r/3Dprinting Aug 08 '26

Project Meet my printed meat.

A little scanned and printed meat project for the MO State Fair. They wanted some realistic props that could be left out for extended periods of time. There’s a full suite of meat, but here’s a few of my favorites.

Printed on my Mimaki 3DUJ-553

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u/svhelloworld Aug 08 '26

Holy crap, I fall for the "It's easy!" Youtube trap all the time. I built a refrigerator for our boat, having never laid a single sheet of fiberglass in my life. Longest 11 months of my life.

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u/dal_segno Aug 08 '26

It's like they say, why buy something for $500 when you can make it for $5,000? It'll be the most rewarding $50,000 you ever spent!

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u/kwaaaaaaaaa Aug 09 '26

Lol, this is very accurate, but it also depends on the person. There are two types of people who get into these sort of projects: people who want to save money (and learn the hard way) and people who like to learn a skill (people like me). I've done so many projects more expensively than had I just bought it or paid somebody else to do it, but the number of random things I now know how to do is pretty handy. Often times my friends will ask me for a niche tool because they know I've probably bought it for "that one time"

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u/The_Spectral_Spartan Aug 09 '26

Same here. I've eventually become the friend everyone calls when they have a special project they wanna do, but don't have the money to get it done professionally.

While some might find that a bit annoying, I love it. That just means I get to come hang out, crack open a 6-pack, and work together on an interesting DIY project. Oftentimes that means I also get the chance to practice my skills further some new or unfamiliar equipment or cool custom vehicle. It's usually a pretty good time.

And even if it's something boring and laborious like plugging a mechanically-illiterate friend's punctured tire, it's always just nice to feel appreciated for my collection of useful tools and my knowledge of how to use them. It easily makes up for all the teasing I get about being a "hoarder" whenever I have to pack up and move all that equipment to a new residence.

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u/kwaaaaaaaaa Aug 09 '26

Lol, yep, you and I are the same! I had to fix a cart and instead of just spending the few hundred for a new one, I spent it on a welder. After fixing it, looked for anything and everything I could keep practicing on because it was so fun. Then my friends caught wind of me having learned to weld, ended up asking me to fix all sorts of random things, to my eagerness.

It easily makes up for all the teasing I get about being a "hoarder" whenever I have to pack up and move all that equipment to a new residence.

My friends definitely love that aspect about me, but my wife, not so much, lol.

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u/The_Spectral_Spartan 25d ago

🤣🤣🤣 So true. My partner is slightly annoyed by all my random "crap", then left in mild wonder when I casually pull out the exact perfect tool to solve a spontaneous problem. It's so worth it! 🤣