3D scanning?

[Evan Raskin]

Hello,

I’m a volunteer with the Asheville Tool Library, and I’m working on setting up a workflow to 3D print some replacement parts for our maintenance department. Our members are hard on tools, and we frequently find that, in order to get a tool back in working order, we need a smallish plastic replacement part that isn’t available commercially. In many cases it would be super handy to be able to scan the original (broken) part to have a starting point for modeling the replacement part. I heard a while back that the Warren Wilson maker space had a pretty sweet 3D scanner they might be willing to let us use, but it turns out the manufacturer went out of business and bricked it, so that was a dead end.

 

Does Asheville Makers have a 3D scanner, and would anyone be willing to help us out with this? It would just be an occasional piece here and there (I currently have two in mind). If someone were excited to help with the modeling and/or printing, that would be great too (we currently have limited capacity for modeling and decent capacity for printing), but the scanning is the critical piece that we’re missing at the moment.

 

Thanks,

Evan

[Kacee Granke]

Unfortunately we do not have one however it would be a good addition to the space. It looks like a good 3D scanner costs about $600 (the Creality Otter seems like the right choice for a hobbyist space like ours). Something to think about for a future fun purchase.

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[Zak Smolen]

Hi,

Just my 2 cents here, as someone who has looked into 3D scanners a bunch of times over the past few years for this specific use case: I personally don’t know that they’re quite “there” yet in terms of being able to just do a quick scan and then you’re ready to print. Quite often they need at least a little, and often a lot of post processing and cleanup, and depending on what you’re scanning they might need preparations like special sprays, tracking dots, and specific lighting. Just browse the 3D scanner subreddit if you want to learn more… it’s quite a rabbit hole full of a lot of people complaining about the reality not quite matching the ease that many scanners advertise. 

All of that said, I have found that quite often for small pieces to replace broken parts in tools it is a pretty straightforward process to take some measurements and then design the replacement part. I put together a little demo which we had at the maker faire showing the steps to designing a replacement knob for my friend’s grill, and that took me less than an hour to measure and design… and probably a solid 15 minutes of that was getting a good flame icon. 

I don’t doubt that our space will eventually get a new 3D scanner, especially as they get more affordable, but in the meantime if you have any specific tools you’d like to fix I’m sure we can find some members to take a look and see about helping out with them!

Thanks,

Zak

On Apr 19, 2026, at 6:26 PM, Kacee Granke <kgr...@gmail.com> wrote:



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