A cup holder meant for a wheelchair adapted using a 3D printed bracket for use on a walker (Photo: Scott Sullivan)

Scott Sullivan, long-time member and current president of HackLab, preaches the practicality of 3D printing. When a regular guest at the lab went from using a wheelchair to using a walker, Scott volunteered to help adapt their wheelchair’s accessories to the new support, including a cup holder. He designed a bracket that allowed the cup holder to be attached to the different shaped body of the walker.

Around the lab, one can also find many examples of practical ingenuity that was made possible by 3D printing. A 3D printed desk organizer sits on the soldering bench holding important components so they are not lost. Customized brackets hold the game consoles to the wall in the TV area. There are even bag hooks at each hot desk so that desks are kept clear, and bags are kept off the ground. Ice trays are stacked up in the freezer with specially created shelves.

“As I’ve had the privilege of visiting other hacker spaces across North America, I’ve never failed to find a 3D printer and some practical problem in the space solved with a 3D print,” said Scott.

Ice trays stacked using 3D printed shelves (Photo: Scott Sullivan)

A big aspect of the technology’s practicality is how quickly new items can be prototyped. Fabricating an item using a 3D printer can be quick and approachable. Whether you find a model online or make your own in software, there is something so convenient and magical about an object coming into existence layer by layer. I needed a bowl for the change that was collecting on my bedside table, so I found a cool design online and printed it. Unfortunately, its original size was too small. Forty five minutes later, I had a perfect bowl for my out-of-control coin situation.

Two 3D printed bowls of different sizes. The bowl on the left was too small so the one on the right was printed. (Photo: Luciano Cesta)

HackLab was an early adopter of consumer 3D printing. In 2009, the lab had a low serial number Makerbot Cupcake CNC printer, one of the first commercially available consumer 3D printers. While the quality of its printed objects was not reliable, it was immediately useful to the lab as something to attract people to the space. It allowed people “to rapidly start exploring ideas,” said Scott.

Hacklab’s low serial number Makerbot Cupcake CNC 3D printer (Photo: Hacklab Public Wiki)

The Cupcake CNC’s frame was made of laser cut wood and was known to break and produce inconsistent prints. As Brian Benchoff said on Hackaday: “The Cupcake was a primitive machine, but it existed, it was open source, and it was cheap – under $500 if you bought it at the right time.” He notes that they were ubiquitous in maker spaces.

The lab now uses printers like the Prusa Mini and the Creality K1 which are more approachable. Preparing the printer and sending a file to print is a breeze. The Cupcake CNC required a lot of tinkering from job to job but was still a powerful tool for drawing people to the lab and empowering them to make things.

With the consistent quality of prints and their ease of use, 3D printers have become practical tools for solving problems that cannot be easily solved with an off the shelf part. As I sit writing this blog post, a member is printing a simple coat hook for his apartment. The printer is whirring away in the background solving another problem cheaply and elegantly.