

First used 3D printing (stereo lithography) to prototype product components way back in 1990. Machines were $1M powdered resin things. $5k per part!
Now, I crank test pieces out on the bench beside my work station for cents.
Its amazing how far things have come. 👍

[iandawkins]

I got my first 3D printer about six years ago, the infamous Anet A8 Firestarter. Saying that it was the best thing I did as I got into something fantastic on the cheap.

[RoseKindred]

I can't make videos but:
1. I first learned of 3D printing about 11 years ago back when it was mainly industrial.
2. I can't remember my first print, I think it was something tool-related.
3. Both! Hobby wise it assisted with my writing. After I got hurt I needed a visual aid to physically see so I could write about it, so I learned 3D design to make "dungeon tiles"... Then I learned dungeon tiles existed. Now, I hope to make it a job since I am unable to work a "normal" job.
4. The best one is the one that works for the task. Cliche I know, but it is true. I prefer ones that are semi-assembled or come complete due to limitations. All the new features these past couple of years have only opened the door for more people to join without the need to be an engineer.
5. My number one tip is you will fail a print eventually. Learn why a print did not make it and adapt. You can do "everything right" but things outside of your control, such as temperature or power flickers, can still happen.

[ChickensAndGardening]

I have always been fascinated by 3-D printing as a way to popularize and decentralize manufacturing, easy cheap prototyping, and to enable ENTIRELY NEW things that were not practical before.

Muse and several other channels are great educational resources, and ultimately I was inspired to buy a Prusa back during the Covid lockdowns, first as a hobby, then to make increasingly useful items around the house. My home is full of these little shelves and cubbies, plastic connectors, replacement battery doors, stands, etc. etc. Now a friend has asked me to replicate a window pulley that they can't source commercially. We're currently testing whether my prototype works. I'm not in this for the money, but if it turns into a business, I won't complain!

I agree with Mr. Muse that the key is learning how to do modeling. I'm still in the TinkerCad phase (plus occasionally making weird shapes in Gimp then exporting as SVG) but hoping to move up to Fusion360 eventually.

[YoYoD]

Fellow industrial designer here, and long-time subscriber :

1. First time I saw a 3d printer was in early 2000 in design school it was an SLA/SLS printer in a polymer tub with lasers I believe.
2. The first thing I printed was a logo for an espresso machine I was building
3. Definitely a tool. I owned a Creality, a Monoprice mini am Anycubic Chiron (still got it) and now BAMBU P1S find it is a game changer.
No need to fiddle with it just pring and go. Really wanted a Prusa forever but it is so expensive (XL nowadays)
4.I think Bambu P1S is my current choice.
5. My No.1 tip is don't give up and keep learning as you go. Find ways to make it work for you and ask for help if needed, there are a lot of good people in the
3D community.

Thank you for the video, I always watch YT on lunch time :) -Y

[davidsalias]

1. Mid 90s. I was designing propellers and we would send off the model to be 3D printer in wax which was then used to make a cast.
2. A spool holder I designed to replace the one that came with the printer because it wouldn't support the spools I was using.
3. A little of both but mostly a tool. If I want to solve a problem, I don't want to waste time solving another problem when the printer needs tweaking.
4. My most recent purchase, the Bambu Lab X1-Carbon. Basically fire and forget.
5. Assume your first print of your fancy new design won't be quite right and you need to fix, adjust or improve it. This means you can use those left over bits of filament and not be too fussed when you realise you'll have to print it again.

[gregorhi]

1 - Probably 2017-18, my first printer was the Tronxy X1 after seeing your review on it.
2 - It was a case for a digital watch that I build. Sort of the excuse for buying a printer.
3 - Definitely a tool. My work goes into designing the things I'm printing and then I just want the print to work rather than having to spend time fiddling with the printer.
4 - I think it currently is the Bambu Lab A1. Such a powerful printer for the price. Really amazing how the printers evolved.
5 - Find a good reason to buy a 3D printer. It's a tool, similar to thinks like a table saw or a sewing machine or a kitchen mixer. Some people have uses for them and others don't. And then learn to understand what's going on and what it's limitations are.

[Convolutedtubules]

What started as a hobby, quickly became an indispensable tool. It allows me to create things, a lot faster and more accurately than I could do by hand.

