My son was the only one using the 3D printer at high school and he really showed an interest in the whole design process. He asked me to get this Monoprice Maker Select 3D Printer v2 printer for him last year:
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13860
Best thing I have ever purchased! The nice thing about thid printer is that it requires very little assembly unlike some others. He did add some extra bracing by printing parts from 3D models already available.
He has recently done some work for a friend who is doing a custom pinball, I'll see if I can post some pics.
Be prepared to do a lot of tweaking with the print files and setup of the printer. Temperature, humidity and level will effect the final print outcome.
Having said that this is a great printer one of the connectors on the main board melted (common problem amongst low cost printers apparently) so be aware of that.
He is now in his 2nd year at Uni studying mech eng ... he even told me recently that he was glad I got that printer for him and encouraged him ( and he rarely gives me credit for anything lol).
I suggested he should get a portfolio of his creations and advertise custom pinball parts for Pinsiders in order to to pay for his tuition fees 
