There’s a running joke I make every time I 3D print something new. After figuring the cost of the the filament I used (which is usually just a few pennies) I announce the item’s cost and follow it with, “or as Susan would say,” and then I add $600 (the price of the printer) to the total amount. It’s actually kind of a dual-layer joke because Susan never actually says that. I just pretend that she does.

Because most of the items I print are relatively small, the cost of the filament I use per print is pretty inconsequential. The iPhone stand I printed for my desk contains about six pennies worth of filament. The paper towel holder I just printed for my workshop cost about seventeen cents. This makes the items incredibly cheap to print (must cheaper than buying them), as long as you don’t figure in the price of the actual printer.

But something I forgot was that you shouldn’t add the entire cost of the printer to each item; technically, it’s the price of the printer divided by how many items I’ve printed. By the time I had printed two things, technically each one cost $300 plus filament.

I haven’t kept an exact list of every single thing I’ve printed since buying my 3D printer five years ago, but I’ve saved most of the 3D models I’ve downloaded and taken pictures of most of my prints, and after entering all of those things into a spreadsheet I realized I’ve printed roughly 100 things. All the phone holders, hat hooks, and eyeglass hangers eventually added up…

…which means the price is no longer $600 plus filament — it’s $6 plus filament! That brings the cost of my most recent print, that paper towel holder, to about $6.17. I found a similar one on Amazon selling for $9.99. Finally! I’m breaking even!

For what it’s worth, I would not recommend buying a 3D printer if your goal is to save money. I once watched a woodworker on YouTube who said the point wasn’t to save money, but to enjoy the process. 3D printing is a lot like that. You really have to enjoy tinkering with things to enjoy the process. But breaking even doesn’t hurt!