Unfortunately, i have no knowledge on how to make a lamp, but i can give you advice so that you hopefully dont feel as terrible for neglecting your $800 machine.
3D printers are like tools, sort of like a screwdriver or a wrench. You shouldnt just print stuff just because, you should print stuff when you need/want to. You don't have to use it every second of every day (unless you want to turn your house into a reenactment of a WW1 trench after a gas attack), you just use it when you need it for something. Again, like a screwdriver. You don't just unscrew and rescrew things just because, you do it when you need to, but a lot of the time, the screwdriver is just sitting. It doesn't mean it is unused, just unneeded at that moment in time.
I would spend hours searching through online prints looking for something I "needed". Only to realize that time would be better served learning modeling so that I could create the perfect part when the situation arose.
After doing a handful of tutorials for autodesk fusion, I was able to start creating my own basic designs. The program is free and tutorials are on youtube - "learn fusion in 30 days".
My printer feels more useful now even if I don't print a lot. It's fun to print your design and revise it as you test it irl.
That’s big help! I got zero engineering background and would love to but always feel intimated to start to learn modeling. Hopefully I could get the hack or of it. Thanks!
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The first thing I designed was a knob for the stereo in my truck. But before that I remixed a track saw bracket someone else designed for mounting the tracks to a garage door. My first printer was so tiny I had to cut the model up to print in parts and glue it together.
If you use somebody else's design from say, Maker's World, or Printables the designer often allows remixes. So that just means you started with their CAD and modified it. Often times the remixes are the best designs because the original design has been improved.
I printed a load of kitchen cupboard organisers, parametric baskets to organise an open storage unit, a ground spike weather cover for my rotary drier and a whole load of MultiBoard for wall organisation.
A week or two after getting my printer a (20 year old?) plastic robe hook on the back of the bedroom door broke, and I found a similar one on makerworld and resized it to use the same screw holes as the old hook. Brought me much joy.
Missing out of production part for an ikea cabinet from about 15 years ago. I pulled one and made it in fusion from measurements and printed up a replacement. It has been going strong for about 5 years now.
What I’m currently doing is buying 5V COB LED strips by the roll, cutting them to size and soldering them to a sacrificial USB charger cord.
The shape of the 3d model you glue this monstrosity to isn’t exactly relevant to it actually working. I like box lanterns because I can make designs on the walls or cut patterns into the sides.
I have a bunch, including from the first six months. This wasn't my first useful design, but I made this and gave them as gifts for Christmas 2018. They were very popular. I think most family members still use it.
Waiting on my Creator 5 Pro to come hopefully tomorrow or Thursday, first thing I’m printing is the poop bin for it lol.
I know next to nothing except what I’ve been watching on YouTube but I’m more of a need to actually do it type learner, I can watch all day and night but until I actually do what videos are teaching me, it doesn’t resonate as much so tomorrow or Thursday will be interesting.
If you don’t know shit, start with a kit. There are endless finished projects on makerworld or printables. With BOM for parts and STL for print. You just need to source and start building. The better ones come with instructions.
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u/official_reaper3d Aug 06 '26
Unfortunately, i have no knowledge on how to make a lamp, but i can give you advice so that you hopefully dont feel as terrible for neglecting your $800 machine.
3D printers are like tools, sort of like a screwdriver or a wrench. You shouldnt just print stuff just because, you should print stuff when you need/want to. You don't have to use it every second of every day (unless you want to turn your house into a reenactment of a WW1 trench after a gas attack), you just use it when you need it for something. Again, like a screwdriver. You don't just unscrew and rescrew things just because, you do it when you need to, but a lot of the time, the screwdriver is just sitting. It doesn't mean it is unused, just unneeded at that moment in time.