[MarinusMakesStuff]

1 - Maybe somewhere in 2009? But I first saw it back in 2011 on art academy. One year later I built my own 3D printer! (Prusa Air 2 XL)
2 - A Dodecahedron that I designed in Rhino.
3 - Both, I used to design my own machines since 2012, mainly as a tool, but building was a lot of fun so I kept building new ones. It got out of hand so I bought an X1C and never looked back. Now I just design and print things.
4 - Bambu P1S (in the hobby market), 'BEST' is relative, but eventually I would still say that SLS is the superior technology and I hope that SLS beats FFF/FDM.
5 - Learn to model a.s.a.p. and buy additional tools to support the modeling like digital calipers and other measuring tools, if you just keep downloading files from Printables, you might become bored fast.

[hansdampft]

Great idea to start that survey! I understand that I'm not the "typical consumer" of 3D printers, since I use them mostly for parts and prototypes for Chemical/Semiconductor related applications. But here are some inputs from my 3D journey:
1) I heard of 3D printing in 2003
2) 2007 Testpart for testing my selfbuild printer to check my Marlin changes for my printer
3) 80% tool -> bussines and 20% hobby -> I like to design and build CNC machines
4) Ratrig Vcore 3.1 500X500X500, I need the size and flexibility for my bussines. I have 2, with more than 4000 print hours each and my first Vcore 4 500 Idex is on the way
5) Learn to use a 3D CAD, it opens a new world of possibilities

[findlaybannatyne]

1. I went to a medical/science museum open day where some companies were showing off printing medical noses and what-not, ever since I was fascinated with the technology.
2. I printed an impractical bolt for a camera stand which had been broken for years, its threads quickly wore away but it was a great start to CAD design
3. Tool, yet I am very willing to build and tune a printer to become a reliable tool that I can start with 100% confidence that it will finish
4. Only had a ender 3 v2, served me very will so far not been too worried about what I'm missing out on
5. If your using it as a tool, use CAD to fix problems in your life, use a parametric CAD software and use constraints everywhere

[roysigurdkarlsbakk]

1. I read about Norwegian Linux User Group on their IRC channel making their first 3d printer some 12 years ago. I had no idea what a 3d printer was, but it spiked my interest
2. I visited Bitraf in Oslo just before the holidays and printed out three small angels in translucent white, mounted on a small plastic container covered with glittery felt and mounted RGB LEDs underneath and controlled them with an arduino, looping through the colours, rainbow style and gave it to my mom for christmas (she has a thing with angels during that time)
3. When I got my first 3d printer (cr10s), it was just hobby, but after that, it's become a mixture of work and hobby. Mostly hobby, though.
4. The best printer I've owned, is my trustworthy Bambu X1 Carbon.
5. Get a printer that won't require you to be an engineer, just get something that works out of the box. Learn how different filament behave and where to use them and especially where not to. When you understand it all, learn 3d modelling.

[danielea.]

1. At a friends place
2. A replacement part for my cats carrying care
3. As a tool, most of my parts are useful (replacements/repairs)
4. The only one I have ever tried: Prusa mini (cheap and solid for starters)
5. Start small and grow

[nophead]

1. In 2007 when a friend pointed me at the RepRap project.
2. A rectangular single wall open box in HDPE to test my RepStrap HydraRaptor.
3. It was a hobby while I was experimenting but is now more of a tool.
4. The one I am designing now.
5. Dry your filament.

[AndrewAHayes]

My first experience of a 3D printer was in 1989, the engineering company I worked for had a couple of machines, SL resin and FDM in the workshops, mainly for prototype tools, however, they also made protective covers for the tooling that they made for customers, I was friendly with some of the guys down in the workshops, I used to nip down in my lunch hour and make parts for my motorcycle, I would first make a manual technical drawing using a drawing table that I had at home and a rotoring pen, one of the guys that did the CAD would then transfer my drawing to CAD and a prototype of my bike part would be printed out and checked on my bike before being lathed and milled and then checked on my bike before being chromed.

The first thing I printed in 3D was a monitor stand with drawers for my Amiga 1000 so I could have it on top of the computer case and the stand bring the monitor up to eye level, I also printed some for the computers at work.

