My New Favorite 3d Print and My Thoughts on if 3d Printing Is Worth Getting Into

I published a 3d print design to Printables and it once again tells me what some of the best 3d prints are.

The Problem

Lighting with lights such as the Elgato Key Light can be tricky to balance on white backgrounds, especially with darker skin. I think that's why every video I watched of people explaining what honeycomb grids did always showed them with subjects of darker complexion.

Sadly Elgato doesn't make honeycombs for streaming and I kinda get why as most professional streamers often have darker backgrounds full of multi-color Elgato lights.

But I solved that with a design of my own today.

3D Print Community

I found a functionally amazing 3d print for a grid for the Key Light and I was able to get everything working except the mounting brackets which left trying to use VELCRO dots to keep them on the light(unsuccessfully).

The kind of best prints

To me the best prints are functional prints that solve a problem that you and some others may have.

My moonlander reset key is not needed by new models, but while dialing in my keyboard, this designit was a great replacement for scratching my keyboard up with the paperclip from my mortgage paperwork, because really I didn't have a paperclip. My shortened Gagia Classic drip Tray allows me to fit a cup and scale in while pulling a shot.

Today I added to my list of best prints when trying to decide if I would sacrifice two Goody Extra Thick Hair Ties and instead took several measurements and made a J hook that would clip around the grid's outer edge and the other end nestles snugly into the fins on the outer edge locking in place.

Printing 4 of these clips was less than $1 and about 30 minutes of design and 20 minutes to print.

Are 3D printers worth it

3D printers nowadays are very different from 10 years ago. Many now have auto-leveling beds, interchangeable parts that you can easily source and most importantly have dropped in price and complexity. There are so many design software tools and design source sites that you can find most things or quickly make a crude version for yourself. You can get some models of the most popular brands like Bambu Labs for about $350 and some budget models like this one from SOVOL for $200.

If you have a inkjet or laser printer plugged in your office right now you could likely pay about the same you paid for it on a 3D printer now and probably use it more.

As for my J hook for the Elgato Key Light, you can find that on Printables.