A Year of #FreePrintFriday Open-source Designs by re:3D

When we set up the Gigalab in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, alongside our neighbors and partners at Engine-4 Foundation, we weren’t just building a container lab. We were planting a seed, an idea that digital fabrication should be for everyone, and that creative tools should serve the people around us.

So we started small. One design, every Friday. Free. Useful. Sometimes funny. Sometimes experimental. Always open.

What started as a small weekly gesture quickly grew into something bigger, a rolling catalog of open-source designs, community responses, and whimsical one-offs that anyone can download, print, and build on. While we’ll be highlighting a few of our favorite moments here, there are plenty more where these came from. So if something catches your eye, or if you’re just curious, we invite you to dive into the rest of our #FreePrintFriday designs on Thingiverse and Cults3D.

Big Bots, Big Ideas

Interior of 3D printing Gigalab

Inside the Gigalab, we’ve also been putting our large-format GigabotX printers to work. Many of our favorite designs showcase how recycled plastic and local fabrication can do so much more:

3D printed stool
Printed in one piece, strong enough to sit on, weird enough to get compliments.
3D printed hexagonal ceiling lamp shade
Dodecahedron inspired light fixture, sharp and stylish for any space.
3D printed cable wrap with red cable wrapped around
A functional form made to tidy up heavy-duty cords on the go.
3D printed kite flying in the sky

Our 3D printable kite experiment. Still very much a work in progress, but easily one of the most fun things we’ve ever designed. Building something that’s meant to flex, fly, and occasionally crash (gracefully) has pushed us to think differently about material use, weight, and structure—all while showcasing the beauty of recycled 3D printing.

Collaborations with Our Local Community

Working alongside our neighbors at Engine-4 Foundation has been core to Gigalab’s mission. Many of the ideas we’ve printed came directly from conversations at Engine-4 with Co-Founder, Luis Torres, whether it was a passing comment, a workshop brainstorm, or someone pointing at a problem and asking, “Can we 3D print a fix for that?”

Some standout collabs include:

3D printed hydroponic rocket shaped container
A modular hydroponic tower, designed to help promote urban agriculture in small spaces, printed with reclaimed plastic.
3D printed weed fork picker
handy garden picker, born out of a brainstorm about accessible harvesting tools for local growers using formbot, the bot doesn't do everything (yet).
3D printed drone adapter holding a net with a package

The drone care package hook, a collaboration with both Engine-4 Foundation and the Municipio of Bayamón, used in earthquake simulations to deliver supplies via agricultural drones.

More on the simulation from Puerto Rican local news:
Primera HoraTelemundo

These kinds of projects remind us that when we design with our community, we design with purpose.

Culture, Celebrated in Layers

Some of my proudest open-source designs that connect with my Puertorrican identity:

3D printed frog
A tiny homage to Puerto Rico’s most iconic Coquí frog.
3D printed sculptures of three kings
A Low Poly Three Kings Ornament, blending modern design with beloved holiday tradition.
3D printed model of statue Monumento al Jibaro Puertorriqueño

Our photogrammetry model of the Monumento al Jíbaro Puertorriqueño, scanned, modeled, and shared to honor Puerto Rican heritage in a tangible way.

These designs always spark conversation, everything from an “aw” to an “I want one” to someone recognizing their own story in it, saying, “I used to drive past that monument every day. The view was breathtaking.”

Designed for People

Girl with her 3D printed red prosthetic leg cover

The most personal of our projects came through the Rotationplasty Prosthetic leg shell designs.

It started with a visit. Wilfredo Rodriguez and his daughter Emily came to Engine-4 with a bold question: could we design something that didn’t just cover for her unique rotationplasty prosthetic leg, but make it look and feel amazing? Something Emily could wear with confidence, something that felt like hers.

We scanned her leg using photogrammetry, modeled around it with Rhino and Fusion 360, and started prototyping with rPETG, Nylon, and TPU. Eventually, we found the right balance, lightweight, flexible, and durable enough for everyday life. The final shell was finished with automotive-grade paint for a smooth, protective finish.

But the story didn’t stop there.

