It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s your first year of college or you’re a proud upperclassman, or if you’ve started a new course for fun or are just trying to pass what’s on your plate, there’s one thing that seems to plague every student: scrambling to get everything you need for the school year while remembering to wash your clothes.
We’ve been there and want to help relieve some of the pressure for you with a list of useful things you can 3D print instead of buying them or waiting for them to arrive in the mail.
Below, you’ll find some handy items to help you stay productive. But we also firmly believe that if you work hard, you get to play hard (time abiding).
And if you find some things you’d like to add to your studying setup, but your 3D printer is still on break, consider Craftcloud. Upload the files, choose your material preferences, select the manufacturer, then the model will be delivered to your doorstep, ready to join you in your academic journey!
Dorm Life
From starting your day on time to making the most of limited space, these models offer some creative and smart ways to avoid issues.
Retro Alarm Clock Stand
Grad or post-grad education can be tiring with everything you’ve got to do. Sometimes, a little help can be useful to keep tabs on all of your activities.
This stand gives a retro look to your modern timekeeper. In addition to the 3D printed parts, you’ll need the Google Home Mini and a few more bits to put it all together.
With this print, you’ll see that there are close to 100 makes, and yet, some of the comments aren’t that positive. It seems that it depends on the material and settings to know how yours will come out to best fit the Google Home Mini. There are helpful tips from people who successfully printed it, with one comment saying the perfect remedy was to print it scaled up to 101%.
- Who designed it? Yelt
- How printable/popular is it? This clock is a must, and over 9,300 people like this print. A whopping 93 makes and 10 remixes must feel good for the creator to see!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Desktop Trash Can
Maintaining a clean home can be challenging, particularly when you’re studying for exams. Luckily, this mini trash can is here to help! You can easily keep it on your desk for garbage, ensuring a clean study station. It even has a cute minimalist look and a built-in swinging lid.
In addition, the model is easy to print and composed of just two parts. As the creator suggested, printing it with a 0.2-mm layer height and a 10-15% infill should do the trick. The lid needs to be printed upside down with the top part lying on the build plate. Depending on the cooling capabilities of your machine, you may need supports for the lid.
Foldable Coat Hanger
Throwing clothes haphazardly into the closet or on the floor is tempting when you’re short on time, but 3D printing is here to help you clean up the mess! This coat hanger is easy to print and comes together with only two screws. Furthermore, it’s foldable, so it won’t take up much space when you’re not using it. It’s basically a perfect accessory for your wardrobe!
This model is made up of three parts that come together with two M3 screws that are at least 22 mm long for the hinge. The design doesn’t require any supports, but it needs a printer with a build volume of at least 230 x 230 mm.
Honeycomb Storage Wall
Space is at it again. We can’t say it enough, space saving is huge. This wall storage print also helps you keep things in the same spot, which means your brain does not have to waste resources on finding where your portable hard drive is.
Some people have seen a rise in these organizing prints, like Gridfinity, but those still require a horizontal surface area. In your dorm, you might need to build up, not out. This is why the honeycomb storage wall is a good choice for anyone who doesn’t have a lot of room to work with.
This design has a few add-ons to choose from. How many, you ask? How about over 900! This is pretty astounding and makes for an awesome, and possibly overwhelming, experience browsing through all of the options this print has.
From headphone holders to Raspberry Pi mounts, this project has got it all. We’re pretty sure we even saw a remix for a toilet paper roll holder. Hey, we’re not here to judge.
- Who designed it? RostaP
- How printable/popular is it? Over 114,000 downloads, almost 1,400 makes, and more than a crazy 1,600 remixes will help you find almost anything to fit your needs.
- Where to find it? Printables
Shoes Organizer
You may find yourself walking a lot during your student years, and depending on whether you have different shoes for your various extracurricular activities or just like shoes and have a nice collection, you might struggle to find a good place to store these. Unfortunately, college dorms and closets aren’t known for being super spacious. This print will help mitigate the clutter and cut down on the footprint that your shoes take up.
The maker of this design made a previous version with a lot of shoe sizes, but they used over 20% more material to print. This new design is a one-size-fits-all solution.
They recommend using 15% infill and pointed out that your 3D printer bed has to have a length of at least 200 mm to print this. If you’re running low on filament, check out the remixes where people cut down on material use even more.
- Who designed it? JulioGG
- How printable/popular is it? 18 makes show it’s popular, and there are several nice options in the 5 remixes it has in case you want something slightly different.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Headphone Stand
Headphones are one of those things that are always lying around. Sadly, they’re easy to lose and quite delicate. With this stand, you can give your headphones a new home. Designed by MakerBot, this stand was intended for Logitech G930 and Astro A50 headphones, but has been successfully used for many different models, so you don’t have to worry about incompatibility.
