A Little About Our Story With 3D Printing

We are a family-run business based in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, UK, and we are genuinely passionate about what we do. Our journey into 3D printing began in 2024 when we built a home solar system that operates primarily off-grid. Whether or not you’re familiar with terms like MPPT or inverter, one thing quickly became clear to us: with nearly 15kW of solar running through several MPPT units, they generate a significant amount of heat.

To solve this, we set out to design a custom adaptor capable of housing cooling fans to draw cool air through the heatsink fins. The solution worked remarkably well. After sharing the design on Victron and solar forums—complete with a colour match closely resembling the iconic blue and orange—interest grew rapidly.

What started as a personal project soon evolved into a steady stream of requests from fellow solar users. This demand expanded further when campervan installers began contacting us to create bespoke fan systems capable of cooling inverters installed in enclosed spaces.

Today, that early innovation continues to shape the products we develop and the commitment we bring to every design.

We also know several individuals who live with anxiety, autism, and ADHD. To support them, we created a few hand fidgets for them to try. Their enthusiastic response encouraged us to produce more, marking the beginning of an unexpected but rewarding new direction.

Fast-forward to the spring of 2025, and The 3D Printing Shed was officially born. We expanded our range, creating products to suit all ages and interests, and began attending local car boot events from Stickney to Metheringham in Lincolnshire and the surrounding areas. As our presence grew, so did our following.

This brings us to the present day: in October 2025, The 3D Printing Shed evolved into The 3D Printing Shed Ltd, becoming a fully registered company in its own right. We now operate seven printers and are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first four-headed printer in early 2026. This state-of-the-art multi-head machine represents the latest advancement in the industry—and, if we’re honest, it’s rather impressive.

Something you need to know about 3D Printed Toys

ALL of our toys (or anything that looks like it COULD be a toy to a child) such as dragons, flexi dinosaurs, fidgets etc etc are compliant to regulated laws. These laws apply to all 3D printed toy products. EN71-1, EN71-2, EN71-3. The toy or packaging should be showing a UKCA sticker at the very least. We have had the sticker below made to comply with this part of the law also showing the choking hazard warning for under 3 years of age.

Please feel free to message us if you wish to see the certification for the product you wish to buy. For your own safety check the seller holds the relevant EN71 certificates before buying ANY 3D printed toys from any vendor on any social media/auction platform, stall or shop. All Temu, Shein and AliExpress 3D printed toys are NOT certified to any of the EN71 laws as most of the cheap models for sale are hollow and have no infill for strength. Be careful if you buy any of these products.

Please also note NONE of our products are suitable for children under 3 years of age (36 months) due to possible chocking hazards from small parts. Please do not buy from us if this was your intentional age for purchasing.

At The 3D Printing Shed, we bring your ideas to life with precision 3D printing — whether it’s fun, functional, or fully custom. From fidgets, dragons, and model dinosaurs to automotive parts and detailed prototypes, we can print almost anything you can dream up.

But first and foremost we want you to safely enjoy your product which is why we have painstakingly gone through the EN71 regulations for all of our toy products.

So what are the EN71 laws?

Key aspects of EN71-1 

• Mechanical and physical properties: This standard specifies safety requirements for a toy’s mechanical and physical properties, including its strength, durability, and design.
• Choking hazards: It tests for small parts that could detach and pose a choking risk, which would require a warning that the toy is unsuitable for children under 3 years old.
• Age-specific requirements: The standard includes specific requirements for toys intended for very young children, including those under 36 months and 18 months, and those too young to sit unaided.
• Cords and strings: It has specific rules for cords and strings, including how they can be made to prevent entanglement hazards, with stricter rules for toys for younger children.
• Packaging and marking: It also specifies requirements for toy packaging, marking, and labeling.
• Compliance and marking: Toys must comply with EN71-1 (and often other EN71 parts, such as those on flammability and chemical properties) to be legally sold in the UK

Key aspects of EN 71-2 (this is less specific to 3D printing but does include things such as an Iron Man mask or helmet of some description)

Applies to all toys and sets specific requirements for those considered to present the greatest fire hazards, including: 

• Toys worn on the head: Beards, moustaches, wigs, masks, hoods, and head-dresses (excluding plain paper or paperboard hats).
• Toy disguise costumes and other toys intended to be worn by a child in play.
• Toys intended to be entered by a child: Such as toy tents or puppet theaters made from textiles or polymer sheets and films.
• Soft-filled toys: Including animals and dolls made of plush or textile fabrics. 

Key aspects of EN 71-3 – What the standard does 

• Tests for specific elements: It measures the amount of certain elements, such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium, that can leach from toy materials.
• Simulates ingestion: It uses a strong acid to simulate stomach acid, immersing the material for two hours to see if chemicals migrate out.
• Categorizes materials: It categorizes materials into three types to apply different migration limits: Category I (dry, brittle, powder-like), Category II (liquid or sticky), and Category III (scraped-off).
• Ensures safety: By setting these limits, the standard ensures that the materials used in toys are not toxic if a child were to swallow a part of them. 

Who it applies to: Basically anybody that prints 3D printed toys to sell is a manufacturer.

• Manufacturers: The standard is a legal requirement for toys sold in the European Union.
• Toy makers: Toy manufacturers are responsible for ensuring their final products comply with the standard.
• Material suppliers: Some suppliers of raw materials, like yarn and ink manufacturers, voluntarily test their products to EN71-3 standards and provide certifications to their customers who make toys. 

Licensing and Intellectual Property Rights

All products that we have designed ourselves are owned by us via Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Laws.
All Images on our site are protected by copyright laws and unless specific permission has been given in writing by us you do not have the right to use any images from this site.

All products for sale on this site are designed by us or we have bought the licensing rights to sell the products commercially. We have bought the files to make the products in our workshop, we have not bought the actual product itself. These files are known as STL, 3MF or OBJ files.