MakeUseOf - 3D Printing

Engineers just solved 3D printing's biggest structural weakness with a computational model

Sara Heritage — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:13:52 GMT

A new computational model for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing directly addresses one of the biggest problems with 3D-printed parts: weak bonds between layers.

These 4 failed 3D prints told me exactly what was wrong with my printer

Yadullah Abidi — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 20:00:13 GMT

If you've used a 3D printer, even the seemingly infallible Bambu Lab, you're eventually going to get a failed print and wonder whether your machine is broken or you just got the print settings wrong. And after enough failed prints, you'll start noticing patterns.

I copied a real object with my phone and turned it into a printable 3D model in under 5 minutes

Rob LeFebvre — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:30:13 GMT

The holy grail of 3D printing is here; just grab a photo of a real-life item with your phone and convert it to a 3D printing file. Send that to your printer, and boom, you have a 3D printed copy.

Engineers just discovered how to make 3D prints 3x stronger without extra material

Sara Heritage — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:39:27 GMT

A team of researchers from University College London (UCL) have developed a new 3D-printable structure called a "triply-twinned" lattice that is up to 380% stiffer and 279% stronger than ordinary cubic designs. Best of all, it uses the same amount of material!

I printed the internet's 5 favorite 3D models and ranked them all

Yadullah Abidi — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:30:13 GMT

There's a certain category of 3D print that almost everyone makes eventually. It is not a sci-fi helmet, a miniature dragon, or an elaborate articulated toy. It is a small plastic object designed to solve an extremely minor problem that has somehow annoyed you every day for months.

I 3D printed a working PCB instead of ordering one — it's easier than you think

Yadullah Abidi — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 17:30:13 GMT

I'm constantly building new smart devices for my house or working on electronics projects that revolve around building circuits. Now breadboards are fine for prototyping, but they're not exactly great for deployment. Soldering components on a perfboard gives you a more permanent solution, but the wiring is a mess.

4 prints that tell you exactly what’s wrong with your 3D printer

Yadullah Abidi — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:30:13 GMT

Modern 3D printers are really good at catching problems and solving them before you end up wasting filament on a ruined print. But regardless of how many sensors you shove in a printer, some problems can sneak by, and that's exactly where diagnostic prints come in handy.

This strange 3D printing tool turns any photo into wall art that looks impossible

Yadullah Abidi — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 11:00:14 GMT

The 3D printing community keeps coming up with new tools that redefine what 3D printers can do from time to time. Whether it's creating models using AI tools, converting images to 3D models, or letting your 3D printer turn a regular photo into a full-color, almost photographic piece of wall art, it's all there.

You can 3D-print NASA’s spacecraft at home for free

Yadullah Abidi — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 17:30:12 GMT

If you own a 3D printer and have ever wanted a scale replica of the Mars rover or an Apollo landing site sitting on your desk, NASA has got you covered. The space agency hosts an enormous, free library of 3D models covering spacecraft, satellites, landing sites, and even celestial objects.

5 sites packed with useful things you can 3D-print today

Rob LeFebvre — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:00:13 GMT

Every 3D-print site loves to lead with dragons, skulls, and articulated fidget toys. They're a ton of fun, sure, but not why most of us actually buy a printer. The real payoff shows up in the boring stuff, like a bracket that stops a vacuum from rattling apart, a custom bin that finally organizes a junk drawer, or replacement gears that save a $200 appliance from the curb. In other words, the prints that actually pay for a printer are rarely the flashy ones.