Why you should know about 3d printing even if you don’t ever want to 3d print something

I dropped my Vornado fan. One of the fan blades broke in the fall.

I couldn’t find a replacement blade for it, so it’s next stop should be the landfill.

But.

A person on Thingiverse had the same thing happen to the exact same fan and was able to design a replacement part. I tried to print it on my 3d printer, but the build plate was just a little too small for me to get a stable print. Luckily my friend Aaron has a larger printer and was able to print it for me (here’s Aaron’s Etsy store of cool 3d printed stuff).

Now I have a fixed fan (with a nice color contrast too!):

This is the same story as Sam Firke’s food processor blog post. And, I’m sure, thousands of other experiences. It’s like open source software; one person solves a problem for themself and, by sharing the fix online, improves other people’s lives. I love it.

You don’t have to be a 3d modeler to benefit from 3d printing. You don’t even need to have a 3d printer. You can find a friend or a makerspace to help you out, or you can go through a service.

The next time you break a piece of plastic, check out sites like Thingiverse and Printables to see if you can find the part you need.