Great point! It also depends on how much time you have for it. I built a 3D printer when I was younger because I had hours most days to work on it.

Now I would probably only have a few hours a week to tinker, so if I spent most of that time just working on the printer and couldn’t get stuff actually printed and printed well, that would feel like wasted time personally!

Would be kinda cool to buy a functioning printer and print parts for a diy printer. Then it’ll have children haha!

So this is where the fediverse chick came from huh haha

One of those hobbies where starting cheap actually makes it not worth it. Kind of like a cheap camera can make you feel discouraged once you get pretty good at photography. A $500 camera can get you started, but a $1500+ (or refurbished more expensive option) will unlock a whole new level of creative abilities (speaking from experience!)

What would you say the gap between the “this 3d printer will do the job but make you lose your mind” and “this is a reliable 3d printer that is reasonably priced for hobbies”?