Modern technology has brought many new tools to the agorist toolbox. The proliferation of computers and ease of access to the internet has made networking and data sharing easy and almost instantaneous. Blockchain technology and crypto currency have allowed us to make cheap, often anonymous transactions worldwide without needing to go through the cartelized banks. There are many other examples to be sure, but one that I have been recently obsessed with is the 3d printer.

3d printing technology has been around for about 40 years. The first printers functioned by firing a laser at a container of powder or gel to solidify and shape materials. Although very cool, and certainly a big help for prototype making, these machines were far too expensive for the average consumer. In 1999 researchers began experimenting with 3d printed organs. Although we have yet to be able to create reliable functioning organs, there are patients with 3d printed jaws, ears and prosthetic limbs.

There are many different types of 3d printers, some print metal, plastic, and even biological materials. Large printers have also printed homes out of concrete. If you have a 3d printer in your home, it will most likely be an FDM (fused deposition modeling) printer. Because of this, FDM printers will be the focus of this article. FDM printers function by placing approximately 0.1 mm thick layers of plastic on top of each other until they form the desired object. Thanks to the expiration of a patent from 1988, the first wave of commercially available FDM printers began in 2009.

Now that we have 3d printers available to us, what the heck do we do with them? Well, the possibilities are relatively endless. Of course there are knick knacks galore that people enjoy printing. Figurines, chess pieces, cosplay props, etc., are very common, and some people have even developed businesses around printing and selling such items. As have CAD designers helping develop prototypes and complex (or sometimes not so complex) parts for engineers and product designers. Having a printer available allows you to design (or download) and print all sorts of household products, tools, and even guns.

Having the ability to conjure objects into existence can have many implications for the agorist community. Creating and inventing has always been aided by the ability to do so in private. Being able to work out and refine your ideas privately, until you are ready to present them to the world, allows you to get the most return on your r&d before others start manufacturing something similar. Of course if you want to put your creations out there for anybody to print and use that is certainly an option. There is a huge open source community of designers and printers. With millions of designs and files online at sites such as Thingiverse.com and Myminifactory.com just to name a couple, people can make and tweak all sorts of fun and/or useful items with very little skill.

Manufacturing items for yourself has some other benefits as well. For instance, you have the ability to make individual, or one-off items, as opposed to larger runs common to the traditional manufacturing industry. When you print an item at home you no longer have to drive to a retail store to obtain it. This means that you aren’t spending money on gas or adding wear and tear on your vehicle. Also you aren’t wasting the time that you could be using to be more productive on other projects.

Avoiding gas taxes and sales tax is another great perk. Plus, as a bonus the material costs to make the item will usually be much lower than the cost to purchase it. The ability to do this makes you more self-sufficient as well, reducing your dependence on Amazon and Wal-mart. When I’m working on my farmstead I often get held up on a project due to needing one or two small, cheap parts — some sort of fitting, or bracket for example. Even if the price of the item is only a couple of dollars, it may take an hour and a half to drive into town, brave the crowds at the store and return. All of the travel, time and stress of dealing with the general public can be done away with if I simply print the item myself. Of course printing takes time, but I can busy myself with other tasks while the printer does the work, allowing me to be more productive.

Currently, due to the over the top government reaction to the covid 19 “pandemic” supply chains are being disrupted and some products are hard to find, or are more expensive than usual. Having the ability to print things at home can help mitigate the inconvenience that these shortages can cause. Being able to print items for yourself and your community can help to loosen your dependence on the outside world that is largely affected by these devastating government policies.

Many useful and quality of life affecting items are either difficult to come by, or unnecessarily expensive due to government regulations, bans, or monopolies through patents. Being able to print items yourself is a great way around these roadblocks. Prosthetic limbs are being printed in third world countries for just a few dollars, whereas it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to purchase one from a typical medical/pharmaceutical company, effectively making them out of reach for the majority of the world. With a computer and some practice nearly everyone has the ability to design and manufacture life changing items, bypassing the medical (or any industrial) cartel altogether.

A delightful new trend of printing firearms, and firearm parts is on its way to making gun control obsolete. In many parts of the world purchasing a gun to defend yourself is illegal, or extremely difficult. Through the decentralized efforts of freedom loving gun enthusiasts there are many files for printable firearms that have been developed and tested, available online. In places where guns are legal, but highly regulated or even tracked, the ability to keep them secret may be desirable. In these instances being able to make your weapons “off the books” is a good hedge to protect against future gun control laws, or even confiscation efforts. They can’t confiscate what they don’t know exists.

As agorists we believe that every person has the right to defend themselves with the best technology they can afford, and anything that inhibits the efforts of those that wish to disarm us is certainly a win. Check out DeterrenceDispensed.com and their group on keybase for some more info on 3d printed guns.

Are you eager to start printing yet? Well, here are some tips to get you going. First things first, you need a printer. There are certainly many different printers on the market with varying prices, but you need not buy a top of the line printer to get started. The common model that people begin with is the “ender3”. With a price of about 2-250$ it is easily attainable. If you would like to discreetly purchase a printer with crypto, check out 3dprintergobrrr.com. Next, you will want to get it calibrated and set up. There are plenty of videos online to assist you with this, just search for your model of printer and take a sunday to play around with it. I would recommend ctrlpew.com as well, he has a nice getting started guide that I found very helpful. Finally print a few things to learn, then take it away! 3d printing is a fairly new technology and the sky’s the limit for its uses.

Whether you’re just looking for a fun hobby, to start a business or just be more self-sufficient around the home or farm, check out 3d printing. If you have an eye for design try learning to CAD, then you can design or invent items that people want and need. 3d printing gives you the ability to take manufacturing, production and security into your own hands, and what agorist doesn’t love that?