Demanding money works, but I think it's a proxy for something else that works equally well: I own a laser cutter. Owning a laser cutter is sort of like the mak

Demanding money works, but I think it's a proxy for something else that works equally well: I own a laser cutter. Owning a laser cutter is sort of like the maker equivalent of being "that friend with the truck." I eventually settled on this set of rules: 1. I will cut anything (within reason) that you supply me files for. 2. If you don't know how to make the files, I'll sit with you and teach you how. And those two rules will keep just about everyone from ever using my laser. I even offer to supply material, for small projects, and it doesn't help. It's astounding the excuses people will come up with to avoid spending a couple hours learning how to use a ruler and LibreCAD. Everyone seems to want laser cut stuff, but no one wants to put forth any effort whatsoever to make that happen. So, I recommend that as an option: if you want to get people to pay you for stuff, because you want the money, you can absolutely do that. But if you're like me and don't really care about the money, then instead find a way to filter out the people / requests who aren't serious about it. Require that they put in some effort of their own to make their thing happen, and that that effort be advanced up front before you do your piece. This means you can still help the friends who really value your time, while no longer having that time wasted by the other ones.