Hey all,

I'm thinking about picking up a 3D printer. They've always interested me, and I think I could use one to build some prototype car parts (brackets, gauge clusters, etc) for my at-home project. A neighbor is also interested in working with me to build printed hands for her son.

In any case, I've been reading a lot of these forums and there are a LOT of potential products.


  • I'm looking for something that can build up to or over 12" flat. If it printed a bit smaller, but was a really awesome printer I'd consider it still and find a way to make the gauge cluster two pieces that snap together.
  • It doesn't have to be able to print in more than one color, but two would be a nice-to-have.
  • I'm not afraid to build it or have it be more "community" supported vs. an out-of-the-box setup, however I definitely don't wanting something that needs tinkering, fixing, or resetting after every few prints.
  • My budget is anywhere from 2-4k for the right setup.


Right now I mainly use Sketch-up pro to do my modeling. Will that transfer well to the Printer programs out there, or can those models be imported?

Cheers all, and thanks for the help in advance. In the meantime I'll continue to read through this forum.