Girls with their 3D printed red and white prosthetic cover

Left is the back of Emily’s cover, middle is daniels cover and right is Emely and Anya
Emily’s friends Anya and Daniel, all the way in Boston, got scanned too. We designed and printed their custom shells right here at the Gigalab in Puerto Rico, and sent them north, each one uniquely shaped and styled for them.
This wasn’t just about aesthetics. It was about saying, with a smile, “I want that leg”

Creative Chaos at Haystack

group of people meeting for 3D printing event

Located on the rugged coast of Deer Isle, Maine, Haystack Mountain School of Craft is a legendary space where artists, designers, and thinkers come together to push creative boundaries. We were lucky enough to be invited to spend a week there with the GigabotX 2 XLT for Haystack Labs, joining a wild mix of tinkerers and craftspeople for a creative tech residency.

Designed by Shelby Doyle and printed on GBX2 XLT

At Haystack, we experimented with University of Maine’s wood pulp PLA feedstock, tested out sculptural forms, tricky overhangs, and parametric designs that challenged our printers and our imaginations. We had the pleasure of learning with Shelby Doyle, AIA, an Associate Professor of Architecture at Iowa State University and co-founder of the ISU Computation & Construction Lab. Her expertise in digital fabrication and design-build education brought valuable insights to our explorations, pushing the boundaries of what we could achieve with recycled materials and large-format 3D printing.

3D printed coffee mug caddy with cups

But one of our favorite prints? A five-mug coffee caddy we designed because we were too lazy to take our mugs back to the kitchen one by one. Turns out the kitchen staff liked it too as it’s a recurring problem!

table with 3D printed designs

Functional Tools, Fun Fixes

A lot of our most downloaded open-source designs are little things that solve specific, everyday problems stuff that just makes life smoother:

macbook pro charger with 3D printed cable organizer case
MacBook 140w Flexi Cable Wrap Case, for untangled, compact, backpack storage
orange flexible 3D printed phone stand
Inspired by the question: "What if we made a one-piece phone stand durable enough to live in your wallet?"
3D printed orange cable tie holding cables

Inspired by SSgt Hart during our Gigalab demo at Cannon Air Force Base, she needed a better way to manage cables, had a great idea, sketch it out for us and we helped turn that need into a print anyone can use!

Gray 3D printed whistle with a hole and string in the middle

These weren’t built for retail. They were built for daily use, most came to life in under an hour, sparked by someone asking, “Hey, can you print something for this?” or even just a playful thought like, “What if we 3D print a whistle?”

A Year of Creative Response

Over the past year, we’ve shared over 50 open-source designs. Some are silly. Some are super niche. Some are actually really useful. Most are a little of all three.

What they all have in common is this: they came from the community, and they’re going back to the community. Free. Open. Ready to print.

Whether it’s a bookmark, a birdhouse, or a prosthetic leg cover, every design came from a simple idea: listen, learn, make, and share.

We believe 3D printing isn’t just a trend. It’s a tool for local problem solving, education, expression, and play. That’s why we do #FreePrintFriday .

So what’s next?

Gif image of GigabotX 3D printing a chair

We’ve still got a backlog of unreleased prints. Expect more cultural remixes, more functional tools, more weird stuff. Maybe even more community collabs!

Got an idea? Shere it with us by filling out our #FreePrintFriday form, we’d love to hear it!

Here’s to another year of printing what matters (and what’s fun). See you Friday and happy printing!

– Michael C. Pujols Vázquez and re:3D team

Michael C. Pujols Vázquez

Blog Post Author

re:3D Goes to Hawai’i

re:3D is a proud and active member of America Makes, an organization which works to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing (AM) and supports global U.S. manufacturing competitiveness as one of nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) operated by the Department of Defense (DOD). re:3D was invited by America Makes to join them in their expo booth at the 2025 Pacific Operational Science and Technology (POST) conference, recently held in Honolulu, Hawai’i. POST, hosted by the National Defense Industry Association, provides a venue for collaboration between the DOD, academia and industry to address challenges within the Indo-Pacific theater.

