Depends on how you define “worth it.” Have I spent less money on the printer than I would have buying things I printed? Probably not. However, it has been a blast and great learning experience. Most recently printed landing skids and a camera shroud for a friend’s dji drone which is pretty cool.

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.

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.

edit: lets put this in perspective. This would be like asking a golfer if they found golf worth it. the only real questions are “Do I enjoy it” and “can I afford it”. not “can it save me a buck”.

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

We made quite a few plant pots and other stuff. It’s paid for itself.

Learn to model things in CAD. That’s what is limiting me from getting real use out of my printer. It’s fun to print models you find online, but the real value is in printing your own designs.

Yes, I just finished printing a rudder core for my sailboat.

For all the headache its caused, its also saved me from several trips to the store to find cable ties, chip clips, a hair dryer holder, pencil cups, spice racks, etc.

I’d say definitely. The first useful thing I printed was during the pandemic where all the paper towels you could get were those z fold ones you see in office building bathrooms. Suffice to say, most people don’t have a container at home for those types of paper towels, so I mocked one up that was like a home tissue box and printed it out. Saved myself 80+$ on making one instead of buying one on Amazon (also they’re all wall mounted and I didn’t want to do that)

Since then I’ve printed toilet paper roll holders, plant pots, catch all bowls, insulated drink holders, tie racks, jewelry racks and boxes, all manner of things I use almost every day, and I’ve learned about 3d modeling as a result (not really good yet but still) so win win.

Edit: I’d say at this point I’ve definitely printed more than how much the printer costed in terms of things I use. Printing mini figures and scenery for tabletop games alone has exceeded the cost it would have been to buy that stuff.

Yes I have an fdm and a resin printer, but they’ve both got a lot of good use and yes absolutely worth it.

I print warhammer for friends for money. So that plus the money I saved on models for myself, I’d say it’s worth it.

But it’s also a hobby, learning how the things work and how to model is a lot of fun!

I would put it in the same class as lathes or mills you probably aren’t saving money by buying one but it may open more avenues for you.

I will say though with the price of printers vs mills & etc, a cheap printer will get you much closer to breaking even. You might save more than you spend if you can use an Ender 3 judicially but overall it’s mostly for those odd projects or when a custom part is needed.

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I built my own because they were quite expensive, lots of fun but very little real use at all. I’m planning on reviving it because it’s lots of fun to tinker with.

Not really. I purchased one with pretty significant maintenance/process requirements, had I gotten one a little more seamless (self leveling/etc) I think I’d use it far more often than I do now.

Financially yes. I pretty much only print functional things. I probably have saved enough money just in printing chip clips to buy two printers.