I’ve been thinking about how many 3D prints look great, but the ones I end up using the most are usually simple and practical.
What’s the most useful thing you’ve ever printed? It could be anything from a small tool or organizer to a replacement part or something you use every day.
I’d love to hear what other makers have found genuinely useful.
For me, it’s been the Gridfinity bins on a small wooden platform next to my CNC machine:
I’m hopeful of expanding on this — I just put together a small cabinet to hold Harbor Freight plastic organizers:
and one is filled w/ Gridfinity bins — I need to print some more such as I gradually organize things into this stack.
Another was a small adapter plate which allowed me to affix my Metmo fractal vise w/ the optional vertical jaws at the front of the machine.
Now that’s a tough question. I mostly make mounts and brackets and enclosures… I guess it would be the controller enclosure for my ender 3. Made of nylon filament. It houses the controller, the LCD, a 40mm fan, a buck converter. and two MOSfet drivers… and it has a snap fit lid.
All of my toys and trinkets. I have them all over the house and they always bring a small smile to my face. Very useful in that manner.
All the actually useful stuff is just forgettable. Boxes, guides, squares, paint triangles, routing jigs, custom clamps, dimensional blocks, …lol. Useful but never brings a smile to my face.
I’d have to say it was a family of things, not necessarily one single thing. And that was the Milwaukee Packout bin dividers and center bins, because that allowed me to pack so many more small fasteners into the Packout organizers than before.
EDIT: I guess I should say that I designed all of them as well.
This is a tough one…
Just about everything I have worked on in the last decade has had 3d printed parts in it somewhere.
My PnP hack had some prints for the feeder holders which were essential. If you go through my flickr/youtube pages there are even more things.
But probably the most useful to other people was some small rollers for the windows of a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup. I made them because it is a stupid problem that is common…posted about it in a forum and gave away the files and people told me to sell them…so I listed them on my site. I sell a few sets a month…more in spring/fall when people use the windows more. [Pictures here, and here]
I never expected to sell them. I was fixing a problem on my father’s truck. Shared the files for free and basically had people begging for them. The only other option is to replace the entire window regulator or to hack shower rollers in a drill with sandpaper 
My mod just snapped on.
Tbh, most of what I print is has no practical use at all because I brought my printer to make models and tabletop scale scenery rather than to print functional items.
Does that put me in the minority on this forum?
I guess that 99% of the functional items I make are brackets. probably my most successful was a set of clips that let me hang Christmas decorations on my dropped ceiling without using pins or tape.
This video humbled me an incredible amount on using 3d printed jigs for a complex furniture build.
I have a square block. lol
That sounds awesome! Gridfinity really makes it easier to keep everything organized. Having a dedicated spot for every tool is such a simple change, but it makes a big difference!
I don’t think you’re in the minority! 3D printing is great for both creative projects and practical solutions. Sometimes the most useful prints are the little things that solve everyday problems.
That’s a great example of how 3D printing can solve real-world problems! I love how you shared the files for free and ended up creating something people were willing to pay for. Sometimes the best products come from solving a simple problem that everyone else has overlooked.
Honestly, I think that’s one of the best things about 3D printing! Not everything has to be practical. If your prints make you smile every time you see them, that’s useful in its own way. The functional stuff solves problems, but the fun prints bring personality to your home!
That’s a great use of 3D printing! I like how you’re building your storage system piece by piece. Gridfinity makes it easy to expand as your needs change, and having everything organized near your CNC machine must make a big difference.