America Makes Booth at the POST 2025 Expo
America Makes booth at the POST 2025 Expo, shared with re:3D and Craitor
America Makes booth at the POST 2025 Expo, shared with re:3D and Craitor

During the expo, re:3D displayed and demonstrated a system under development for NASA to convert logistics waste into articles of need in space, along with discussing the company’s several Gigalab projects. (You can read a bit more about those projects in a previous blog post here.) There was a positive response to these projects with good feedback and some new contacts and references to follow up with for future collaborations. The America Makes team, including their representatives at POST, Ed Herderick and Kimberly Gibson, were fantastic partners and hosts.

Patrick discussing the benefits of recycling stowage foam in space at POST 2025
Patrick discussing the benefits of recycling stowage foam in space at POST 2025

Also sharing the booth was another America Makes member company, Craitor. The team at Craitor has worked closely with units across service branches to develop an expeditionary 3D printer capable of operating in extreme environmental conditions. Their FieldFab printer can keep printing while being violently jostled in the back of a moving truck, caught in a -40°C blizzard or drenched in a tropical monsoon. Their booth display has the FieldFab mounted on a wobble-table so you can kick the printer while it’s running – something we’ve probably all wanted to do at one time or another. It was great meeting Eric Shnell, Dan Valdes and Will Landry at the event. The re:3D team wishes them all continued success.

After many years, Mike finally got to kick a 3D printer and not feel bad about it

Midweek, after the expo was over, Kimberly Gibson arranged for re:3D to visit Min Plastics & Supply, a family-owned sheet plastics distributor and custom manufacturing company. Andrew and Aaron Min were gracious hosts and discussed possibilities for recycling drops and swarth from their manufacturing processes and using additive for creating custom sign mounts, skylights and tooling. Manufacturing and distributing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has a whole range of challenges and opportunities to explore, and we look forward to further discussions with the Min Plastics family.

Aaron Min, Michael Pujols, Kimberly Gibson, Patrick Ferrell and Andrew Min at the Min Plastics factory in Honolulu, Hawai’i. (Image Credit: Kimberly Gibson and America Makes)
Aaron Min, Michael Pujols, Kimberly Gibson, Patrick Ferrell and Andrew Min at the Min Plastics factory in Honolulu, Hawai’i. (Image Credit: Kimberly Gibson and America Makes)

re:3D was also honored to be selected as a demonstrator for the POST Field Experimentation (POST FX), held at the end of the conference at the Marine Corps Base Hawai’i, Kane’ohe Bay. The purpose of POST FX is for demonstrators (mostly government organizations, military units and private companies) to demonstrate technologies or capabilities which support the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility, including priorities for advanced manufacturing and contested logistics which are addressed by re:3D’s Gigalabs and other point-of-need tools using recycled materials. We shipped a granulator and a GigabotX printer to Hawai’i for the POST FX event and demonstrated printing mini drone bodies from reclaimed drones. “Drones from Drones” was an attractive concept to the attendees who stopped by to observe and learn more, including Mr. Michael Holthe – Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

Patrick describing the process of printing “Drones from Drones” at POST FX 2025
Patrick describing the process of printing “Drones from Drones” at POST FX 2025

While in Hawai’i, we were obligated to do a little sight-seeing, and of course we went to a luau. Mike is never one to stop working, so he took the opportunity during the show to scan a large tiki near the stage at the Aloha Tower in Honolulu. He cleaned it up and posted it for all to share and print as his weekly “Free Print Friday” on Thingiverse. You can find the model file here. Mike also scanned the anchor from the USS Arizona on display at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and has it published here.

Polynessian tiki statue at the Aloha Tower plaza in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

The island of O’ahu presented jaw-dropping views everywhere, and the people there really do have a special ‘aloha spirit’, all of which made the looong plane ride worth it. It’s no wonder that Hawai’i is such a popular vacation destination.

Beaches. Lots of beaches.
Byodo-In Temple, Ahuimanu, Hawai’i
Byodo-In Temple, Ahuimanu, Hawai’i
Sunset at Waikiki Beach, Honolulu,Hawai’i.

Until next time, Happy Travels and Happy Printing.

Patrick Ferrell & Mike Pujols

Blog Post Author