Let’s be honest, it can get a bit tedious to print out yet another desk organizational tool or something functional for your kitchen. Sometimes, you just want to 3D print something that isn’t super useful, is a little bit ridiculous, and brings a smile to your face from its sheer awesome silliness.
If you want to commemorate the 2020 toilet paper shortage, give your dog a fancy tie, or award someone for a lackluster print, this is the article you’ve been looking for. Below, we present the best of the silliest, least practical things to 3D print.
If you find something you like, but your printer’s tied up with more serious projects, Craftcloud by All3DP, has got you covered! With a wide range of materials, colors, and finishes, you’re bound to find something just to your taste.
Considerations
There are a lot of models out there, so we used the following considerations to pick the most glorious, not-super-useful items to 3D print:
- Feasibility: Although the item itself may be humorous, at least you won’t have any laughs over how impossible it is to print! All the items on the list can be successfully printed at home.
- Popularity: Whether it’s a high number of likes, makes, or both, users find these projects entertaining and fun to print and discuss.
- Truly not super useful: We really tried to avoid putting anything that will enhance your life with too much practicality on this list!
Let’s dive in!
Silly Walks Extruder Rotation Visualizer
Many 3D printing enthusiasts love this hilarious and, well, silly Monty Python tribute item. You can print two possible versions, one with supports and one without, depending on your needs. The extruder motor allows the character to do its “silly walk”, and you’ll be the envy of all your colleagues.
This design requires only 15 minutes of print time, so it’s a fast project and could make a fun gift for a Monty Python fan!
- Who designed it? lecter
- How printable/popular is it? This model has 114 downloads as well as a Make.
- Where to find it? PrusaPrinters
Crappy Print Award
Everyone needs this hilarious, “prestigious” award in their lives: The Crappy Print Award honors the worst 3D prints out there. This prize will certainly give that glory to the winner.
The print uses supports for the pillar only (the rest prints without supports) and 25% infill. There are optional “prizes” you can opt to print as well. Check out the Makes to see what this amazing trophy looks like in real life.
- Who designed it? ryanpriore
- How printable/popular is it? So far, the Crappy Print Award has 3 Makes and 4 comments.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Licky Brush
If you’ve ever wanted to pretend to lick your pet to give them a taste of their own medicine, but without actually using your tongue, you’re in luck!
This masterpiece was printed with TPU flexible filament and features 10% infill with whiskers as raw filament. The maker recommends a heat gun for smoothing out the edges. Let the maker know what your pet thinks, too!
- Who designed it? MechEngineerMike
- How printable/popular is it? This item has 39 likes and has been made once.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Gum Phone
If you’re getting a sore neck or arms from holding your smartphone, let this amazingly silly Gum Phone solve that problem. This print allows you to hold your device with your mouth! It could be used as a ridiculous headcam, too.
It’s just three simple files to print that easily snap together, with relatively short print times for each file. There’s quite a lot of user reviews to peruse through as well. Take a look at some of the love for the Gum Phone!
- Who designed it? Noodles
- How printable/popular is it? The gum phone has 3 Makes, 3 Remixes, and 119 comments.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
2020 Toilet Paper Memorial Magnet
Who doesn’t want to pay eternal tribute to the toilet paper shortage during the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020? This conversation piece is a magnet that can be displayed somewhere around the home.
To make this gem, you’ll need to glue a 10-mm magnet to the back of your print when finished. This print is only one file with small dimensions, so it’s a very simple and fast project that will bring back wonderful memories.
- Who designed it? SuperPerf
- How printable/popular is it? The magnet has 38 downloads and 782 views to date.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Nozzle Christmas Tree
For all 3D printing fans out there, you’ve just got to have this totally pointless but totally funny 3D nozzle Christmas tree print. All parts can be printed without supports and can be put together without glue.
In order to prevent bumps around the conical nozzle, one user suggests setting your printer at the seam position to print. It’s an easy print with a relatively short print time, so get ready to rock around the nozzle Christmas tree!
- Who designed it? TotallyAddicted
- How printable/popular is it? This model has 43 downloads, and one person so far has posted a Make.
- Where to find it? PrusaPrinters
Googie Egg
For fans of Rise of the Guardians who are looking to enrich their lives with something rather pointless, check out the Googie eggs.
The design can be scaled down by 45% and printed without supports, but you can also leave the file the way it is in case you want a large Googie egg! Print time is relatively short, a bit over an hour, and you can really get creative with colors and patterns to customize your useless, albeit adorable, Googie egg.
- Who designed it? Bugman_140
- How printable/popular is it? This item has 120 downloads and 1 Make.
- Where to find it? PrusaPrinters
Jelly Belly Maze
This rather unpractical but delightfully fun jelly bean maze allows you to eat your jelly beans one at a time as they drop through the maze – perhaps a good way to curb your jelly bean addiction due to the effort?
A five-hour-long printing endeavor, this hilarious gadget uses 7 m of filament (remember to use food-safe PLA) and has a .2-mm layer height. It will work for most “normal-sized” jelly beans!
- Who designed it? Megan Brown
- How printable/popular is it? The jelly belly maze boasts 96 downloads and 16 likes.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Funny Nose Glasses Stand
Haven’t you always wanted a stand for your glasses with a silly nose and mustache ensemble? You’re in luck because now you can 3D print it yourself. With a 20% infill and 0.2-mm resolution, it’s a fairly straightforward and simple project to print and assemble.
The comments are enthusiastic, and there’s even a Remix if you want to check it out. What are you waiting for? This funny nose and moustache stand for your glasses will look great on your bedside table!
- Who designed it? dicas3dprint
- How printable/popular is it? At this time the glasses stand has two Makes and a Remix to its name.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Dog Collar & Tie
Come on now, who doesn’t want their dog to look ridiculously elegant? If the answer (of course) is yes, this is the design for you. The design is meant for dogs with a neck size of between 80 to 110 mm.
The creator recommends that the ensemble be printed with a flexible filament (such as TPU). The tie requires supports, but the collar doesn’t. It’s an easy piece to assemble. Another tip from the creator is to use a .8-mm nozzle to reduce the total print time to roughly half an hour.
- Who designed it? JMecky
- How printable/popular is it? So far, this design has 343 likes and 2 Makes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
License: The text of "The Top 10 Silliest Things to 3D Print" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.