Ok fine, I admit 3D printing is actually amazing

I remember when the first wave of 3D printers morphed into consumer products, somewhere around 2009 with Makerbot being a thing finally within reach of mere mortals. But I remember them as extremely finicky, where you had to print out half the parts to make the rest of it once it arrived, I remember the early prints that looked jagged and weird, and how 3D prints shattered if you put any stress on them.

I figured they'd quietly improved over the last 15 years, but I always kept the idea of having my own at arm's length. Then I realized this year that I've been steadily buying 3D printed things from Etsy every few months (mostly mounts for things on my Jeep) and it might finally be time to pull the trigger.

My "a ha!" moment was seeing the iPhone charger model that came out earlier this year patterned after a Braun classic clock radio. Watch the video above and if you're like me, you'll instantly fall in love with this idea, especially if you already have a big ugly charger puck on a stand to give you "clock radio" mode when charging your phone at night.

Gone are the days of rough prints, as this is legitimately a beautiful design. It's clever in how it works, through a very simple mechanism. It works on almost any cheap printer with no additional parts or hardware needed. I found one that would eliminate two big chargers on my bedside table and instead leave behind this simple, beautiful object.

Other things got me to make the leap. One is the video above, from a funny smart car racing guy talking about how bad 3D printers used to be but how they're a killer app in his garage now.

Then I started finding other people doing woodworking and talking about how 3D printing saves tons of time in the garage and I thought, huh, maybe it IS time.

I recently got to hang out with Joel Johnson and he couldn't stop talking about how great Bambu 3D printers were and how he owned several already. Then I noticed their Black Friday sale started earlier this week and I finally took the plunge and bought a Bambu A1 printer direct from Bambu Labs for $299 along with some rolls of filament.

It showed up Friday, and after 30 minutes of simple assembly, it was up and running. I had a few issues with bed leveling, but once it started working, I never stopped running it.

Before nerds jump in, yes, I know it emits harmful fumes which is why it's in the garage next to the cars that make carbon monoxide that can kill you (after an 8hr print, it smells like a nail salon in my garage). And yeah, the temps and humidity in the garage are wildly variable and I know it's not optimal for great printing, but I'm fine with small issues, as I'm not looking for perfection, I'm just getting started making useful things.

So far, I've printed a bunch of useful little things around the house. Stuff like holders for TV remotes and a riser stand for our big old HomePod. I am going to mount my Mac Studio under my desk along with a bunch of 3D printed cable management to help clear my workspace, and I'm going to get into gridfinity to optimize my storage in my office and in the garage.

Another friend offered great advice which is this: search Bambu's MakerWorld for brands or names of things you own, and you'll find endless lists of things to print to improve the stuff you already have. There are obvious things like cordless drill battery holders you can screw into your garage walls, but there's also amazing stuff like people who reengineered Monopoly or Ticket to Ride box interiors to better organize your games. Don't even get me started on kitchen drawer organization prints, as I already can tell I'm going to spend a month on that soon.

Last night, I decided to give that famous iPhone charger design a try to see how well my cheap new printer would handle it. I found a remixed model that fit my iPhone 16 Pro with a case, and it also had a watch charging spot on the back (other remixes put it on the side that made the previously simple design look ungainly). I let the printer rip for 13 hours overnight.

This morning, I grabbed it off the printer in the garage, slid the pushbutton/bar piece into it, and fed my cables for a MagSafe charger and watch charger through it. The charging pucks popped in tightly with a satisfying click. I tossed my phone and watch into it and took these photos from my bedside stand with my iPad.

It's a remarkable print. It doesn't require any real assembly, you don't need extra hardware, and there are hidden paths for all the cables. It's sleek, modern, useful, and eliminates a bunch of clutter next to my bed.

And the printer that made it was less than $300 and is so simple anyone can operate one from a phone app with zero knowledge of how 3D modeling apps work.

I made a joke on Mastodon the day I ordered it that it might replace my entire personality, but after a weekend with my first printer I'll say they're extremely easy to use now and useful to have around the house and I now know why devoted nerds often own more than one, as that's a thing I can see myself doing someday to get faster prints done, in more colors, in less time.

I promise not to become a full-time 3D Printer Guy, but I would strongly encourage others to give them another look as I think their time has really come.