3D printed bathroom projects for dinosaur fans

3D printing has been around for decades, but it’s only recently that the technology has become inexpensive enough to be accessible for hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers. And now there are more and more companies bringing their own 3D printer projects to the public in an effort to tap into this growing market.

Picking up 3D printing as a hobby can be incredibly rewarding – whether printing other peoples models or making your own – there are plenty of great projects to experiment with printing. It can also be practical as well, being a great way of printing our spare and replacement parts for use around the home.

Washing machine button broken? No problem, make and print a replacement! The utility and entertainment a 3D printer can offer makes it a pretty good investment, especially with how affordable they are these days, with a decent one setting you back less than $300.

This article is a roundup of some of the best 3D printed dinosaur bathroom accessories that are currently available. From shower heads and toiler paper holders, to shelf brackets and plant pots – there’s a little bit of everything for everyone in this roundup. So if you’re looking for a way to add a little bit of prehistoric flair to your bathroom, then look no further!

What does a decent 3D printer go for these days?

Just a few years ago, 3D printers were still super expensive, putting them beyond reach of most makers and hobbyist. However, they’ve both come down a lot in price over the years and seen vast improvements when it comes to print quality.

The cost of 3D printers varies depending on the size and quality, with most falling between $250-$2000. However, there are some very high-end machines that can cost upwards of $5000.

Some of the best budget 3D printers are made by Creality – including the popular Ender line of printers. I personally have an Ender 3 V2, which retails south of $300 and is more than up to the task of producing high quality prints.

Setting up a new 3D printer

Once you’re all set up, it’s customary in the 3D community to first print a Benchy on your new printer. Benchy is a simple 3d printer test object that is used to help calibrate and debug 3d printers, like a test print, to help make sure your printer is configured properly before moving on to anything more complex.

There are a couple of other similar models you might want to also print, like the popular All-in-One model, which as it’s name suggests, does it all – testing belt tensions, bridges, extrusion, overhangs, stringing, and temperature. It’s also a good idea to use a bed level, to help get your prints level – beyond that, you might even want to 3D print some replacement parts to make your printer better.

If you struggle to get your printing working properly, whether you’re prints are coming with issues like pillowing, splitting, stringing – or just not printing at all – your best bet is to head on line, where someone would have had the exact same issue with the exact same printer before. It can become a little frustrating at first, as 3D printing tends to be a little more hit and miss than some people expect, but stick with you – it gets much easier to print once you make it past the first hurdle or configuring it properly.

Remixing 3D models and making your own

After your first couple of prints, you’ll likely get a little more curious about modelling and how you can bring your own creations to life.

The first step you’ll likely take is into remixing – which is where you take a model someone else has made and edit it, turning it into something different. Think taking a dinosaur model, and cutting out a section in it’s back to turn it into a dinosaur taco holder for instance. Most people will stumble across Tinkercad – a free web-based 3D modelling software from Autodesk, which is perfect for just that.

Tinkercad is incredibly easy to use, and lots of fun once you pick up the basics, making it easy to take your creations and ready them for your slicer (the software that you use to print on your 3D printer). There are loads of great tutorials and guides out there on how to use Tinkercad, so head on over to Youtube or search on Google for a few published tutorials to get start.

What is Thingiverse?

Thingiverse is a website that is dedicated to 3D printing enthusiasts and hobbyists. It is a great resource for finding STL files for everything from kitchen gadgets to toy cars. You can also upload your own designs and share them with the community.

There are currently over 1,600 dinosaur-themed 3D printing projects available, ranging from simple keychains to life-size sculptures – along with a near-infinite number of absolutely anything you could think of on the site, all available to download and print at home for free.

The site started all the way back in 2008 and has somewhere between 200,000 to 300,000 active users, with over 1.5m downloads each month – making it one of the largest 3D printing communities on the internet. Makerbot, a US-based 3D printer manufacturer, own and operate the 13-year-old community, which they’ve done since the sites original launch.

The best 3D printable dinosaur bathroom projects

If you’ve made it this far, you should have a pretty good idea about all-things 3D printers, but now that’s all out of the way, we can move onto the fun part – using it to print things!

But with all that now out of the way, let’s get into this round-up – our picks of the best 3D printable dinosaur bathroom projects.

1. T-Rex Shower Head

Up first we’ve got this awesome T-Rex shower head from user jmschwartz11, a product manager at 3D printer producer MakerBot. It’s a remix of a T-Rex skull print produced by Makerbot Academy, reworked to include Schwartz’s own shower head design. If there was ever an excuse to pick up your very own 3D printer, this could well be it!

It’s designed to fit a standard 1/2″ shower head pipe – and can be installed as is, or fitted with a shower head swivel, which you can find online for no more than a few bucks. The print itself should take no more than 16 hours to print, making the print and installation of this dinosaur-themed shower head a great little weekend project.

The T-Rex shower head isn’t the only option either, with there being another great dinosaur shower head from user Justin RC – a Dilophosaurus shower head, which is perfect for any Jurassic Park fans looking to relive the iconic demise of Dennis Nedry from the original 1993 moving each morning. Either of these projects would look great alongside a dinosaur shower curtain.

You can grab the files to print the T-Rex shower head from Thingiverse here.

