Круто.

@SviMik  
Good hints.  
Duplicator 4 or 4S models don’t seem as nearly repudiated and reviewed as the i3 clone.
 
I understand these things, being built and sold by the Communist Party of China, probably have hugely inconsistent quality. I’ve racked up over 72 hours of print time on the machine and it’s still working good.
 
Surprising the enclosed-case model is breaking…

@donut64s  

Our company bought five Wanhao Duplicator 4 printers. They all died in a week with different reasons. And while some was quite understandable (like extruder problems - all printers have it), others was more facepalming, like burning connectors: http://i.imgur.com/MlLEZJG.jpg  
Another one started burning with extruder cable. Luckily we had a fire alarm sensor, because nobody was there at this moment :) So be careful with Wanhao. That’s the only model we had a fire hazard situations with.

@redweasel  
Ever have a 2D inkjet give you problems?
 
Multiply those problems by another dimension, so 8 times.

such a simple concept. just 3 servos to adjust height, breadth, and position of the base, and a heating element to melt the plastic being fed into it. the rest is just calculations, when to be at what position and for how hot and how long.

@Vaidelot  
Yeah. You can buy pre-assembled printers on open source components, though.
 
Most folks wouldn’t look to ‘expand’ their printer. It comes out of the box and just works, that’s all I could ask for. If I want something different out of my printer, I’ll just buy a whole new printer, unless its an easy thing to do (like swapping the hot-end for an all-metal one, which most printers can do).
 
Definitely true that’s not what everyone wants out of a printer.  
Of course there’s nothing stopping me from cutting some fiberboard or plywood, printing some fasteners and seals, getting an air filter and a fan, printing the enclosures for that, and building an enclosure for my printer so it can do ABS better. But I’m not gonna do that…

We don’t have tags for X-acto knife or putty-scraper, so “knife” and “tools” will have to do. And I’m taking a guess on the filament being PVC, since it’s one of the two most-common types and we do have a tag for “PVC.”

@donut64s  
Well, that’s the core problem with 3d-printers, actually! Most of the pre-assembled ones either expensive or have some restrictions (in size, materials, quality, etc). Kits (especially ones based on open components) cheaper and MUCH more versatile, but one needs to have some engineering skills to get the most of them (or to even build them properly). And yes, the process of building could be… surprisingly entertaining at times.

@Vaidelot  
I’ll say, yes.  
Do some research however and it is not hard to choose the best printer in your price range and scour filament reviews closely, as they are quite homogeneous these days in most regards, but surprisingly different in others.  
There is definitely some experimentation involved in getting the best results out of a given printer with a given plastic or brand of filament.
 
But the rule of hoof?  
DO. NOT. BUY. A. KIT.  
Buy your printer pre-assembled! Kits are for engineering students, who enjoy the fun of building the printer.. not actually using it!

@Vaidelot @donut64s  
Wow…it’s further along than I expected. I didn’t know there were home systems available yet.
 
I’ve been watching this technology for years…mostly as it pertains to rapid prototyping for Formula 1 motor racing teams. There seem to be a million and one uses before you even scratch the surface.  

@donut64s  
Then you’re very lucky person, I suppose… Again, it depends of the lot of factors (plastic used, model size, printing temp, quality of slicing, presence of the hotbed, effectiveness of cooling system, overall quality of printer parts, etc), and most of the cheaper ones are… quite hard to tune, especially for inexperienced person.

@Vaidelot  
I bought a 3D printer a week or so ago.  
Wanhao Duplicator i3.
 
I have printed multiple, flawless (no shrink no warp) functional parts with things like flat springs, screws, and snap-fits onto cut aluminum, headsets to mount brackets for a headtracker, and also a captive rotary piece (turret) on a model tank.
 
I have NO ISSUES with my printer. I forsee issues arising, especially with the Z-axis, but it’s been nothing but promise.  
Home equipment suitable for hobby or even end use is here NOW.

@Ginger_Fig  
It’s less about affordability (chines Mendels are already cheap as heck, so are ABS/PLA plastics) and more about complexity of getting the darned thing to work properly. I’ve spent more time configuring and improving my Cobblebot than actually printing, but still the result are… pitiful, to say the least!

@Vaidelot  
Soon. 3D printing is only getting less expensive, more widespread and better in quality.  
Home equipment, affordable for hobbyists is just a few years off.

I wish it was so easy…

That’s kind of meta.