Want a new part for your synthesizer? Need a replacement knob or dial? In a first, one company is telling its customers to just print their own.

It's a move that signifies a major step into a new commercial marketplace, where customers can buy products directly from companies for on-demand, at-home manufacturing. And while we probably won't see complicated, mechanical products from big corporations reaching us through Thingiverse for a while yet, knobs and dials are the perfect static, detachable objects to begin the movement.

Teenage Engineering, makers of a popular synthesizer known as the OP-1, posted the 3-D design files of various components on digital object repository Shapeways, and is instructing 3-D printer-equipped users to print them out instead of buying them.

"As an alternative to shipping plastic parts around the world, we let anyone print their own," said David Möllerstedt, head of audio at Teenage Engineering, in an e-mail interview with Wired. "It’s a really interesting development that 3-D printing is becoming more accessible."

OP-1's knob's printable files are free to download, or you can purchase the printed accessories through Shapeway's service. Image: courtesy Shapeways.

While many individuals have posted replica replacement parts amongst their own creations online, Shapeways says this is the only instance they know of of a manufacturer doing so.

"I have been researching the area for several years now, and this is the first time I have seen a electronics company give away the files for a product they would otherwise sell," said Duann Scott, design evangelist at Shapeways, in an e-mail exchange with Wired. "There was an open hardware phone by OpenMoko in 2008 called the Neo 1973 that had the CAD files available so that you could customize the case for the phone, and 3-D print them but it was not particularly popular. The Freerunner is the latest iteration of that project."

The OP-1 synthesizer, which retails for $849, achieved cult status for its diminutive form factor – it resembles a children's toy – and its Swiss Army knife-like functionality as an all-in-one sampler, four-track recorder and mixer, sequencer, MIDI controller, synth, and more. A growing variety of accessories for the OP-1 extend its capabilities as an instrument.

Making the accessories 3-D printable could also enhance creativity, encouraging users to modify the accessories in interesting ways, according to Möllerstedt.

"It will be exciting to see what people will be doing with the 3-D models, how many that will print them, and if anyone even will go ahead and do custom modifications," he said.

The shipping costs for the OP-1 accessories were prohibitively high for the Stockholm-based company, so it seemed natural to simply supply the CAD files. Several CAD files are now available as free downloads on Shapeways, in STEP and STL format. The files are free to download, or you can choose to have Shapeways print the pieces for you for a fee.

"Today almost all manuals are distributed digitally, and anyone that wants a hard copy can print one," Möllerstedt said. "We think the same will happen with accessories like these."

We stopped by Autodesk's shop to print the knobs for ourselves. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired.

Scott took it a step further. " If they were to make all replacement parts and add-ons downloadable and 3-D printable, they might not need to even manufacture the parts themselves; they can simply release the file and the synthesizer owners can 3-D print at home, or with a 3-D printing service like Shapeways," he said. "In this way they do not need to mass-produce, hold inventory or distribute their products; they only need to design and release."

Teenage Engineering's intriguing move points to a near future where you can jam on your synth, fire up your 3-D printer, build an accessory, and snap it onto the device within hours. If the pattern continues, other electronics manufacturers – and all companies in general – will soon follow suit.