2. T-Rex Toilet Paper Holder

The T-Rex toilet paper holder is a remix of the same holder in the 4-piece T-Rex remix bathroom set – a collection of printable accessories that we include a little later in our round-up – made by user vladeer.

You can print this model either with holes for M3 screws or without holes, perfect for use with heavy duty double sided tape – a better option for renters, who can’t make holes in their bathroom walls. There are also two versions of the pencil which the roll goes on – a longer version, which features bone ends, or a shorter one, that is a little better for anyone short of space to mount it.

While it’s true that this might not be the most practical, this dinosaur toilet paper holder is definitely one of the coolest – and well worth the putting up with at roll changes, given how awesome it looks. One tip to make it easier to use is to glue one end of the pencil to the holder, which should making slipping on and off paper rolls when they run out a little easier.

You can grab the files to print the T-Rex toilet paper holder here.

3. Dinosaur Toothbrush Holder

Next up, we’ve got this dinosaur toothbrush holder from user some_kind_of_animal – a toothbrush holder that takes the form of a brontosaurus, a design kids and dino-fans are sure to love.

This model is a remix of a multi-colored one, which requires a multicolor 3D printer, like the Prusa mk3s with MMU or Mosaic Palette add-on unite. Instead, all of the files on this version are merged into one, so that it can be printed in a single material with any home 3D printer. The newer model also builds on the original with the addition of a drainage hole – something the original perhaps should have had.

If you’re lucky enough to have a printer capable of printing with multiple color materials at once, you can check out the original dinosaur toothbrush holder model from user mosaicmanufacturing. For us mere hobbyists who aren’t lucky enough, you can grab the single-file version of this bathroom accessory here.

4. T-REX Remix Bathroom Set

This next project is made up of four separate pieces – a soap dish, toilet paper holder, toothbrush holder, and towel hook – giving you a complete set of bathroom accessories. There really is everything needed for dinosaur fans to properly theme your bathroom with this 3D printer project.

The collection was created by user solstie, with each of these has been remixed from the T-REX skull model, published by MakerBot Academy – a model that, if you’re interested, you can find the original T-REX skull model here.

You’re going to need a good amount of time to print the whole set, as each part of this set is going to take a while – making this project best over several evenings or a whole weekend to complete.

For all files, instructions, and to print this project yourself, you can find everything you need for the T-Rex remix bathroom set here.

5. T-Rex Toilet Handle

One of the simpler prints on our list, making it a great place for novices to start, we have the T-Rex toilet handle from user fresh1134206. If you’ve got a toilet with a dodgy flush handle, or just want something different and dino-themed for your toilet, then this project is for you.

This model is a partial remix of the print-in-place flexible T-Rex – the Flexi Rex – using the head of this popular print as the basis for the dinosaur-themed handle. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to print this model, making it a great little afternoon or evening 3D project.

Something worth noting before you run off and start printing this project is that the hexagon joint is pretty tight – with the designer needing to use a “C” clamp to successfully install it. What this means is that it’s not going to be that easy to get off, so bear that in minds before you go ahead and switch out your existing flush handle.

You can grab the files to print your own T-Rex toilet handle here.

6. BrontoPot

If you’ve got a green thumb, or just like plants around the home, then this next model will be right up your alley – the BrontoPot, a 3D printable dinosaur pot from user sullydog101.

The BrontoPot has been remixed from the Bronto – a simple, smooth Brontosaurus model from user cerberus333 – that’s had much of it’s back removed to make room for a plant, turning it into a super cute dinosaur planter.

This 3D project is perfect for adding a bit a greenery not just to a dinosaur-themed bathroom, but really anywhere around the home.

You can grab the file for the BrontoPot here.

7. Velociraptor Shelf Brackets

Last but not least, we’ve got these awesome Velociraptor shelf brackets to round-off our list of projects – this one being one of our favorites. It’s made by user toakamate, and is the perfect addition to any bathroom, offering plenty of shelf space while adding to the overall dinosaur theme.

While these shelf brackets are design to be used primarily without screws, being mounted with durable, double sided tape instead – like 3M nuclear tape – you can instead grab a compatible mounting plates complete with screw holes here.

These brackets are surprisingly strong and hard wearing, with their maker having tested them with 24 lbs dumbbells overnight, to which they stood up to without any damage or warping – pretty impressive for a 3D print, and useful, making them capable of storing plenty of bathroom essentials.

For full instructions and files, visit the Velociraptor shelf bracket on Thingiverse here.

Final thoughts

If you’re a fan of dinosaurs, or just looking for a fun and unique way to add some personality to your bathroom, then these 3D printed projects are perfect for you. From simple prints like the T-Rex toilet handle, to more complex projects like the BrontoPot, there’s something for everyone in this roundup.

If you’re new to 3D printing, then we recommend starting with one of the simpler projects on our list – like the toilet handle or shelf brackets – before progressing onto something more challenging, like the 4-piece T-Rex bathroom set. Either way, if you’re looking for the perfect weekend or evening project, you’re bound to find something on our list, whatever your 3D printing experience.

We hope you enjoyed this round-up, and that you found it useful. If you 3D print anything for your bathroom from this list, we’d love to hear about it. Let us know in the comments below!