The object that I had 3D printed is a potato. I made this potato in the Inventor CAD software and then uploaded the file to a website and payed for them to print it for me.

My potato

I think for most things made, when made by a human I can expect a certain level of variance between products. Whereas with a machine made product, I know each will be the same every time.

Working drawings are needed to fabricate a product for a human I believe. This is because a human needs to understand the dimensions of each side of an object. Whereas, for a machine, a CAD model is all that is needed. This is because a machine can correctly and easily interpret the dimensions from the CAD model and then apply them to the materials needed to make the product.

More potato

Austyn's potato

Austyn's and my potato side by side.