Today was the first time that I actually managed to solve a real world problem with 3D printing. Of course, I have printed lots of useful stuff so far, e.g.:

• Cases for electronics builds.
• Wall mounts of all sorts.
• But mainly Lego Duplo bricks, tracks, dinosaurs, dinosaur skeletons and all kinds of other toys for my kids (what probably led my wife to her verdict on 3D printers being toys which in turn produce other toys).

But the emphasis is on useful (again: depending on one's point of view) and I hadn't fixed an actual problem yet. Well ... yet

"A 3D printer is a toy which in turn produces further toys."
-Stefanie Ziegler

The Problem

If you have a box full of cables you probably have one (or probably many) of these:

Since I am physically incapable of throwing electronic equipment of any form into the trash, I regularly end up using these cables when I am e.g. setting up a Raspberry Pi or sorts. And I don't now how many times did I try to hunt down alleged network issues when in fact the issue was a loose cable, that had slipped out of its socket because of a broken clip.

The Solution

3D Printing to the rescue!
Like almost every object I have 3D printed so far, I found this one on Thingiverse.

It is a thing of beauty and the perfect solution for this problem. So, I couldn't be happier right now since:

• My busted network cables sit tight as new.
• I have finally found a legit use case for my 3D printer.

Unexpected Plot Twist

Apparently not everyone perceives broken ethernet cable clips as the kind of existence-threatening problem that I do, so my wife mostly stands with her original verdict on 3D printing ;-)