I consider my 3D printers as tools, although I have printed things from the file libraries, like puzzles and plant pots and kitchen tools.
My early printers were cheap kits and I enjoyed upgrading them, however since I got my X1C and AMS I haven't done a single upgrade, I am going to upgrade my two Ender 5 Plus machines to core XY though.

The best 3D printer is the one you can afford!

[peterkiss]

1. I heard about 3d printing in 2011 at the university. Back then I thought of it as a novelty that wouldn't catch on. Boy I was wrong!
2. The first thing I printed and designed myself was a pair of gears to see if this technology is good enough for practical applications. They ran wonderfully.
3. I see it definitely as a tool, but in reality it's almost as much of a self-serving hobby too.
4. Ideal printer would be a silent and compact closed cabinet design without any proprietary or expensive/hard to get parts for long-term repairability and tinkering flexibility.
5. Try out EVERYTHING you can lay your hands on! Best for the most may or may not be the best for you.

[upperairs]

1) I saw something about 3D printing online probably in the early 2010's. I don't remember exactly the web site but at the time it might have been Make Magazine or something similar.
2) I printed the Owl that came as a test file on my first printer that was an AnyCubic I3 Mega S.
3) I first saw 3D printing as a hobby. My first printers were the Anycubic and an Ender 3. I think I printed more add-ons and accessories for those printers than anything else. Troubleshooting took up the bulk of time with these printers. I moved on to the Prusa Mini+ and all that changed. I started to learn Fusion and designing my own prints. I didn't have to worry about the actual printer anymore.
4) I love the Bambu p1s with the AMS, but the best printer I have owned is the Prusa MK4 with MMU3.
5) Don't buy a cheap printer. It can be very discouraging. If you are handy I would purchased a Prusa kit and put that together. If you just want to print I would get a bambu with the AMS combo. It is more expensive to purchase them separately.

[osvaldo]

1 – I heard about 3D printing around 1999 but those were very expensive and specialized machines. 6 or 7 years ago I heard about the reprap movement and that gave me de idea of buying an affordable printer and finally I got an Ender 3.
2 – The sample dog that came in the SD card supplied with the printer but just half of it because I run out of filament and was a Sunday and all the possible suppliers were closed. Then I printed a calibration cube
3 - . Both things I print as a hobby (toys, parts to repair toys, scale spaceships) and as a tool to build cabinets and parts for my electronics projects.
4 – In the range of semiprofessional printers, probably a Bambulab Carbon X1, but for me a Creality K1 Max would be more than OK.
5 – Do not rush the assembly of your new printer, most of the problems come from misaligned parts or incorrect mounting. And of course, learn a design toll that made a big difference for me, I still use the common repositories for thing that I can´t design but try to do my own designs for everything else.

[hazonku]

1) I first heard about 3D printing way back in the late 80's when my dad worked in aerospace. I kept an eye on the reprap magazine & Make Magazine vids back in the day & just bided my time waiting for other folks to figure things out in the hobbyist/desktop space.
2) The first thing I ever printed was a Benchy & a calibration cube on a my first printer, an Anet A8 I got after Bill Doran did a video on that particularly cheap Chinese clone of the MK2. Years later I had upgraded it about as much as one could and learned everything there is to know about Marlin based bed slingers. The first resin print I ever did was a Tiny Rosinante from The Expanse on the Mars 2 Pro my wife got me for my birthday a few years ago. I still have each of those prints.
3) I still view 3D printing as both a hobby and a tool because I use it for both. The whole reason I got into 3D printing was so I could finally print my Zbrush sculpts but I actually have used it around the house too. Things I've done around the house this year include a bathroom sink strainer to catch wild wife hair, a new handle for our kitchen sink's plug, some custom owls I made for a dowel based towel rack replacement, and a couple of other small things.
4) Right now my BEST 3D printer is the Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra that I recently got. Not having to level a resin printer is AMAZING!!! Also it's just fun to watch it work because the tilting vat is kind of mesmerizing and the build plate only moving on each new layer makes it feel like magic. I've had minimal failures (almost all of which were my own fault for traying to manually cheese build angles.
5) Literally the same answer you gave. Learn to model in CAD software or 3D sculpting software. Some folks like TinkerCAD or Nomad, I used Fusion360 and Zbrush myself. My buddy bought Anycubic's little resin printer & I now on my recommendation he's using TinkerCAD like a champ to make all sorts of things for around the house & for little dioramas he makes.