I am 52 and i have four 3d printers
Ahh still so young! I tried retiring about when you were born, focusing on mental growth being an artist in many disciplines making enough money to manage and sailing about the Florida Keys traveling far more on the inside than on the out before finding that life vanishing under my feet and a career designing on computers that had not even existed a few years before I started doing it.
It was fortunate I did so as no amount of money would allow me to do as much as I did then despite having the tools and materials I would have given anything for at that time. I had always wanted to do some serious sailing beyond any horizon but when I finally had that sort of money I saw that most such boats were being sold by men my age who were no longer fit enough to take care of them, and it finally got through to me just how much youth was wasted on the young, as much for financial empowerment as physical, or mental.
Even on the Craft levels, my hands are no longer still enough to build the pottery or Jewelry I once did, and it was only in selling the space required that I had the financial ability to use that space properly and only 20-50 years ago did I know of businesses that would have enabled that sort of design exploration.
I had seen that inexpensive crafts to get into like candles were the first to vanish as a viable living for a lone craftsman while the very expensive like furnace glass held its prices years longer, but unless you could sell a good volume right away it would eat you alive. 3D printing in (especially large pieces) of ceramic or metal or that ability to get from plastic/wax object to ceramic or metal, or the ability to make injection molds that produced the work in seconds rather than days would all be great and I know how to do the molds and casting process, but space is not available for such things.
That is how I ended up with the Glowforge. Expensive enough that there not be one on every block, doing the job in hours rather than days, in materials like nice woods that have perceived value unlike plastic that is valued less than its cost, and throughput and accuracy far beyond what hand work can accomplish, and avoiding the skill lever and maintenance needed for most robots to say nothing of something like furnace glass.
Still even with a Star Trek Replicator available only to you the problem of marketing and management etc are several skill sets that are not normally native to the mind capable of inventing original work for it to do,
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It’s funny everyday I wake up and see my grey roots I am confused. I don’t feel 54 despite dragging a nerve damaged body and working with a 5 second memory. My husband often looks at me with that “How old are you today?”
I’d like to let my grey hair take over so I can get some clarity on how old I should be acting but if I don’t make that appointment he will make it for me. lol.
Adam has 33 years in his profession and he has seen countless people who never did the things they were planning on doing because they waited until they could not physically or financially follow through. So we don’t do that…we don’t wait. We save and plan - it’s easier for us because we make most of our income in the first and second quarter.
I’m going to keep at it and hope that I can honor my creative nature and build a following…
That it…when my glowforge shakes off his “attitude” today.
Nothings working for me.
It hurts to do many of the things I used to do…but it hurts not too as well, you know what I mean I’m sure.
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I was not sure how to reply to “all” who have helped me in this search for a 3D Printer…so I replied to my first one hoping you would see another message to the thread.
I’ve decided to go with the Prusa - My Son In Law read everything in this thread and conferred with some people what the works with at the DOT. He is confident that he can put it together and keep it working for me. Luckily - we will live just a few hundred feet from each other soon so I am confident as well.
I am going to have to wait until February to order it as IRS is already reporting that the Government Shutdown is going to affect when they start accepting returns. They often find ways to hold on to your money just a few weeks longer. I don’t trust them to be ready even when that is over - It’s always something . Holding on to my mula until they get it together.
Do your Tax Professionals and CPA’s a favor and get your returns done anyway - and they will be filed electronically as soon as the IRS opens the floodgates!
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Ive got a few year old ROBO 3D R1 3D Printer that I modded like a madman 
It has a 8" x 9" x 10" print area. Its discontinued though and I will say it was an adventure in tinkering. If I were to buy a new unit today I would probably go with a Creality CR-10s for just under 500 beans. It has a 11.8" x 11.8" x 15.7" ( 300x300x400mm) print size and I’ve heard good things about it.
Good luck!
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68 years old, keeper of six cats and several 3D printers - a pair of Prusa i3 Mk3’s, a pair of Ender 3’s, a Tevo Tornado, and a few others that I need to work on.
I love my Prusas. The tornado gets the bigger jobs that the Prusas can’t handle, and the Enders are right behind the Prusas, a little more ‘fiddly’ for a third the price.
I’m going to take a leap here, but if you’re smart enough to play around with a Glowforge, you possess sufficient aptitude to put together a Prusa. I’ve done two, the first in under eight hours, the second, slightly less. The instructions, both printed and on-line, are phenomenal, and when you finish, you get a great tool.
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Not sure if you saw this in the other 3D Printer thread, but Toner Plastic has some filament on clearance.
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I don’t give myself enough credit. I live with some incredibly smart people and I let that make me feel stupid. It may have something to do with the looks they give me sometimes. lol.
My family is so TALENTED…I am so proud of them.
I’m going with the Prusa!
Happy New Year!
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Thank you for the heads up!
Happy New Year!
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Let me know if you want my improvements or need assistance with assembly. I have built three of them so far and have a few tips and tricks, but since they deviate from the Prusa instructions I won’t put them out there unless you want them.
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I definitely will.
Just gotta get through Tax Season first - everyone will be cranky pants until it’s over. lol.
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