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

New Year, New Printers! Meet Gigabot 4, Terabot 4, GigabotX 2 & TerabotX 2

A green plated circuit board with many electrical components.
Left To Right: Gigabot 4 with Enclosure, Gigabot 4 XLT, Terabot 4, Exabot, TerabotX 2, GigabotX 2 XLT, GigabotX 2 with Enclosure

Introducing the Next Evolution of re:3D 3D Printers Featuring Klipper Firmware and ArchiMajor Control Boards

When deciding what changes to make on the next version of your Gigabot and Terabot 3D printers, your needs came first. The Gigabot family of customers has always inspired us to push this technology forward because it’s what you do with it that motivates us. Whether you’re teaching the next generation of change makers or innovating in advanced manufacturing, your feedback determines where we put our R&D focus.

The biggest visual change you’ll see on all versions of re:3D 3D printers is the front mounted 10” full color LCD touchscreen. The touchscreen includes temperature, and motion controls, temperature history graph and preset macros. The menu options add file management, gcode editing, command line input, and print history analytics and tracking. Also included is a webcam viewer for remote monitoring and an integrated USB port for loading gcode files directly on to your printer.

This touchscreen software is just one component of our new Klipper open-source software stack. We’ve transitioned from Marlin firmware to Klipper because it enables high precision stepper movement, smooth pressure advance and input shaping, and also an API server that enables opportunity for custom development. The Klipper web application runs the touchscreen from a Raspberry Pi and enables you to access the printer from your local network on desktop or mobile browsers with all the same control options you’re able to perform directly at the printer.

In order to successfully integrate this exciting new software stack, we’ve overhauled our electrical system starting with the control board. We partnered with US based manufacturer Ultimachine to design a custom 32bit ArchiMajor control board for your Gigabot. The advanced board features eight integrated stepper motor drivers, three heater outputs, five thermocouple inputs, four controllable fans and eight endstops. These provide flexibility to extend the functionality of your Gigabot, for example, adding an additional thermocouple or part cooling which is under development at re:3D. The new control board and the Raspberry Pi are now inside a 16” electrical enclosure with an integrated power switch, power filter and more durable flex rated cabling. Not only does this board increase your 3D printer’s processing power, but it allows us to better control our supply chain and electronics quality with a strong US manufacturer as our partner.

View the press release about this partnership.

Platform-Wide Features

Stress tested in the re:3D factory, the new tube-style thermocouple is a more durable, consistent and accurate temperature reader for your Gigabot. We’ve added this improvement with a ½” thick aluminum bed plate, that is precision-blanchard ground flat and parallel to less than 0.005”. The bed is heated by a full-size silicone rubber heating pad, which allows the printing of high-temperature industrial materials. A robust cable carrier and cables rated for 1 million cycles of flexing protects all moving wires. Additionally, all unenclosed printers come standard with full side panels to protect electronics and cabling

FFF Filament 3D Printer Features

In the transition from Gigabot 3+ to Gigabot 4 we’ve pushed out some changes early as technology improvements have increased reliability and longevity for your printer. Many of these updates center around the extrusion system: The all metal extruder body, 20 Series Hot Ends for 0.8 nozzles and Terabot 4, tube style thermocouples and heater cartridges are all standard, combining to make the most robust, industrial extruder system ever on your Gigabot.

To keep Gigabot affordable you may still purchase a regular 600 mm cubed Gigabot 4 as a kit which ships in flatpack boxes, and the full enclosure is an optional add-on for pre-built Gigabot 4 and Gigabot 4 XLT sized 3D printers. Terabot 4, as before, comes with the enclosure standard. One change we’ve integrated as standard is the side panels on your Gigabot cover the full side on the left and right to provide better protection for the motors and electronic components.

As with the changes we made during Gigabot 3+’s lifespan, This is just the beginning. Gigabot 4 will continue to iterate and grow and change to meet your needs as the technology evolves. Plans are already in the works for a filament dry box, bed probing and even more robust build plate and frame improvements. Stay tuned!

FGF Pellet and Granule 3D Printer Features

Since releasing the beta version of Gigabot X in 2018, re:3D invested significant R&D resources from community support to produce a more agile, advanced and capable fused granular fabrication 3D printer.

GigabotX 2 features a feeding and extrusion system precision engineered for processing pelletized and granular thermoplastics. Material is manually fed into the 24 hour capacity hopper which rides on an independent hopper gantry system, to allow a full and smooth range of motion and consistent feeding into the extruder.

Print material flows from the hopper into the extruder via either the gravity fed feed throat or the optional active feeding system, or crammer, which includes a motorized auger that pushes material into the extruder with a user controllable feed rate.

The GigabotX 2 extruder is powered by a 425 ozf*in NEMA 23 motor with planetary gear box to provide increased torque for flowing materials. The extruder is a solid steel ⅝” screw with 16:1 L/D ratio designed with our partners specifically for consistent throughput for thermoplastics. Three independently controllable heaters are mounted on the extruder barrel allowing for extrusion temperatures up to 270°C. Interchangeable nozzles between 0.4mm and 2.85mm in diameter can be used to control resolution and extrusion width.

GigabotX 2 is the culmination of our mission to enable more users to 3D print directly from novel and waste plastics, but we’re not stopping here. Research is currently underway to integrate a granulator, dryer and automatic feeding system with GigabotX 2 to make machine operation even more efficient and user friendly and enable anyone anywhere any time to be the problem solvers for their community.

Charlotte craff

Blog Post Author