Hi and im a young adult who is yet to get a job and would rather do something like a sidehustle. ive been wanting a 3d printer or a laptop for a bit now but both are really expensive nowadys how do you all afford them. like i want to print a bunch of board games things, dnd things, and figures but i cant afford a 3d printer i cant even addord a candybar without involving a family member and i would feel bad if i asked a family member to but one for me and i dont even think they hav ethe money too.
is there something i can do to save up for a 3d printer or something like that?
is this by chance the wrong place to ask this?
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items require currency to acquire
jobs will provide you with currency
But I want a peanut!
instructions unclear. Farmed 10k murlocs. (for the record I only meant to farm ten, but you know how murlocs are.)
The cost of a 3D printer is more than just a printer. Other things to consider are the consumables like filament, periodic replacement parts and a computer to do the slicing.
An idea on getting a low cost printer; The Goodwill Store in your neighborhood sometimes can have a 3D printer for very cheap; these are usually from hobbyists that lost interest in 3D printing and just wanted to get rid of the printer. Pricing may be $50 or less but may require repairs/parts.
A no cost alternative to getting started in 3D printing is to contact a local library or if you still have access to a school makerspace, to see if they have a 3D printer you can share time on - sometimes its free and sometimes its a low fee to rent the printer time.
The libraries are surprisingly good printers. at least, the one’s here. they also offer classes ranging from basic ‘how to’, through design principles and such like, and have workstations with full subs to a few of the CAD suites
I get it, it sucks. Saving sucks too.
Keep an eye out for deals and freebies, especially locally. I’ve seen Ender 3s go for $50 and sometimes free when the user gets frustrated.
Don’t give up, save those pennies and keep hunting for deals.
Might be worth checking Facebook Marketplace for people selling their printers too.
You would also need a computer with your 3d printer as you just don’t feed printer with files from internet. (Actually, they are a few case where you can but it is very limited). As for your question: To save money, you need to earn money…
Comgrow has Amazon returns printers for $69. There are no returns and may be missing a part or two (mine was missing belts and the bed), but if you plan to tinker anyway, the parts are not terribly expensive.
That said, it definitely requires money. You’ll still need filament, at the least. You’re not going to get into 3d printing for free. Try to get a part-time job. Since it’s the summer, ask neighbors to mow their yards for money.
Imma be real with you boss, get a shitty job for a month then quit. Even McDonald’s pays over $15 nowadays, they’re always hiring and as long as you show up they aren’t gonna fire you. 24 hours a week for 4 weeks will get you like $1,200 to just screw around with. 3 days a week is like $300 after tax.
Get a job and work for it.
Before I was old enough to drive, I mowed lawns and chopped firewood for extra money.
I know this isn’t what you want to hear but get a part-time job. Having a steady income, even if it isn’t much, is liberating for a young adult. You won’t have to worry about asking family for money and being a burden on them. Once you have a steady income, you can work on a side hustle.
I recommend looking for a job where you learn a skill that you can use in your daily life. Like, go work at a discount tire or something. I don’t recommend it as a career but you’ll learn basics of car upkeep and you’ll be able to save money on oil changes because you’ll know how to do them yourself.
If you live near a microcenter pretty frequently they run deals that have ender 3s for pretty cheap if you’ve never been a customer before. Usually a coupon.
There are a lot of places you can get usable PCs for stuff like 3D printing for a lot less money. For most of this stuff, most decent-quality 10-year-old machines are fine - it doesn’t require a lot of computing power.
And if you’re near a Microcentre, you can often get Ender 3 (very entry level) printers for as low as $80 plus tax. It’s in-person only though.
But I think I very much like the idea of checking out your local libraries, which generally have computers and sometimes have 3D printers you can use for free or nearly-free. You’ll most likely have to supply your own filament, but you can get started on that for $20, so that’s something to think about.
Not sure how old you are, but something like an Ender 3 is very affordable. If you put away just 5% of your paycheck every week, you’ll have enough for a printer very quickly. However if you’re not working at all, then obviously luxuries like 3D printers or laptops will be out of your budget.
Your local library might have a printer you can use for free/cheap. Might also be worth checking a local makerspace to use their 3D printer
If you live on a block with houses and your family owns a lawnmower, get permission from your parents and go from door to door offering to mow their lawns.
It’s shockingly tough to find someone who will mow a lawn, and you can probably clean up over a weekend, making enough to buy a 3d printer if you really want one. There are some models that are fairly inexpensive, a couple hundred dollars.
For real though, just going door to door with something simple like lawnmowing would probably do you way better than you’d expect. If they don’t know what to offer you, offer 20-40 bucks, and what’s really cool is then in a few weeks you can go back and say “Hey, I mowed your lawn a few weeks ago, just wondering if you’d like me to do it again” and if you can do it reasonably regularly you’ll be in high demand for a lot of the families who just want a mowed lawn.
I’ll add if you do do it take some of your earnings and invest it back into the lawnmower if you don’t know when the oil was last changed or the blade or spark plug replaced. Small simple things like that can make the mower last much longer. I just had one die on me after never changing the oil for a decade. Oops.
And then when op does get a printer he can look up things he might be able.to print for it.
I second this idea. That’s what I did when I was a kid, and my little brother has been doing it for a few years now and has saved up around $2400.
Ten years ago, Makerbot released the Replicator, a shoddy plywood box that produced rather terrible prints, for (inflation adjusted) $2316. You also probably bought Simplify3D to use as your slicer for $149 few years after that. Today, you can grab something like the Kingroon KP3S for less than the software alone and it will produce much better prints with free slicers like Cura or PrusaSlicer.
In your situation I recommend focusing on 3D design tools. Blender 3D will run on almost anything and you can learn the basics of modeling and working in 3D. It’s not the best tool for 3D printing, but it’s very versatile.
When you get familiar with Blender you can make your own 3D designs, or modify some, and then you can ask a friend or family member to ‘fund’ getting that printed through a 3D printing service. Maybe make something they’d like so they’ll get one made for themselves.
Then after you’ve demonstrated you have those skills you’ll find an easier time convincing someone to help you acquire a 3D printer.
Maybe see if there’s a library or maker space near you with one?
