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Comment by dkarp | Hacker News Reader

I did this for 6 years and eventually craved a home as well. I agree that it's incredibly freeing in some ways, but every time you buy something you have to consider what happens when you move and that isn't freeing at all.

I like to be able to buy items for projects that enrich me mentally or physically. E.g. I recently bought a 3D printer, I buy kitchen tools to cook more interesting recipes. If I moved abroad now, I'd likely do a big clear out but also ship a lot with me.

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To be clear, we do have some stuff that will move with us - coincidentally, one piece of it is a Prusa MK3S and most of the rest would probably be kitchen gear - but if we really wanted to we could get it all in one large checked bag.

> every time you buy something you have to consider what happens when you move

I actually enjoy this part of it. It forces me to be a more thoughtful consumer.

Selling the 3D printer during my international move was definitely something I regretted.

There's a distinction to be made for tools vs consumerist items.

What is the distinction? Is a kitchen gizmo a tool or a consumerist item? What hobbies use tools (e.g. building birdhouses) vs consumerist items (snowboarding)?

So I've had a 3D printer for about a year and I haven't gotten into it like I thought I would. Printed a handful of things (a N64 logo, a pikachu-naruto, a few other figures, a couple gifts) but that's about it.

Do you have any recommendations for resources that might get me into it more? I'm not aware of too much outside of just searching for things on Thingiverse.

My suggestion is to get into an unrelated hobby, and you’ll find small opportunities to print things useful to that hobby. Dice shakers or holders for Dungeon and dragons, pick holders for guitar, a case for my belay glasses for climbing, etc

Yeah, my rule of thumb for tools is that I don't get one unless I feel a strong need for one at least twice. This has worked out well. (Although I haven't come to grips with how to do "tool decay" so that they don't pile up. That's a problem for future me to deal with!)

I do have a board game hobby, and keep meaning to print out some card and token holder inserts for several of my games, but just haven't been motivated enough to do that. Good thought, though.

https://www.prusaprinters.org/ has some curated competitions for designs. I've printed several winners. (I have a Prusa, but it's obviously not required.)

I have an RSS feed on the most popular Thingiverse models.

Mind sharing the RSS feed link, please?

https://www.thingiverse.com/rss/popular

https://www.thingiverse.com/rss/featured

It looks like I've changed the default update interval on the second link to 12 hours; perhaps it was producing too much stuff otherwise.

The true value in a 3D printer lies in its ability to prototype a something that you cannot readily buy, something that only exists in your head.

Printing out random doodads from Thingiverse is not only wasteful but unfulfilling. You might as well go raid the dollar store toy aisle.

I would recommend spending some time and learning how to use a CAD software. Fusion360 is a popular choice, although with a bit of a learning curve. TinkerCAD is a good browser based option as well, excellent starting point for beginners.

I know the basics of Blender, which I use for pretty simple models for video game development also, but still pretty basic skills so far. I don't know how well Blender models translate into printable models.

pretty well, just setup units into something usable first. you will be able to see the quality of your model and export settings in the slicer

Design stuff in modeling software. Printing premade models is basically the same as just buying something on Amazon. You have zero control over how it turns out, and you can't iterate through adjustments. That being said, unless you actually have protects that require physical structures, it's going to be hard finding good uses.

Stuff breaks, see if you can fix it by 3D printing it. I’ve done cupboard handles, window shutter lock handles, belt connectors etc. Also creative objects are fun to do. Get some cheap callipers - they help out.

It can get expensive depending on where you go. For example, Costa Rica will tax your used goods that you ship in.

Can confirm. Costa Rica import taxes are very high. We decided to just live with fewer things. I love it, my wife doesn’t.

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