https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/3D printing is everywhere. Join our new group and keep up on all the latest trends around this burgeoning new movement.en-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/b/blog/posts/upgrading-a-spacemouse-enterprise-with-a-detachable-usb-c-cableWed, 08 Apr 2026 17:36:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:950c62be-7c40-48bb-a6fd-26fee7889940vmateLate last year, I got a decent deal on a SpaceMouse Enterprise. I've grown to love it after suffering through the steep learning period (at least for me, as I only do 3D design every once in a while, to 3D print stuff). I basically can't design things without it anymore, it's super convenient and useful. For anyone unfamiliar, it's basically a 6 DoF controller, where the big central thing can be twisted, pulled, pushed, lifted, pressed down, etc. It makes moving the camera so much nicer and more natural, and the programmable keys are great to map frequently used actions to. The most useful part is using it with my laptop on the go though, where navigating things is a massive pain otherwise. There's only one problem: someone at 3DConnexion decided that a permanently attached, 2 meter long USB-A cable would be a great choice for this. I constantly get tangled up in it, it's a pain to pack it up to fit in its official carrying case, and my laptop's USB-A port is usually occupied by something else. I took it apart to start thinking about the best way forward. Unfortunately the hole for the stock cable is too small to fit a USB-C port behind, so I had to get creative. I found these "USB-C extension" cables online, which are super non-standard and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Do NOT use them if you can avoid them, it will end up one day at someone not familiar with electronics and burn their house down, as it lacks any of the E-markers and other safety features regular cables have. For example, you can extend a 240W cable with it, the charger won't be "aware" of the extension cable(as the extension just 'passes through' the identification signals from the 240W cable), proceed to pump 5A at 48V through it, and possibly light the thing on fire, if the extension cable was not designed for those power levels. However, for what I need, this is perfect. I cut the female end off, and test fitted it into my SpaceMouse. I really liked how this looked, so I ordered a JST-SHR cable, which the factory cable uses to connect to the PCB, and figured out the pinout of the extension cable. One thing to keep in mind when working with USB-C is the CC pins. A compliant USB-C source will not enable VBUS until it detects a connected device. For our purposes, all we need is two 5.1k pulldown resistors on the CC lines. This identifies the device as a power sink and causes the upstream port to supply 5V. There are also a bunch of extra wires we do not need, namely four separately shielded twisted pairs(the two USB3 TX and RX pairs), and the SBU1 and SBU2 sideband wires. I trimmed these short, and only kept the single twisted pair needed for USB2.0 (the white and green wires), the two VBUS wires(red), and the two CC wires (blue and yellow). The CC wires were soldered to 0.25W through-hole resistors and connected to ground. The two resistors are under the heatshrink, and the two VBUS pins are tied together, then soldered to the JST-SHR cable. I opted to splice a premade JST-SHR cable on there, instead of crimping my own, as the crimp contacts are *really* tiny. I routed the cables inside so I could fit the two halves together, and quickly test if everything still worked. Thankfully everything worked just fine, so I reassembled everything, and added back the sticky rubber feet. And here's the end result: It's way less bulky than the original cable, and also fits better in its carrying case now: It's also much quicker to put away if I need extra space on my desk, and then get it back when needed, as I don't have to crawl under the desk to mess with the cable.3d modelingusb-cspacemouse3D Printingusbretrofitupgradehttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56568/i-am-thinking-to-buy-a-3d-printer-but-my-budget-hangs-around-200-dollars-i-am-a-student-and-need-it-for-small-non-comlex-designs/232895Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:44:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c1877539-431e-4cb5-9754-875bb22b7050Robert Peter OakesYour not going to get much for the 200$ but as said, just google "3d printers under 250$" for example. creality, anycubic etc all have offerings in that category and all big enough for printing PI Cases etc. just dont expect a lot of featureshttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56568/i-am-thinking-to-buy-a-3d-printer-but-my-budget-hangs-around-200-dollars-i-am-a-student-and-need-it-for-small-non-comlex-designs/232868Wed, 07 Jan 2026 05:30:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:16570292-5333-4b7d-bc1f-fe66c74ea2c9Aniket_kumar_rajnope,i just want somethng durabe and of rnough size to ringt rasberry case,it wont bother me if its time consuminghttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56568/i-am-thinking-to-buy-a-3d-printer-but-my-budget-hangs-around-200-dollars-i-am-a-student-and-need-it-for-small-non-comlex-designs/232866Tue, 06 Jan 2026 21:40:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:e75a9642-34f6-4b5a-90aa-bb29b46ac85dvmateWithout any description of what you want to do with it, how big, how fast, what materials, want to upgrade it, etc, you could've just googled it. www.reddit.com/.../https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56568/i-am-thinking-to-buy-a-3d-printer-but-my-budget-hangs-around-200-dollars-i-am-a-student-and-need-it-for-small-non-comlex-designsTue, 06 Jan 2026 11:16:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f5b2f7ff-5b8a-4595-9b9c-823fde37db8aAniket_kumar_rajAny idea ,something which i can use for a long timehttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/51290/pre-processing-challenges/232843Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:49:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:4b33c621-b0ba-4945-94e2-6454cdf40818olivia_49Pre-processing in 3D printing is challenging because selecting optimal slicer parameters is complex, time-consuming, and highly dependent on geometry and material, which is why AI and machine learning can help.https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56190/what-is-the-best-inexpensive-metal-3d-printer/232842Mon, 05 Jan 2026 20:48:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:306dbeb7-6540-46ef-9cf0-893841085eafolivia_49For carbon fiber 3D printing in North America, Markforged Mark Two, MakerBot METHOD Carbon Fiber, and QIDI X-CF Pro are popular and available from MatterHackers, Dynamism, or directly from manufacturers. For metal 3D printing, Desktop Metal, HP Metal Jet, and Velo3D are top options, usually purchased through specialized dealers or manufacturer quotes.https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232837Mon, 05 Jan 2026 17:14:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:bd81a6e4-ed62-4ff8-aa05-6e82d892788fRobert Peter Oakesthere are plenty of options on printables and thingiverse with or without fans for cooling https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=pi+4%2C5+case&page=1 https://www.printables.com/search/models?q=pi+4+or+5+case over the years I have used many models from both sites without issues, but as already stated, Pi 4 and 5 do need a cooling solution if enclosed so pick wiselyhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232771Sun, 04 Jan 2026 16:55:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:03af581c-e198-4c7d-ae2a-9a3c1fa75e50WorkshopshedI have used a 3D printed ABS case with a Pi for many years with no issues, would need to check, it is probably a Pi3. The 4 and 5 run a lot hotter so you'd want more space for heatsinks and fans along with airventshttps://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232589Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:27:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:76af4b3b-4bf1-484b-a0a1-cf11ede3516dDABI have used some enclosures, but I am with Douglas on this one. I want as much air around my Pi as I can get.https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232565Mon, 29 Dec 2025 19:23:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:19b34d6b-12a0-45df-95fd-ea7c2641e55dolivia_49I’ve 3D-printed a few open-source Pi cases myself, and it’s pretty straightforward. For Pi 4 or 5, just double-check the ports and mounting holes, you might need to tweak the design a bit to fit perfectly.https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232561Mon, 29 Dec 2025 17:47:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:78a2619f-09b7-4609-b6ee-99243806276adougwBlack Box Surprise Prize Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Review I modify the cases if needed.https://community.element14.com/technologies/3d-printing/f/forum/56535/experience-with-custom-3d-printed-raspberry-pi-cases/232551Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:18:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:ccae23ff-89ed-4d46-8527-3263c7aeb638embeddedguyIf you are comfortable using CAD design tools than you can make your own Pi case all yourself and then use 3D printing service near to you. This way you would get to learn 3D printing. You can use tools such as Fusion-360, Thinker Cad, etc.