Treated myself to a 3d Printer for my birthday, got the Prusa mk3s+ kit, took 3+ weeks to get, and then a weekend to assemble. Assembly was a bit more involved that I realized, but was an enjoyable experience and I was beyond thrilled when after assembly it all just worked. I did crack one part, but have printed a replacement so if it every fails I can replace it.

During the three week wait, I taught myself blender and I've just shared publicly my first project, a reimagined Otto for Oktoberfest. I probably should have started with something smaller, but hey, go big or go home.

I found a good tutorial on doing characters, and that got me started, and it was just the first version that was done in 3 weeks, I spent another 3+ weeks refining it and I would certainly do things differently if I was doing it again. It certainly took a lot of time to get the hang of blender and figure things out, but I like a challenge and I had the time.

This was my first print, a current unpainted and the painted . . .

IMG_6614 (resized).JPG

while it may not occur in my lifetime, there is no doubt in my mind that 3d printers will become common place in homes someday. The ease of use, reliability and speed will continue to improve, the costs will come down, and the available models to download will grow exponentially. Although I guess if a Amazon gets to one hour delivery for anything, everywhere …

take a look at Blender

There is a thread for laser…

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/laser-engraving-amp-cutting-for-pinball

Pretty sure a more pinsiders have 3d printers than lasers and that is a newer thread. I would like to have a laser, but have not be able to justify it, yet.

looks like I beat you by 24 seconds, so yeah, you were typing yours while I was posting mine.

This was freaky to see, I was involved in two successful Start up companies with Irv as CEO, and that was after he was made rich from his first startup. Money never changed who he was, so I guess when you are a very successful serial entrepreneur who likes to tinker, when you retire, make videos on using 3d printers.