This model is simple to print. If you print it on its back, you won’t need supports. Depending on how strong you want the stand to be, you can use 10% infill to save material or 35% if you are more on the clumsy side, as some makers have commented.
- Who designed it? MakerBot
- How printable/popular is it? This is one of the most popular models on Thingiverse, with over 884,000 downloads and a whopping 448 makes!
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Cable Organizer Clip
When in college, keeping everything organized means you’re not wasting precious brain resources on remembering where your charging cable is. These cable organizer clips keep everything perfectly wrapped while in transit to class or when you’ve got more than a handful of things in the drawers.
With the ease of printing many of these in one go, it’s a perfect model to make someone else’s day by giving them one of these and not breaking the bank at the same time. We can remember the days when this could have saved us time untangling our headphones.
Given the number of remixes, you should be able to find a solution for your cable situation. Keep in mind that you’ll likely get the best results by using cable lengths between 1 to 2 meters.
- Who designed it? magicxman
- How printable/popular is it? This is a winner for most with 41 makes and 15 remixes to meet different needs. That’s probably why it’s has garnered over 2,500 likes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
USB Cable Holder
It’s all about USB cables these days, isn’t it? And if you’re ready to go and want to avoid the hassle of untangling things later, this print will keep your space tidy.
When you unplug all of those adapters and accessories from your computer, tablet, cell phone, and more, it’s nice to quickly slot them into this USB holder and continue with your day without having to worry about dealing with them later.
This is a simple print with a modular design, so you can attach as many rows as you need.
- Who designed it? ajitam
- How printable/popular is it? 27 people have shared their makes of this design and an additional 14 people made remixes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Gaming Controller Stand
If you need a break or you’re done with your studies and want to relax, why not play some games to end the day? There’s only one problem, where’s the controller? That wasted time could have been enjoyed gaming. Here’s an easy solution to make the most of your relaxation time.
You might call this a hanger for your controllers, and we love it. A huge benefit of this design is that it’s a very nice way to save precious space. We also think it brings a cool look to a setup for your PS5 or your Xbox series X. Now, enjoy your time, as tomorrow it starts all over again!
- Who designed it? sa_shadow
- How printable/popular is it? This stand has attracted around 820 likes, as well as 4 makes and 4 remixes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Bottle Name Tag
Picture this: You’re at a party and set your drink down. When you go to grab it, you notice others have had the same idea, and now you have no clue which drink is yours. This handy design allows you to print a name tag for your bottle that makes it easy to keep tabs on which drink is yours.
It would be easy to print a lot of these in one go, but the initial setup isn’t as easy as downloading a single file and printing it right away. This maker has included the FreeCAD file and detailed instructions on how to set everything up, including simple fonts and emojis, and a Python macro to make the tag with your custom choices. Learning new skills and creating something useful? We think it’s worth the time and effort.
Bicycle Phone Holder
Okay, technically this one isn’t for the dorm itself, but it’ll help you get there – or anywhere.
It’s not always easy getting to know your way around a brand new campus or city. With a lot of classmates walking around while you’re rushing to class, it doesn’t usually end well if you keep looking down at your phone to know where to go. This design will help keep your hands free and ready for anything, with the lovely vocal assistance from your GPS maps.
The creator included a STEP file so that you’re able to modify the design to work with your phone. Now you don’t have to worry about it as much when biking around.
- Who designed it? Mowi
- How printable/popular is it? While only 67 people loved this design, over 800 people have downloaded it so far.
- Where to find it? YouMagine
Study Time
Yes, college life is for making new friends and joining a club or two, but hey, maybe you’re there to learn, too. Here are some practical models to make your learning life easier!
Simple & Quick Laptop Stand
Now the last thing to grab is the laptop stand, and then you’re out the door. When you don’t have a lot of room in your bag, just print out this computer stand! It has a nice honeycomb pattern – but you can easily change it to whatever infill you want.
We would advise choosing a more robust infill just to make sure there are no problems with your equipment falling off and to avoid any kind of damage if they’re not properly packed. Just toss these in your bag and get to class before it’s too late.
- Who designed it? Mabur
- How printable/popular is it? With over 12,000 downloads and 149 makes shared, this is clearly a popular design!
- Where to find it? Printables
Pen Clip
When studying, we usually use pens to write notes or underline important parts of a text. If you want to travel light, here’s the solution for you: a minimalist pen clip. Fast to print and weighing only 4 g, it will become your favorite way to carry around your pen, eliminating the need for a pencil case.
Since this part is so small, it fits on smaller 3D printers, such as the Prusa Mini or the Voron 0. In just half an hour, you’ll have your pen clip with no need for supports. You can set a 0.2-mm layer height and, although you can use PLA, if you plan on studying outside or carrying it around, consider printing it with PETG to increase durability.
