Seven Cool 3D Printable Tools

Spanner — 9/16 in. wrench, Thing #26425, by ow3n.

Putting together the MAKE Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing was great fun, for a lot of reasons, but one of my personal favorites was getting to kick around Thingiverse researching some of the amazing things that people are already making with hobby-class 3D printers. I absolutely love that site.

At first, the idea of printing useful hand tools in fused plastic filament seemed unlikely to me (and indeed, many of the standouts in the T-verse Tools category include metal bits, blades, or other embedments that take the heavy wear), but, as usual, the creativity of the Thingiverse community surprised me. Below I’ve collected just a few of my standout favorites for your enjoyment.

One disappointing discovery, while researching 3D printed tools, was that Brian Beebe’s Electro Wire Stripper, which made such a big splash back in January, has apparently been taken down from the site. Don’t know when that happened or why, but it seems really too bad to me. Such a clever idea, and I never got around to downloading the physibles or printing one for myself! Would love to know the background on that, if anybody knows and is inclined to share.

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