Field notes
Notes from the shop and the water.
Materials, fabrication, sailing, and the occasional honest opinion about printers.
The Winch Cup Holder, and Other Parts That Make Crews Happy
Small quality-of-life prints that earn their place aboard.
The 10 Best 3D Printers to Buy in March 2026
Current Canadian prices, honest assessments, and printer setup that gets you working on day one.
Stop Buying 3D Prints from Amazon, Etsy, and Temu
Why buying local manufacturing is an economic infrastructure decision.
Why Distributed Manufacturing Works
Local production, shared designs, and parts made near where they're needed.
How 3D Printing Helps People Who Have Nothing
Disaster relief, remote communities, open-source designs, and humanitarian manufacturing.
The 3D Printing Breakthroughs of Early 2026
New printers, new materials, industry shifts, and what actually changed.
Makers Across Atlantic Canada
From Moncton to Halifax, St. John's to Charlottetown: the regional making community and where we fit.
Material Guide: PLA vs PETG vs TPU
PLA for precision, PETG for durability, TPU for flex, and when to use each.
3D Printing for Classic Car Restoration
Bringing back parts that don't exist anymore: knobs, brackets, trim pieces, and functional components.
Case Study: Custom Winch Components for Offshore Sailing
The problem, material selection, design process, and result for a real marine fabrication job.
Why Ko-fi and How Support Gets Used
Full transparency on materials, boat prep, and operating costs.
Two Days Solo on the Saint John River
Solo sailing on the Saint John River: what it proved and what it taught.
Christopher Stanmore-Major: The Captain Behind It All
Who CSM is, the sailing partnership, and why he's the reason 3D3D ever touched a boat.
Carbon Fibre Filaments: What They Actually Do
PETG-CF, PA-CF, PPA-CF: expectations vs. reality, and when CF compounds are worth it.
How to Ship a 3D Printer Without Destroying It
Practical packaging, crating, and shipping notes for printer relocation or deployment.
PEEK and PPS: The Materials That Change Everything
Aerospace-grade, chemical-resistant, 250 C capable materials and what actually matters.
The Files Are Open. Here Is Why.
Open-source philosophy, free downloads, shared knowledge, and why giving away files can still build trust.
Fly-In Printer Setup and Training
On-site printer setup, training, and configuration for people who need the machine working on day one.
What We Learned at the Rolex Fastnet Race
The centenary edition of one of the world's premier offshore races: what breaks, what holds, and how it shapes the work.
ASA: The Filament Nobody Talks About
UV-stable, weather-resistant, outdoor-capable. ASA is the quiet workhorse.
Fly Us to Your Problem
Field capability: bringing fabrication to your location, your event, your boat.
The Part Doesn't Exist Anymore. We Make It Exist.
Reverse-engineering discontinued components and bringing dead parts back to life.
From Drag Cars to 3D Printers: Why Mechanics Make Better Fabricators
Years of turning wrenches teach what breaks, what holds, and what matters in a functional part.
What Actually Survives Saltwater: A Material Reality Check
Not all filaments are created equal. ASA, PETG-CF, PA-CF: what works offshore and what fails by August.
Our Founder's First Sail Was a Category-One Storm
Lunenburg to Antigua, two-man crew, 75-knot sustained winds. What it taught us about fabrication.
We Started a Fabrication Company in an RV
Printers, a generator, $30 a day in gas, 35-degree heat. The origin story of 3D3D.
Got a part nobody sells anymore?
Send a photo. We quote within 24 hours, and most parts ship in days, not months.
If printing is the wrong answer for your part, we say so in the quote.