TIL Detroit has a free 3D printing lab for small businesses

I was looking into prototyping costs last week and stumbled on a city program I never knew existed. The Detroit Public Library downtown has a space called The HUB that gives small business owners free access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines. You just need a library card and a reservation. I walked in and printed a sample part for my product idea in about 45 minutes. Has anyone else used this for their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_bailey2d ago

Yeah it's wild how much good stuff is hidden in plain sight right under our noses, feels like half the battle is just knowing what's out there. Once you start poking around, you realize how many legit resources are sitting there for free that nobody talks about.

the_tessa2d ago

Whoa, I gotta admit I was totally skeptical when I first heard about this. I figured a free public library program would be super limited or just for kids' crafts, you know? But after hearing you walked in and actually got a sample part done in under an hour, that really changed my mind. I might have to give it a shot with my own idea instead of assuming it wouldn't work for real business stuff.

jamieb802d ago

The "under an hour" thing is close but not quite right... I was actually in there for about 45 minutes just messing around with their software before I even printed anything. The actual print time was maybe another 20 minutes on top of that. So it's more like an hour and a half total if you count learning the machine and getting set up. Still way faster than I ever expected though, especially for a free service. They have this nice Ultimaker printer at my local branch, not some cheap toy model. I think people hear "library 3D printer" and imagine a loud, slow, broken machine with bad results, but this thing was legit.