Hey everyone,

This is my first post here! I'm a mechanical drafter and a little bit of design enthusiast with some interest in getting a decent printer. As you might have guessed by the title I'm looking for some advice. I built a PrintrBot Simple with a couple upgrades a couple years ago so I'm pretty familiar with how to get one working (at least I was then) but I was never happy with its consistency. I didn't have occasion enough to print every day and when I ran out of media I just let it sit.

That was then. These days my mentor and I both have access to a Stratasys Elite at work (we work for the same company, different buildings) but we can't really use them for personal or freelance work so we're looking at splitting the cost and getting something for ourselves. We're not exactly rolling in the dough and I don't think either of us has the time to do this as a side gig. It's mostly for personal projects and the occasional freelance work. As such we're trying to find the right balance of cost/performance (like everyone else, right?) so we're thinking of a used printer. Naturally we ran straight to Craigs List. What we found is a Rigidbot 3D printer, the kickstarter version, listed for $400, in working order. The reviews I read on 3dhubs.com were average to good, in accordance with its age and price. Some said it could be excellent with a few upgrades. I like that it has a heated bed (we'll be using ABS), the frame looks pretty solid, and it uses opensource software and hardware for future upgrades.

So here are my questions: is $400 a fair price for a Rigidbot 3D? Why or why not? Based on what I like about the Rigidbot 3D should we be considering something else? I'm coming to this forum because I'm a strong believer that forums are filled with people who care deeply about a given subject and are usually far more knowledgeable than any store rep and have a good bead on what's worth it and what isn't.

Thanks in advance for your input.