3D Printer

10 Jan 2026 · Prusa I3 MKiii · Knick-Knacks · Useful Things · Rapid Prototyping · Models

3D Printer

My printer is a Prusa I3 MKiii. I got it in Feb 2018. I bought the kit one rather than the assembled one, figured building it would help me understand it better than just unboxing it. It was a wise choice. The build manual is excellent and has proven very useful when changing various worn out bits and bobs. The chassis is aluminium section, the frame is steel, the plastic parts are all 3D printed. So if anything breaks / wears out or get upgraded you can simply download a model file and print a new one. I've got a couple of camera mounts on mine, so I can keep my eye on long prints from anywhere.

When I first got it, I used the obligatory roll or two of filament printing knick-knacks. I soon discovered Fusion360, which opens up a whole world of posibilities. Back in the day I worked as a draftsman so I'm familiar with CAD packages, I expected Fusion360 to be similar, but it isn't. It's not hard to use, and once you get the basics in your head, it's easy to model anything you can think of.

Fusion360 Dymo Model — My Dymo Label Maker 160 Model.

Once Fusion360 clicks in your head the true power of 3D printing is realised. Things that only exist in your head very quickly take physical form. You can use it to make a quick mock up of something before you spend hours making a real thing out of wood / metal. It's brilliant for making little doodads that solve teeny problems.

One of its many uses is making brackets to store things. The thing being printed in the image at the top of the page is an under desk bracket for a laptop, I don't use it all that often, so it's not one I want to keep in the laptop garage, but I do use it enough that keeping it in a drawer is inconvenient. Twenty minutes modelling in Fusion360, 5 hours printing it, couple of minutes screwing it to the bottom of my desk and problem solved.

I've got a decent sized desk in my home office, the trouble with a big desk is if you don't keep it tidy it very soon becomes a big mess. The printer has made mounting tools dead easy. It keeps things nice and tidy, but still just to hand when you need them. I guess the trouble with rapid prototyping is that if the v1 print works why tweak it to a v2 (OK, I'm lazy). A lot of my most used prints are rough, printed on draft settings and easy to make way better, you might call them minimal viable products, but because they work, they never get finished (at least I'm consistent!).

I've got a couple of magnetic tool holders on my wall, one over by the printer with bigger tools pullsaw, spanners, big screw drivers that I don't use that often up here and one on the wall I look at when I'm sat at the computer bit of the desk that has a bunch of common screw drivers, tweezers, scissors, poking tools etc. Where do I store tools that are handy to have close to hand but not used often enough to be on the magnet...

They go in a 3D printed holders and get screwed to the inside of the desk next to the PC. They're right there when I need them, I always know where they are, and they're enough out of the way that my desk doesn't look like a repair bench!

What about those LEDs you've put around the shelf in your room? Or the ones under the desk? C'mon you know the answer... You 3D print a switch holder and put S above the shelf switch and D above the desk switch

You get the idea, if you've got a little home problem then there's a good chance you can solve it with a 3D printer. In the kitchen, when you're making a sauce of some sort, where do you put the spoon when you don't want to leave it in the pan? You print a spoon holder that stores away vertically behind the big vase thing full of utensils taking up no room, when you need it get it out and stick yer spoon on it.

It makes really good boxes too. I've got a couple of Lilygo LoRa nodes at home and in my car, I'm sure you can buy a box for em, but with a printer and Fusion360 why not make your own.

Get ready for it... finally a finished 3D print!

One more, the space infront of one of my screens is pretty limited, I like a drink (soft) when I'm working & playing at my desk. In the past I might've spilled a glass or two of pop. So I made myself a drink holder that takes care of both of these problems.

It takes one of our large glasses and comes high enough up the glass that it's very difficult to knock it over. It's mounted to the underside of the desk and sits off the edge of the desk, occupying zero precious infront of screen space. Its taken several decent knocks and hasn't spilled a drop.