Most businesses close on Christmas Eve. Stores pull their shutters down, office lights go dark, and parking lots empty by noon. At 3DCentral’s facility in Laval, Quebec, things look different. The overhead lights are on. The printers hum. A skeleton crew moves between machines with the quiet focus of people who chose to be here. Christmas Eve at a working print farm is unlike any other night of the year — peaceful yet productive, reflective yet forward-looking.
This is what the holiday looks like inside our 200+ printer operation, and why we keep manufacturing through the season that most industries pause.
The Quiet Shift
The contrast between a regular production day and Christmas Eve is striking. During peak season — the weeks leading up to Christmas — our production floor operates at maximum intensity. Every printer runs at capacity. Technicians move briskly between machines. The sound level from 200+ printers running simultaneously creates a constant mechanical hum that becomes the baseline of every conversation.
Christmas Eve strips all of that energy back to its essence. A small team — typically four to six people — monitors the printers that continue running overnight builds. The pace is deliberate rather than urgent. There is time to notice details that production pace normally obscures: the satisfying rhythm of a print head tracing a precise path, the subtle change in sound as a printer begins a new layer, the gradual emergence of a recognizable shape from what starts as a flat outline on a build plate.
Volunteer Shifts
Nobody is assigned to work Christmas Eve at 3DCentral. The skeleton crew consists entirely of volunteers — team members who prefer the calm of the facility to other holiday options, who want the premium pay, or who genuinely enjoy the particular atmosphere of a production floor on a quiet holiday evening. Some team members have volunteered for the Christmas Eve shift every year since we began the tradition.
Why the Printers Keep Running
The practical reasons for maintaining production through Christmas Eve are straightforward. The holiday season does not end on December 25 — in many ways, it accelerates.
Post-Christmas Demand Surge
Gift card recipients begin shopping within hours of opening their envelopes. Boxing Day and post-Christmas sales drive significant order volume. New 3D printer owners who received machines as gifts start their first projects and discover the community. By keeping our production running through the holiday, we ensure that orders placed on December 25 and 26 begin production immediately rather than waiting for a post-holiday restart.
Long Print Jobs
Many of our most detailed figurines require twelve to twenty hours of continuous print time. Starting a batch of these prints on Christmas Eve morning means they complete by Christmas Day evening, ready for quality inspection and packaging on December 26. Pausing production for the holiday would create a gap in the pipeline that takes days to fill.
Equipment Health
Printers that run continuously maintain more stable thermal conditions than printers that cool down and restart. The hotend, heated bed, and enclosure (where applicable) reach thermal equilibrium during extended operation. Shutting down and restarting creates thermal cycling that, over time, contributes to component fatigue. Keeping machines running — even at reduced capacity — is better for their long-term health than a cold shutdown followed by a full restart.
Holiday Traditions at 3DCentral
The Christmas Eve shift has developed its own traditions over the years.
The Holiday Meal
The skeleton crew shares a catered holiday meal together during the shift. The specifics change each year, but the format is consistent: good food, shared conversation, and a break from monitoring duties that acknowledges the holiday without ignoring the work.
The Ornament Tree
A small tree in the break room holds 3D printed ornaments — one from each team member, added during their first Christmas Eve at the facility. Each ornament is unique, designed and printed by the person who placed it. The tree has become a visual history of the team: early ornaments in simple PLA, newer ones incorporating advanced techniques and specialty materials. New team members add their ornament during their first holiday season, continuing a growing tradition.
The First Print of Christmas
At midnight, the team starts a single commemorative print — a design created specifically for that year. These prints are not sold. They are kept as internal keepsakes, one for each team member present. The collection of annual Christmas Eve prints, displayed in our facility, tells the story of our technical evolution: improving resolution, more ambitious designs, and better materials with each passing year.
A Moment for Reflection
There is something about Christmas Eve in a working facility that invites reflection. The usual urgency is absent. The usual distractions are minimal. In the quiet between machine sounds and the occasional conversation, there is space to think about the year that is ending and the year ahead.
Every figurine that printed in 2025 — every duck, every gnome, every articulated dragon and seasonal collectible — represents a connection between our Quebec facility and a person somewhere who chose to bring that object into their home. The numbers are impressive: thousands of units, hundreds of designs, shipments to destinations across Canada and the United States. But on Christmas Eve, it is the individual connections that feel most meaningful.
The Year Behind
The year that began with ambitious goals closes with measurable achievements. New designs launched successfully. New artist partnerships enriched the catalog. New team members brought fresh perspectives. Production capacity expanded. Quality metrics improved. The Commercial License program grew. The Mystery Box subscriber base strengthened. Each milestone was built on the daily work of a team that shows up and executes with consistency and care.
The Year Ahead
And as printers continue their work through the small hours of Christmas morning, they are already building the future. The products emerging from the machines tonight will ship next week, reach customers across the continent, and become part of someone’s collection, home decor, or gift. The cycle continues because the work itself — turning digital designs into physical objects that bring people satisfaction — is genuinely rewarding.
From Our Farm to Your Home
From everyone on the 3DCentral team — including the Christmas Eve crew keeping the printers warm — we wish you a holiday season filled with warmth and good company. Thank you for being part of what we build. Your support makes every late shift, every early morning, and every careful quality inspection worthwhile.
Browse our full collection of collectibles in our shop, or explore more behind-the-scenes stories on our blog.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does 3DCentral operate on holidays? A: Yes. Our Laval, Quebec facility maintains a volunteer skeleton crew on major holidays including Christmas Eve to keep production running for post-holiday order fulfillment. This ensures that orders placed during the holiday period begin production immediately rather than waiting for a full restart.
Q: Why do 3D printers run continuously rather than shutting down for holidays? A: Continuous operation maintains stable thermal conditions in the printers, which improves long-term reliability and print quality. Many detailed figurines also require twelve to twenty hours of continuous print time, so pausing production creates pipeline gaps that take days to recover from.
Q: What holiday traditions does the 3DCentral print farm have? A: Our Christmas Eve traditions include a shared holiday meal for the volunteer crew, an ornament tree where each team member adds a personally designed 3D printed ornament during their first holiday season, and a commemorative midnight print — a unique design created specifically for that year and kept as an internal keepsake.
