Philips opens official library of 3D printable components to public

philips 3d printed razer guard comb — (Image credit: Philips)

3D printing has been huge for DIY makers of all stripes, and it's about to get more official with brands like Philips offering replacement printable components. Once the niche toy of rich tinkerers, 3D printing has become a must have companion for many homes. They're now so easy to use and affordable it's not uncommon to find them in libraries and coworking spaces. It's easier than ever to get access to some flavour of 3D printer, which is perfect if you need to replace that one weirdly specific piece of plastic from that thing that broke, like a guard for your razer.

While grand tasks of 3D printing like turning one into a terrifying tattoo machine are wonderful, sometimes it's the little projects that really make these tools feel useful. Printing small parts or jigs has to be one of the most common uses for most people's 3D printer – that's after they've printed that one-shot dragon print everyone does. The hard part is often locating or creating the models to the specifications you want.

That's why this new initiative from Philips is so exciting, even if the company only has a single print available at the moment. Tom's Hardware reports the program dubbed "Philips Fixables" will see the brand upload officially drafted files for everyone to download and print for free at Printables.com. While a library of components is promised, for now all that's on offer is a 3mm comb guard for a Phllips shaver.

Hope’s been writing about games for about a decade, starting out way back when on the Australian Nintendo fan site Vooks.net. Since then, she’s talked far too much about games and tech for publications such as Techlife, Byteside, IGN, and GameSpot. Of course there’s also here at PC Gamer, where she gets to indulge her inner hardware nerd with news and reviews. You can usually find Hope fawning over some art, tech, or likely a wonderful combination of them both and where relevant she’ll share them with you here. When she’s not writing about the amazing creations of others, she’s working on what she hopes will one day be her own. You can find her fictional chill out ambient far future sci-fi radio show/album/listening experience podcast right here.

No, she’s not kidding.

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