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Good morning So ive been battling the "its just cheap plastic sh*t" for a while now... Because the T rex was so cool, i got that on the mantle for a few days.

But even a nice vase, which if you dont pick it up, doesnt appear to be cheap at all.

Does anyone else fight this same battle? Ive seen some amazing alterations etc to 3d printed parts, adding rope around a candle holder, etc that look awesome.. I could try some of that i suppose.

Just curious as to what you guys battle with

Imprint her name into some of it, generally works for me...

My wife's an elementary teacher. She needed boxes to hold crayons for her centers. So we sat down together and designed the box and lid together and printed them. Made a few changes and printed it again. Because one of the first things I made was sort of useful to her she doesn't care that I can sit on my ass calibrating the printer for 13 hours printing pyramids Then again, I've always been into this kind of thing and she bought the printer for my x-mas present.

Best advise I can give is find something that she can use and helps her, OR start a long ass print and pickup a broom or vacuum and start cleaning. I found both help in my case.

She was convinced I was going to print nothing but Stormtroopers and T Rex heads. Then I made her this and she finally got it:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:49990

(Wow that reads like clickbait - it's a shower razor holder, in case you don't want to click through )

My GF bought herself a Lulzbot mini (and a form 2, for both of us) and gets mad when I don't print her enough stuff. So, I guess I'm lucky. I even get to have some of my FAILED prints shown off in the living room. Because even an ABS-cracked terminator skull looks pretty cool.

I have the same issue here, but it's with myself.

I've seen plenty of prints that have inspired a "phwoar, that's awesome". I have a few on the shelf in the study. But I've yet to see a print come out of my or anyone else's printer that I'd put on the shelf in the lounge.

Because cheap plastic is EXACTLY what we're making and there's no getting around that.

Imagine coming across your prize print in a flea market or supermarket. Try and dissociate your pride and happiness of "I made this!" Would you buy ANY of your prize pieces as display items?

I know I wouldnt.

With the color-mixing hot ends, there's a lot more prospect for something that has cool factor beyond the baseline 3D printing cool factor. I also just made an adapter for a dashcam mount to interface with the GoPro mounting system out of clear PETG that I think has a marketable amount of sparkle to it if it were an aesthetic part rather than a functional one.

Then there's the customization factor. I'm making mostly custom functional parts, adapters, stands, and cases that you'd never find on the open market.

I don't have the problem at all with my printed fly fishing reels. People seem to love them. I do not try to disguise the fact that they are 3D printed, I actually try to export the unique characteristics 3D printing imparts. Much like a woodworker exploits the grain in the wood. Here's a simple example:

Looks really great mhackney, but I doubt you have them in a glass display in your livingroom...
And if you do (what would not even surprise me that much) is that really because of your wife liking them so much?

I do and she does! I also have several large printed vases on prominent display including 1 in our china cabinet. Maybe I'm lucky?

This particular reel is on display at the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vt too.

I didn't know mhackney made fly fishing reels!

mhackney wrote:I do and she does! I also have several large printed vases on prominent display including 1 in our china cabinet. Maybe I'm lucky?

I guess she loves you more than my wife loves me... On the other hand, I never got her a china cabinet, maybe that's the difference...

It was her idea to get a printer in the first place. She was still working in Engineering and saw her retired Mining Engineer spouse going tech flabby cycling, gardening and doing Google Earth stuff. So we got a a Bukito a couple of years ago. Now an Orion. We both enjoy taking one to a local eatery (Chick-fil-A) and printing stuff for people while I (mostly) push 3D Printing to people. (Yes I am an extreme extrovert). If there is another next time around arrange to marry an Engineer.

I can picture you sitting at a table with a sign that reads, "Will print parts for chicken!"

g.

There are filaments that are a hybrid of metal powder (copper, brass, bronze) and PLA. They can be sanded and polished using metal polish. Judicious use of black paint can be used to add an "oxidized" look.

Anything printed with PLA should be kept out of direct sunlight and never left in a parked car in the daytime. However, I think we're talking about stuff to put on your mantle, yes? There are any number of sculptures you could print with metal-fill filament, and post-process with sanding and polishing, that would look great on your mantle.

There are also filaments with wood, carbon fiber, felt, cobalt, etc.

I took the approach of making my girlfriend some roses (It had been an issue in the past where I would give her a homegrown rose, and it would start shedding petals before she got it home), and painting them up really nicely. She loves them, and I think it kinda solved the issue of getting her to accept printed things preemptively.

Xenocrates wrote:I took the approach of making my girlfriend some roses (It had been an issue in the past where I would give her a homegrown rose, and it would start shedding petals before she got it home), and painting them up really nicely. She loves them, and I think it kinda solved the issue of getting her to accept printed things preemptively.

That was a great idea! Printed roses is a unique idea and one I would never have thought of. Thanks!