We've come across our fair share of 3D printers here at Tom's Hardware. We've even covered a handful of clever Lego-based projects. This is the first time, however, we've seen the two meld together so harmoniously. In a fascinating display of intellectual finesse, a maker who goes by Zealousideal-Army333 over at Reddit has created a working 3D printer using Lego bricks.
Most people would rather buy a printer and get busy printing, but Zealousideal-Army333 truly channeled their inner maker when coming up with this idea. The entire 3D printer body was put together from scratch and, being an original idea, this inevitably took a look time to complete, as confirmed by Zealousideal-Army333 in the original project thread.
A handful of motors make this design possible. There are three large ones that are used to operate the X, Y, and Z coordinates. A fourth motor is thrown in to actuate a 3D pen. This is how the printer is able to melt and dispense filament. Instead of an extruder system, a smaller motor is used to press the button on the pen which is moved around the print bed.
The software side of the project is handled using Python. Zealousideal-Army333 put together a custom script that is able to read Marlin gcode and translate that into workable instructions to print the object. This means the Lego 3D printer is able to print regular gcode files without any special processing.
(Image credit: Zealousideal-Army333)
Surely you're wondering how well a Lego-based 3D printer performs. The answer? It's fantastically terrible. Sure, you can print a Benchy but it's going to take several tries and the patience of a saint to see it through. Let's say that you're willing to see past those shortcomings for the delightful novelty of a Lego 3D printer—be ready to fork out plenty of cash. You're going to spend almost twice as much as you would on something like an Ender (the Ender 3 V3 is one of our favorites). This project requires more than just Lego bricks, you'll need motors, gears, technic frames, a 3D printing pen and more.
Overall, this project is incredibly cool and it's amazing to see it in action. Still, we recommend anyone interested in 3D printing snag a 3D printer for themselves rather than build one out of Lego bricks. If you're not sure where to start, check out our list of best 3D printers and see which ones we recommend.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
