I am a hobbyist, and my job will probably never require me to design and print anything for work.

I do really enjoy the process of conceptualizing, designing, and printing, and have done so for myself and some close acquaintances.

I’ve spent many hours/days learning the tools of the trade and was wondering if there was an opportunity to make some money as a side gig. Has anyone been successful doing this, and how did you go about it?

Here are a couple of my early designs, I plan to upload more once I clean things up a bit.

https://www.thingiverse.com/landon8848/designs

  • Uninvited Guest
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    1 year ago

    I have made a total of $100 CAD over the course of… 5 months by selling a $10 plastic tool for strollers on Facebook marketplace. These were printed at my local library before I ever owned my own printer.

    Now that I do own my own printer, I’ve just been enjoying printing very long prints that I couldn’t at the library.

    All that said, there are niche markets where you can fill a need and you can earn some slush fund money without taking on much stress.

    • lando55@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      This is exactly what I was thinking. Most of my designs are for very niche markets and hobbies, purely for enjoyment and to help people out.

      I don’t want to make it my full time job or anything, but $100 over 5 months would just about cover the cost of filament, so I’d be happy with that ;)