3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
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It really comes down to the user, as with any tech.
I use mine to exclusively print functional parts to keep old things around the house functioning. But I also took mechanical drafting for 3 semesters and feel both comfort and enjoyment from drafting my own models. That's not the case for everyone.
My functional prints are almost all still in operation, some for years. Many of the parts literally do not have commercial replacements, or solve issues that exist in the commercial versions.
I understand that I am an outlier though
I'm curious about these old things around the house you keep functioning.
I'll give an example of an old thing I want to keep running: a 1980s cassette deck.
Between the metalized plastic buttons, the belts, the wheels, the gears, the pressure rollers, there is nothing that can be 3D printed that even remotely approaches the finished look or function of the parts I'd need.
That definitely sounds like an intensive project
I have some simple buttons and knobs, drawer handles, drawer slides, dryer pest guards that no longer seem to be made, cabinet shelf supports for weird old peg sizes/shapes, plugs for holes to block sharp edges, etc
Your example is going to be really tough in part because the tape itself is fragile. I would absolutely not print things that will touch the magnetic tape itself if you care about the tape.
But the buttons, and possibly even the gears can likely be functionally printed as long as the features arent too small. That's the biggest issue your example has most likely: minimum feature size