Making money with 3d printing
|
A common use for a hobbyist’s CNC router is making items that can be sold for profit essentially Making money with 3d printing. CNC routers are able to make unique 3D items such as puzzles, sculptures and everyday items. This article will help you think about what the possibilities are with these items and where you can find ideas to get going on these projects.
Making money with 3d printing
Puzzles are items that sell fairly well. People enjoy doing puzzles as a hobby and group puzzles are a way for families and other groups to spend time together. With a CNC router you have two options when making a puzzle, a traditional 2D puzzle or a more complex 3D puzzle. A 2D puzzle is fairly straightforward; take some kind of image and then divide it into jigsaw shaped pieces. 3D puzzles for making money with 3d printing are much more versatile and require a bit more planning. An easier 3D puzzle could be a simple shape, like an orb decorated with the continents so that the complete puzzle looks like a globe. Another simple idea would be make puzzle pieces shaped like bones that form together into the skeleton of a dinosaur or some other animal. Going to a puzzle shop and looking around at their products could give you some good ideas for projects of your own. You can also get ideas from websites by putting a term like “CNC router 3D puzzles” into a search engine. Some websites will sell puzzles, and maybe you can use those as a source of inspiration just like you would use the products in a puzzle shop, while other websites will have instructions on these kinds of projects. Many of these websites, like Instructables, have the projects uploaded by other hobbyists and they often include the computer files you will need for your project. Other websites, like makeCNC, are more professional and sell patterns that hobbyists can use.
3d printing sculptures
Another idea for making money with 3d printing is making sculptures are another type of 3D item you could make. Making a sculpture is more straightforward than a puzzle but may require you to be more meticulous depending on the level of detail you want to put into each piece. Some finer details may need to be done by hand, especially if you are new to this type of project and do not want to take things too fast and risk damaging a project. Even if you are able to do all of the cutting with your CNC router be prepared for a fair amount of handwork (tasks like sanding and adding finish to the wood) with these projects. If you intend to sell these items you want them to be very appealing to your potential customers. When doing these or other projects try to be creative with what you make. Unique items will stand out more and be better suited to catch attention than more generic items.
Making money with 3d printing household items
Household items are also a good project to use when making things in 3D. This could be things like cabinet handles, jewellery boxes or pencil cups. Cutting boards and other kitchen items are a huge market. Go to any kind of kitchen supply store and look at all of the utensils, stirring spoons, containers and other items that are made from wood. Any and all of those items are makable with a CNC router and can be very appealing to customers who like to cook. Depending on the size of your machine you could even make bigger items like coat racks. If you have a larger item in mind that you can put together from multiple smaller pieces this is even possible is a tinier machine. The only limit of what your CNC router can make is your own imagination.
In our shop MIY MakerSpace shop in Fribourg we have many 3D printers that help our clients put products on the market where they can make money with 3D printing easily and without the hassle. In our shop if you don’t know how to use the 3D printers you can opt to take a course or do a sentence of coaching. Coaching in 3D printing is very easy because it’s not like a formal course and we can give you the exact information that you need to take the course if this interests you, we have a course available in our 3D printing section on the top of the page. You also have the possibility to customize your 3D course so we can apply our knowledge to your dreams, and you can make what you want or prototype your projects easily.