--- title: The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the... description: After moving past novelty prints, a 3D printer owner found the most value in mundane functional items: cable organizers, device stands, card holders, keyboard... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the boring ones I almost didn't bother making | daily.dev og:description: After moving past novelty prints, a 3D printer owner found the most value in mundane functional items: cable organizers, device stands, card holders, keyboard... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/VZ5Bm3e4V.png og:image:alt: The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the boring ones I almost didn't bother making og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the boring ones I almost didn't bother making **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary After moving past novelty prints, a 3D printer owner found the most value in mundane functional items: cable organizers, device stands, card holders, keyboard risers, and custom enclosures for electronics projects. These utilitarian prints cost pennies in filament, often use purged material that would otherwise be wasted, and can replace hard-to-find parts for obsolete devices. Custom ESP32 enclosures, NAS feet, and tripod knobs are examples where off-the-shelf solutions simply don't exist. Over time, the cumulative savings on accessories and replacement parts offset the printer's initial cost. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [My 3D printer pays for itself every time I skip buying a PC accessory](https://daily.dev/posts/my-3d-printer-pays-for-itself-every-time-i-skip-buying-a-pc-accessory-nor6vrj77) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The best 3D printer prints are the boring ones that fix problems you've learned to ignore](https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-3d-printer-prints-are-the-boring-ones-that-fix-problems-you-ve-learned-to-ignore-ghhgi0hen) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [4 everyday objects I 3D-printed instead of buying, and they've held up for years](https://daily.dev/posts/4-everyday-objects-i-3d-printed-instead-of-buying-and-they-ve-held-up-for-years-ithemv4ui) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I stopped buying cheap plastic parts after my 3D printer proved it could solve every household problem](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-buying-cheap-plastic-parts-after-my-3d-printer-proved-it-could-solve-every-household-probl-oyjheka7p) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [I stopped chasing cool 3D prints and started printing boring stuff, and my printer finally pays for itself](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-chasing-cool-3d-prints-and-started-printing-boring-stuff-and-my-printer-finally-pays-for--qdj4zvx9y) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#hardware](https://daily.dev/tags/hardware), [#iot](https://daily.dev/tags/iot), [#homelab](https://daily.dev/tags/homelab) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the boring ones I almost didn't bother making","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v"},"datePublished":"2026-07-13T15:01:54.910Z","dateModified":"2026-07-13T15:06:20.651Z","description":"After moving past novelty prints, a 3D printer owner found the most value in mundane functional items: cable organizers, device stands, card holders, keyboard...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8d259818962e67c4b7570650e1e829ab?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8d259818962e67c4b7570650e1e829ab?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-3d-prints-that-actually-saved-me-money-were-the-boring-ones-i-almost-didn-t-bother-making-vz5bm3e4v","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"hardware,iot,homelab","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The 3D prints that actually saved me money were the boring ones I almost didn't bother making"}]} ```