One person, one printer, lots of motion cycles
haptic3D is a one-person workshop in Berlin. What started as a private fascination with kinetic objects — palm stones that feel good in your hand, fidgets you never want to put down — has become a small mail-order shop for functional 3D-printed objects.
At its heart the work is kinematic: moving joints, built-in ball bearings, magnetic snap-back. What is made here should not just look nice but work in your hand — a tactile moment of calm in everyday life.
The process
Every object goes through four steps, all in one pair of hands:
- Design — think up the kinematics, test the motion, build the CAD model.
- Print — layer by layer from plant-based PLA, with joints printed in place.
- Finishing — remove supports, fit bearings and magnets, check the surface.
- Shipping — individual check, plastic-free packaging, off to the post.
Why 3D printing
Additive manufacturing is the natural method for these objects: joints and bearing seats can be printed right into the part, with no assembly. There is no offcut waste, and small quantities make economic sense — no warehouse stock, no overproduction. Every object is printed only when it is needed.
“I print nothing I would not want to keep in my own hand.”
That means small batches, honest materials and repairable objects instead of planned obsolescence. And the freedom to keep improving designs instead of freezing them.