this post was submitted on 26 Jan 2025
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Name a single technological breakthrough in the past decade that has improved your life in some way (hexbear.net)
submitted 4 days ago by wtypstanaccount04@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net
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I feel as if technology has stagnated, all that are left are grifts or just make everything terrible, like AI. I was thinking Zoom calls maybe? The tech has definitely improved since Skype.

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[–] joaomarrom@hexbear.net 48 points 3 days ago (1 children)

3D printers, hands down. These used to be ridiculously expensive, janky pieces of technology that fought against you every step of the way and gave you shit results. Nowadays you can just buy one, put the parts together, plug it in and start printing straight away. They've come a really really long way in the last ten years.

As for how they've improved my life, I don't even know where to start lol I've made countless woodworking jigs which would have cost me a ton of money. I've made several replacement parts and adapters for things that I use at home. I've made a ton of fidget toys to keep my ADHD ass entertained during video calls.

3D printers are cool and you should make sure that you have one if there's ever a healthcare insurance shareholder conference in your city.

[–] umbrella@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

what kinds of things are you making?

mine sits gathering dust in a shelf for 90% of the time, until i need the occasional tiny part for a project.

[–] joaomarrom@hexbear.net 4 points 3 days ago

Well, I mostly use it for woodworking tools, here's some of the stuff I made for the workshop and home:

  • I copied the whole Matchfit line of woodworking jigs and fixtures for pennies (these are ridiculously expensive where I live)
  • I made dust collection adapters for pretty much every single tool I have
  • I made small try squares and can make them in any angle I want with a very good level of precision
  • Several tool holders to organize my hand tools
  • Infinite pegboard hooks for lightweight tools
  • Incredibly accurate templates to work with a router and flush trim bits and to mark spots for drilling holes
  • A million different little tools that would otherwise add up to way more than the cost of the printer
  • Replacement drawer pulls
  • Bottle cap collector for recycling
  • Coffee filter holders and organizers
  • An insane variety of fidget toys
  • An adapter that allows me to connect an external power socket to the very non-standard hole in the brick wall in my room without having to drill any additional holes
  • A plurality of cat toys
  • There was a day when I needed to replace my shower head and didn't have the right size of wrench to unscrew the old shower from the wall. It was a weekend and I couldn't go to the hardware store, so I took measurements and two hours later I had a single-use tool that worked a charm and allowed me to take a shower that day.

The list goes on. A 3D printer is only useful if you have that spirit of always trying to be crafty and resourceful, even when you don't know what the hell you're doing. I mostly use it to support my woodworking hobby, and I find that it really shines exactly like that, as a tool that synergizes with other DIY activities that you enjoy and provides you with an alternative to buying another single-use tool. Of course, I wouldn't use it to make something that my life depends on, it's often going to be a slapdash solution that's only good enough, but it can really help in a pinch for stuff that's not very critical.

Also, if you do get one, it's not necessary but highly recommended that you also learn how to do basic 3D modeling with Fusion 360 (the one I use), Onshape, TinkerCAD or Blender and ZBrush if you want to get into stuff like sculpting for high-res resin printers. I only know how to work with an FDM (filament) printer. If you (or anyone else reading this for that matter) want some recommendations on where to start, let me know!