Two years ago I wanted to build a custom keyboard. The cost 350 and a 3D printer + filament cost 200, the rest about 60-70…

So yes, it was worth it. Also I regularly print stuff now, which is just a net positive at this point.

I’m on my third upgrade machine after getting my first printer years ago. Very rewarding hobby, much recommend.

Hell yes! I make a lot of things and having this ability really expanded on that.

I should point out that anyone interested in anything more than printing trinkets found on the Internet will also have to learn 3d drafting, at least to some extent. Bear that in mind.

Define “worth it”??

For many, it’s a hobby. For many more, it’s an adjunct to whatever hobby they do have. Hobby’s don’t have to save you money; and I’m militantly opposed to monetizing hobbies as a way to “justify” them.

Personally, I’m mostly 3d printing custom components (that I’ve designed), for R/C aircraft of various sorts. (Like, my cyclogyros, or the flying saucer powered by a 3d printed ducted fan; which is, more or less, a scaled model of the saucer from the OG Day The Earth Stood Still. or the thermal airship using toaster wire that has taken on a lot of different forms, ranging from 20’ star destroyers to whale sharks to a robot named Buoyant Bob that hands out candy on Halloween.)

I also enjoy 3d printing as a hobby, in of itself, too. (and spend waaayyyyy too much tinkering on the printer. its fun.) But it doesn’t have to save me money, and I feel no need to compare it to other forms of hobbies. It’s what I enjoy.

I didn’t ultimately get around to completing the two projects that I initially had in mind, and the amount of tweaking and troubleshooting required for basic functionality was pretty substantial.

On the other hand, I did enjoy learning about the state of the technology, even if it wasn’t very productive.

So, as a tool, no. It wasn’t worth it.

As a hobby? Eh, it was okay.

Yes, being able to design something and have it in my hands it a few hours definitely makes it worth it. With 3D printing services it takes days or weeks and they get expensive fast.

I got an Ender 3v2 and for two years was trying to just get it to work properly, repairing it, and learning about printing. After all of that I’ve enjoyed having an okay printer, but I’m a bit jealous of everyone starting out now that won’t have to deal with all of the garbage I did. And I’m sure people who started years before me felt the same when the Enders came out. If not for those annoyances, yes it’s been worth it.

It’s not like I make or save a lot of money from it, but as a hobby it’s been amazingly fun. Getting into basic 3D modeling has been really cool too, nothing quite hits like making something entirely unique and designed for a specific purpose, then watching your printer just crank it out in a day or two and your imagined thing is all the sudden real.

I’m sure other hobbies can do that too, but for me it was a really awesome feeling :)

I print figurines, busts, and diorama scenery for my son and I to paint. Sure I’ve got my share of functional prints but most my print time is spent so I can spend creative time with my son. So very much worth it for me.

Yes absolutely. I’m sure the hobby hasn’t paid for itself, but I never expected it to. It has been worth it because of the amount of happiness I have spread with personalized gifts and a feeling of satisfaction when I make a print to fix something around the house or make life a little easier or more convenient. The little toys and doo-dads are great and the kids love them too.

For the first 3 years I had fun designing things in CAD. I fixed up or enhanced loads of the things around the house, designed some doodads and widgets, and published the ones that I though other people might have use for. And I had fun earning Prusa meters, participating in forums, and all that kind of stuff.

Then one day, I just ran out of things to fix and inspiration for new doohickeys. That was about a year ago. I tried to print a replacement keyboard food a week ago and found my printers not working anymore. I haven’t found the motivation to do anything about it yet.

Honestly I don’t really know, and don’t really care. I enjoy sporadically using it, and I’ve enjoyed making both useful, and some useless things.

Trust me, I’ve spent far more on dumber shit that I use half as often.

It would be worth it if I had an actual decent printer. As it stands now, I feel like I just wasted money because all I can print small, pla objects, after days of trial and error and adjusting settings. Saving up for a prusa, hopefully will make it worth it.

The Ender probably wasn’t. It was a lot of effort, and mostly not the interesting kind, and fairly little reward. Although when it worked, it was really good. In the end. Sometimes. And it’s way too big.

The Kingroon, very much yes. It’s cheap, kind of trashy, but compact. Just prints stuff. Parts detach great. Works just about every time. Quiet out of the box. Just kind of annoying to preheat at the start and end of the session to load and unload filament. Very annoying touchscreen. But those are minor things and I’m not tempted to fix it or upgrade anything. I have actual projects to do. Too many actual projects to do.

Oh, and why? Custom parts that are impossible to buy and a lot of work or impossible to machine or fabricate otherwise. Saves a trip to the local library or hackerspace or wherever things could be printed.

financially worth it?

Probably not.

Did it give me brief respites of light against the clawing, ever encroaching abyssal darkness of life and misery?

Yes.