The first Kniff was a coin sorter.

We both knew the problem: always loose change on you, never the right coin to hand. A bit in your pocket, a bit in the centre console, the rest in a bowl by the door. We still had to search every single time.

So we built ourselves one. Eight tubes, one for each euro coin, each sized exactly to its diameter. The value is embossed on top, and a slot runs down the front so you can push the top coin out with your thumb. Not a particularly good-looking part, but it did exactly what it was supposed to.

We listed it on eBay, more out of curiosity than any plan. In fourteen days, eighteen sold — all to people we'd never met. That was the first part anyone had ever ordered from us, rather than received as a gift.

That was the moment it became clear: this doesn't just solve our problem.

Kniff grew out of that. We print in Berlin, check every part by hand, and use it ourselves before it ever goes online. To us, a "Kniff" (German for a clever little trick) is the one small move that makes an everyday problem disappear — not the big invention, but the small part you stop noticing you needed.

We long ago stopped printing just everyday helpers — now it's pretty much anything a 3D printer can produce: spare parts, hand-crafted components, models for architecture and planning firms. If you have questions, requests, or your own idea for a 3D-print project, just write to us. We look at every request personally.