The 3D printing quietly changes our lifestyle, and this time, starting with simple repairs.
Publisher’s note:This article comes from the true experience of a foreign user, recording how she and her husband make daily repairs through 3D printers at home and considerably reduce family expenses. In fact, with the popularization and development of 3D printing technology at the office level, such “self -sufficiency” repair scenarios will also become more and more common in Chinese families.
My husband’s 50th anniversary, I gave her a 3D printer. It costs $ 700 – Although it is not cheap, I only celebrate my 50th birthday once in my life, so I think it’s worth it. At that time, I thought that 3D printing was a pretty good hobby, and at first it was really just a hobby.
Later, when I was recalled at work at the office, he started using a 3D printer to print some characters from “Dungeons and Dragons” and also printed several small statues of our pug, which seemed very similar to me.
Then, the trash can the hinge in our house broke. In general, going to a new trash can is only forty or fifty dollars, which is not a big problem. But this month, our pug fell ill, the price of the house repair insurance increased and the car had to be maintained. I have used emergency savings several times and I really don’t want to spend money to buy a trash can have problems again.
It turns out that I don’t have to spend this money at all. My husband looked at me and said to me, “Maybe I can print one.”
A few days later, he designed and printed a replacement hinge. Although I tried several times before succeeding, a year later, the cover of this trash can still be used normally. And the real gain is-3D printing has changed the way we give things up and saved a lot of money. About a month after repairing the trash cover, our CARLIN began to “attack” our $ 300 vacuum cleaner again. While I was fighting to stop it, a clip on the vacuum cleaner used to keep the trachea broke.
The clip was at the origin of 2.5 inches, but now we only have two thirds left on our hands. The husband has redesigned and printed a new clip with this part. I tried it two or three times before I could have it firmly put on its original position, but that night, our vacuum cleaner was again ready to be used and it was not necessary to spend money to buy a new one.
Later, a stage in our dining table was bitten by a dog a few times, and the table simply collapsed. The 3D printer has once again “dressed” and printed a replacement part, and the dining table quickly returned to its original state – save the cost of expenditure $ 700 on a new table. Some of the tools that my husband uses for DIY repairs are also printed with 3D printers.
For example, last week, he needed a welding iron handle with a better handle, so he printed one; He also needed to install the wooden board vertically to build a shelf, so he used silk consumables to print a festive and practical gadget. Now he has repaired almost everything that can be broken in our house with a 3D printer, and that saved us this year aloneAbout $ 1,400and the material cost is alwaysLess than $ 100。
Another thing that should be mentioned is convenience. Last month, our sewer pipe broke out. Although it could not be used completely normally, we could always “use it barely” because it made a temporary cover with a 3D printer. Later, we bought another 3D printer at reduced prices and spent $ 200 to specialize in Printing Prototype – which saved a lot of money because prototypes could be made with cheap materials. In addition to the 3D printer itself, consumables are the largest expenditure – 2.5 pounds (1.13 kg) of wire costs between $ 10 and $ 50. Printing prototypes with cheap consumables considerably reduce test and error costs.
Sometimes my husband designs pieces from zero, but more often, he will seek ready -to -use conceptions online, then modify and adjust them according to our specific needs.
Nowadays, many enthusiasts will download their 3D printing conceptions on platforms like Thingiverse, Makerworld, Printables and others can download and use for free. The downloader can also get points for each time it is downloaded, which can be exchanged for money or other awards.
At this time when “everything is easy to deteriorate”, there are always things in the house that must be repaired or replaced. Given the arrow prices now, I am really happy that we have a 3D printer at home. It has gone from a simple hobby to our “secret weapon” against inflation.
Note: This article is compiled from Business Insider, the original author is Inna Tysoe and is compiled by the resource library.