- Who designed it? AlbertAcosta
- How printable/popular is it? Quite a few students have found this model useful, with 39 makes published and over 2,300 downloads!
- Where to find it? Printables
Double SD Card Holder
Something that’s a bummer is when you forget your SD cards for a school project or presentation. Can you be blamed? They’re tiny and quite easy to lose if not properly handled. That is why we present something small enough to fit in your pocket and hold almost all of your SD cards in one package.
One side is dedicated to any SD cards that have information on them, and the other is a spot for blank SD cards. You’ll easily know which card is needed for what you’re working on.
No printing tips are given other than it’s support-free.
- Who designed it? Mosca2
- How printable/popular is it? The model has been downloaded over 2,500 times, and it has over 560 likes.
- Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Hyperboloid Pencil Holder
Whether you’re taking a design or sketching class, or you prefer to go the handwritten way (or you just like doodling in your notebook) a practical pencil holder can help you stay organized. If this minimalist option isn’t to your liking, there are plenty more options out there. You’re bound to find a design you like!
This is truly a simple design that brings a lot of life into something that most people would think of as dull. As the maker of this model states, “Print, clip in pencils, admire…” It’s just that simple.
- Who designed it? MakeALot
- How printable/popular is it? We love having our pencils hold our pencils! With 18 makes, 10 remixes, over 19,000 downloads, and over 1,000 likes, others out there seem to agree.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Dragon Pen
When studying, we often run through lots and lots of pens. If you think that throwing a pen in the trash every time it’s empty is wasteful, you’ll love this model. This design allows you to 3D print a beautiful dragon pen that can be reused any time you want. When the ink is finished, simply change the refill and you’re good to go! This design was inspired by a dragon head drain pipe in the Forbidden City in China.
The design is divided into three parts: a top and bottom body, and a cap. To obtain the best quality possible, especially the details on the dragon head, print the model at a 0.1-mm layer height. With no need for supports, this model is quite easy to print. Once all the parts are finished, insert the refill into the body and screw the upper and bottom body together. Now you’re ready to study!
- Who designed it? wuguigui
- How printable/popular is it? Over 900 people have downloaded this model and as many as 450 people have published their prints!
- Where to find it? MakerWorld
Check List Stencil
Now that you have your pencil situation figured out, it’s time to plan the day! This print will make it very easy to keep up with everything that needs to be done. With a quick glance, you’ll confirm if things haven’t been checked off, and you can tackle them before things get backed up.
The designer of this print actually has quite a lot of pointers and detailed instructions to make sure you have a fast successful attempt at printing this, including laying the model on its face and choosing a 100% infill, as well as some tips to deal with potential warping.
- Who designed it? KaiNightmode
- How printable/popular is it? While it only has around 100 likes and over 350 downloads so far, we’re pretty sure it’ll be added to more to-do lists soon enough!
- Where to find it? Printables
Abbreviation Clips
While you’re in class, you might find these simple designs a lifesaver for when you’re studying and looking over your lengthy notes. They’re great to keep tabs on things you’ve got to reference in a book that you don’t want to permanently mark. And unlike sticky notes, these are reusable.
No print settings were recommended by the designer, but as far as we can tell, they should be an easy print without supports. However, you may have to watch out for stringing.
Printable Precision Tools
When you’re studying and notice that you’ve forgotten one of your tools or don’t remember which bolt is what size, we’re happy to say that someone’s looking out for you.
Thingiverse user jhoward679 improved on the original project by adding new tools and updates for better printability. There’s even a breakdown of how much money you’re saving per tool. Whether you’re studying engineering and need to work out some angles, or you’re designing things and need a ruler, you’re likely to find a tool you need in this collection.
The designer warns not to scale the different models, as this will alter the measurements – the exact opposite of what you need when printing and using precision tools.
- Who designed it? jhoward679
- How printable/popular is it? Each of the 12 files has on average 137,000 downloads! In total, 36 makes and 3 remakes have been shared.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Backpack Handle
With one arm, you’re holding your backpack by the handle as you balance the coffee that’s keeping you awake, while your other hand is holding your phone to check your schedule. It’s at this time that you start to realize just how many books are in that backpack of yours, let alone all the different devices in there.
You feel how heavy this has become and realize that the string that the backpack manufacturers call a handle isn’t going to cut it.
For good reason, the maker of this design recommends only printing this with strong materials. They personally used a carbon fiber PLA to make sure that handle wasn’t snapping under the pressure – sounds like this isn’t the maker’s first rodeo.
One of the people in the comments gave praise to this design and shared a remix where they made a version with a secret compartment to store light or small plastic bags. Pretty smart thinking, if you ask us.
- Who designed it? guppyk
- How printable/popular is it? With around 1,400 likes and 4 makes, it’s got to be good (and handy) model.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
License: The text of "20 Best 3D Printing Ideas for Students" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.