I am very pleased to see this blog and post, as I have been following the desktop manufacturing revolution since the 90s, when the first proposals for Fab Labs came out of academia at amazingly low costs of ~$25k. I also work in construction, and am primarily interested in additive manufacturing and CNC type finishing of construction materials.

I know there are paste printers, but those are for food, like frosting. I have never bit the bullet and acquired a 3D printer, as I live in a pretty small village and have never met anyone, or even made their acquaintance online, that had ever used, much less owned, a 3D printer.

As you will note from my interest, I have a lot of questions I'd love to have answered, but know I will have to tinker myself to answer most of them. Of course money is an issue, and throwing money at model after model of printer that fails to meet my needs has long seemed the only possibility, which is why I have never taken the plunge.

Can you gently let me down, or if willing to waste time on a nub, point me towards useful, tweakable, products that might enable me to gain useful experience?

Thanks!