In your home you’ll likely have one microwave, perhaps a car or two, one refrigerator, etc. But how many 3D printers do you have? We think it’s more than one.
Why would you need more than one 3D printer? Aside from the desire to have machines using different processes for printing different materials, there really isn’t much reason to have more than one 3D printer.
But we think you have (or will soon have) more than one 3D printer.
There’s a reason for this. It’s because these machines become rapidly obsolete. Each manufacturer (and open source projects, too) release new 3D printer designs each year. Often they have significantly greater capabilities, like increased size, ease of use and most importantly increased reliability. The same effect occurs with open source projects – you won’t be able to resist the urge to build that new design.
While you might not want to upgrade each year, we think you’ll find that your two or three-year old machine will effectively become obsolete and you’ll be strongly encouraged to replace it. Now you have two machines.
A few more years later and you’ll get another one. You’ll be happy with it, as it likely will have very much improved performance. Unless you plan on disposing of your old 3D printers, you will begin to have a collection. We have four at home now, with another six at the Lab.