A Subscription Box That Gives You a Unique 3D-Printable Project Every Month

Many hobbies have long and cherished traditions of mail order kit-building. If you like making models, there are innumerable kits with all of the plastic parts you need. If you’re a machinist, companies Hemingway Kits offer tool packages with materials and technical drawings. If you’re very ambitious, you could even build an entire car from a kit. And now makers and 3D printing enthusiasts can get in on the action, thanks to a new company called Print Kits.

Print Kits works on a subscription-based monthly mystery box model. Each month, subscribers will receive a package in the mail containing three things: the parts necessary to complete a project, a tasty treat, and a useful accessory. Print Kits posts videos with thorough build instructions for every project, so anyone can follow along — even kids.

A history in the community

While Print Kits is a new endeavor, there is plenty of leadership experience behind it. At the helm are Ellie Weinstein and Caleb Kraft. You may know Weinstein as the founder and CEO of Cocoa Press, which sells 3D chocolate printers. Caleb Kraft is also part of the team at Cocoa Press, but you likely know him from his work as the senior editor at Make: Magazine. He’s also a prominent figure in the maker community and you may have met him at a Maker Faire event. Matt and River round out the Print Kits team, managing the community and stuffing boxes, respectively.

And Print Kits itself evolved out of Alien3D and their U.F.O. boxes. That, in turn, evolved out of Maker Box. Subscribers of those services were given the option to move over to Print Kits.

But this isn’t just a rebranding. The Print Kits vibes are different than what we saw from Alien3D and Maker Box and the projects seem to be more universally appealing. They’re both fun and functional.

Past kit reveals

The first kit, shipped in February 2025, gave subscribers the parts to build a heat insert press. That is a tool for putting heat-set threaded inserts into 3D-printed parts and it is very useful for makers. That kit included Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies and a nifty pocket multi-tool.

March’s kit was for a giant keyboard button. And “giant” isn’t an exaggeration — the completed button is the size of a toaster. It is a functional device that will appear as a standard USB HID keyboard when plugged into a computer and users can set it up to send whatever key press (or combo of key presses) they like. By default, it is setup for CTRL+ALT+DEL, but that’s easy to change in the code. It came with Sour Patch Kids and a “big recordable button” as the accessory.

The most recent kit, mailed out in April, is for a miniature air hockey table. It has paddles, pucks, and an air blower for a legitimate air hockey experience. That kit’s snack is a York Peppermint Patty and the accessory is a silicone mat — something every maker needs.

Kit contents

In each case, the kit included all of the electronic components and hardware (such as fasteners) needed construct the project. Subscribers get to 3D-print the custom mechanical parts themselves, using the provided files and with guidance to get the best results. There is an option to pay a little more to have filament included in the kit, or subscribers can save some money if they want to use their own filament.

All of the kits so far could be assembled with just basic hand tools (screwdrivers and the like). In fact, the multi-tool accessory that came with the Heat Insert Press kit would probably be enough. But it is possible that future kits might require some basic soldering.

Print Kits currently offers three subscription packages. The standard Mystery 3D Printing Project Subscription costs $37.99 a month and doesn’t include any filament. Then there is a $24.99 a month Filament Sample Subscription for people who don’t want to do the projects, but just want to try out fun new filaments each month. Finally, the Combined Project + Filament subscription costs $49.99 a month and gives you both the project kits and the filament samples (which you can use to print the kit parts).

For your money, you receive a mysterious (but undoubtedly cool) project to tackle each month. And, importantly, that project will be tested and well-documented, so you have assurance that it will be smooth sailing when you head over to your work bench.

In addition to those benefits, the kits also eliminate the challenge of self-sourcing parts. Most of those provided with these kits are inexpensive, but that’s only when ordered in bulk. Print Kits is a bit like a group buy and that keeps costs down.

Fostering community and rewarding designers

But perhaps the most compelling reason to consider Print Kits is to support the maker community and the people in it. Print Kits pays talented designers to license these projects, which creates a source of revenue to reward their hard work. In a world where designs are content and content is usually free, it can be very difficult for makers to earn any money for their work. So, Print Kits creates an opportunity and we applaud that.

The air hockey table design, for example, is the work of Bryan Vines, who you might know as BV3D. Vines creates all kinds of 3D printing-related content on his YouTube channel and has also published many open-source models on sites like Printables. Print Kits paid Vines to license the air hockey table design and they’ll be doing the same thing with other designers for future kits.

These kits are suitable for kids and adults alike. So, if you or someone you know has a 3D printer and loves making things, a Print Kits subscription is a great way to have a good time once a month.