The world of 3D printing isn’t for the faint of heart. Even the good ones are prone to sometimes acting up. If you’re interested in trying out the hobby and looking for Black Friday deals, we found a discount on one that Sean Hollister of our sister site The Verge considers to be great, even if you’re a “lazy bum.”
According to my former colleague Sean, who prints all sorts of stuff with 3D printer (from Nerf gun replicas and figurines to generously printing ear savers for all the staff’s face masks during the height of the COVID pandemic), the Bambu P1P is the “easiest, most reliable 3D printer,” according to his May 2024 review. It’s normally $699, but you can pick one up from the company’s website for $449. This sale, as well as Bambu’s discounts on filament and accessories, lasts until Dec. 3 at 3 a.m. eastern.
Sean’s use cases for 3D printers are the tip of the ice berg; you can print anything you mockup in 3D modeling software, or you can print things that you have files for. Increasingly in the world of tabletop, companies are releasing STL files of miniatures, allowing people to turn them into physical creations if they’ve got a 3D printer. That’s the case for Trench Crusade, a miniatures skirmish game that recently launched, as well as with Modiphius’ Fallout: Wasteland Warfare miniatures.
Some forward-thinking gaming accessory companies, including Mechanism and dbrand, offer 3D printer files to let people get more out of their products. Dbrand published a free download to a universal mount for its Project Killswitch case for the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally so that gamers easily attach things to their consoles. Mechanism offers free files for most of its products.
