3D printing is not just a hobby. I’ve been using it for years to make useful tools and custom accessories that manufacturers often don’t sell or have discontinued. I’ve printed more geegaws and doodads for my house than I can count, but these are my favorites: a Dyson tool holder, two phone stands, custom storage bins and a custom cookie cutter modeled after my dog, Jasper.
That is not an exhaustive list by any means. Almost any tool or accessory you can think of can be 3D printed. All 3D prints we have included can be printed with any 3D printer, including our top pick, the $280 Bambu Labs A1. I printed my versions on a Prusa Mini Plus.
Dyson vacuums are great, but they come with a lot of things that I keep losing. This simple 3D printed tool holder simply attaches to my vacuum so I never lose things.
I printed my own Dyson tool holder
I love you my Dyson vacuum: it has the best suction and has multiple cleaning heads for various tasks. The included dock doesn’t have a place to store them all, though, so I keep misplacing them. I even printed this Dyson Tool Holder, that is. Holds up to six cleaning heads, place them where you need them while cleaning.
Here is the tool holder attached to my Dyson. It works perfectly.
After printing the 3D model, I used four M3 screws to hold it to the long wand of my Dyson. Made for the Dyson V11, but works great with my V8 and holds a great hair tool. It should work with any Dyson cordless with a wand extension of the same diameter. The vacuum still fits in a standard charger, making it very easy to store. If that seems too big, go with the wall-mounted version. Pro tip: The best match I found for my Dyson purple was Polymaker Polylite PETG filament in purple, similar but a little lighter.
The drawer knife holder helped save my dull blades
These 3D printed covers help keep my knives from getting dull in the drawer.
You don’t just toss a nice set of knives in the drawer to dull them — you protect the sharp edges. This simple cabinet knife holder is a great way to do just that, as it holds five knives, sharp edges down and away from prying fingers and all the other junk in your cabinet. Designed to complement the Ikea wardrobe dividers, but works well on its own. I printed this with green PLA filament from Polymaker. This attractive, easily written filament is strong enough for everyday use but can hold knives of various sizes.
Custom made cookie cutters modeled after my dog
A 3D model of my dog, Jasper, served as the base for the cookie cutter.
Want to make your own custom cookies? A 3D printer and the right CookieCad designer or CookieAI can do just that. You upload an image or text, and it creates a 3D printable design. You have to register to get more options than basic-cookie-cutter, but it might be worth it if you’re a big home baker. You can create simple free-cut designs, though, like I did.
I made my own Jasper dog cookies by using the image tools in Apple Photos to cut my dog Jasper out of the photo, then uploading it to CookieAI. After a minute or so, I had a 3D design for the cutter, which I sent to my 3D printer and printed in PLA. A little cookie dough rolling and stamping later, I had these beautiful Jasper Dog cookies ready to bake!
Jasper has a graceful silhouette.
These cookie-cutter creator apps can be a little picky about the image. You want a simple, bold image with small details, such as a silhouette shot or a head and shoulders shot. I got lucky with my photo — Jasper has a different, erm, profile, which I turned into a silhouette, which created the shape of the cookies feature. I made dog treats with this cookie cutter to give to his friends.
Jasper makes a great cookie.
One thing to note here: 3D printing materials are not food safe, so never use them directly with any food, because they can destroy microplastics and harbor bacteria. What I did was put the Saran Wrap on top of the cookie dough after wrapping, then use a cutter with this, pressing gently to keep the wrap tight. After that, I removed the wrap and used a sharp, clean knife to cut out any cookies that weren’t coming apart.
I make storage boxes, organizers and more with Gridfinity
You can print all kinds of 3D printed storage options.
Gridfinity is an open source standard for 3D printed storage boxes, modular drawers, desk organizers and many other great things to help you organize things. The cool part is that it all works together because it’s based on the same grid system. Therefore, all those models will fit into the same baseplate system that can be stored in a cabinet, mounted on a wall, or placed, well, anywhere. You can even put magnets on it to hold dishes in place. My favorite design so far has to be the Bookfinity — book-like containers with a title on the spine that shows what’s inside.
He took out a book and opened it. It has custom parts for screws, bolts, washers, first aid kits and anything else you want to organize. Can’t find the design you’re looking for? Customize your own. You can change the text, add logos, adjust the letter size, and drop in any handles, containers or other Gridfinity components you want to use. I was not able to print the multicolor version (my multicolor printer is not working at the moment), but I was able to print the single color version which worked fine.
You can also buy a mobile phone mount
You are not limited to just regular stands. I printed a 3D-mount vent for the car as well.
You will not be very rich, very beautiful or have many things to hold your cell phone. I have two favorite 3D printed items — one that is adjustable for use at home and one that attaches to the windshield of my car.
Inside the house, I like this 3D-printed adjustable mount from Pork3D, which is easy to print, assemble, and fix, with 3D-printed bolts that lock the arms in place. You can also route the power cable through the bolt handles to keep it out of the way. I originally 3D printed it in orange PLA, but later decided it needed to be a nice red fire engine. So, I painted it Krylon Fusion Plastic spray paintwhich is well combined with PLA. Pro tip: Spray paint like this (or clear coat spray) is a great way to give your 3D print a smooth, clean finish, and is less smelly and harmful than using something like this. Plastic Weld or acetone.
My personal choice for mounting my phone in a car is this SethMoser car mount. I love it because it’s simple, flexible and just works. After printing a version that attaches to the airframe in black PLA, I assembled it by inserting a few ring holes in the tin and adding a ball mount. A quick twist of the ring, and it was secured. Next, I attached the MagSafe charging pad to the front with an adhesive pad, removed the cable and plugged it into the USB port in my car. It held my iPhone well, placing it within easy viewing distance for uninterrupted driving. SethMoser produced an even simpler version, but I like the flexibility of the original.
As a technical writer, I need a lot of phone stands. 3D printing them seemed like a no-brainer.
3D printed holiday decorations
Looking for something truly unique to hang for winter? How about unique 3D printed snowflakes? This model uses the Makerworld customizer to generate unique snowflakes — just click the customize button, enter a random five-digit number, and it will create a unique snowflake. You can change the size, number of arms and other details and make sure the design includes a place to hang it on a hook.
OK, so the mathematicians among you will have noticed something about “uniqueness.” The seed that creates a snowflake is a number from one to 999,999, so there are about a million variations. That’s before you include the number of arms and the branch level, which controls the complexity of the flake. Still, it’s unlikely that someone will print the same snowflake as yours, with all the social anxiety a holiday party can cause.
A 3D printer can make amazingly detailed things, including these 3D printed snowflakes that I use as decorations during the holidays.
Once you find a design you like, click Download in the top right corner to print it yourself. If you have a Bambu Labs printer, you can go straight to printing from there: just select your printer from the list, and it will send it directly to your printer. If you have another type of printer, just select any printer from the list, then press the arrow next to the big download button and select the STL file. You can then load the downloaded STL model into your printer’s cutter software and print remotely.
I got the best results from setting the thickness to 3 or 4 millimeters and using a layer thickness of 0.2mm, as this gives the snowflake more strength. The print is very thin, and the edges tend to fray when you lift it from the print bed.
Real snowflakes usually have six arms because of the crystalline properties of water, but if you want to confuse people, set the arms to five or seven and see if they can figure out what’s wrong with them.
These are just five examples that I use in my day to day, but there are many more practical 3D prints you can make.
