I just built a 3D printer (Reprap Prusa i3v) so I could design and build custom parts for a hardware project I'm doing and I think that this is overly pessimist

I just built a 3D printer (Reprap Prusa i3v) so I could design and build custom parts for a hardware project I'm doing and I think that this is overly pessimistic. I needed to print, try and tweak parts, if I ordered everything from shapeways my iterations would have been stretched out. Here is a page I wrote about my experiences: http://winterstartupchallenge.com/3dprinter.html http://winterstartupchallenge.com/3dprinter.html The only difficult thing was the calibration, making sure the surfaces were level etc... this could all be drastically improved with better reprap design. Learning how to design models that could be 3D printed took some time, but now its second nature and basically comes down to not having any overhangs greater than 45 degrees. I'm really glad I built my 3D printer and have the skillset. My ambition in life is to become what I call Master of the Intelligent Networked Machine, which is a grandiose way of saying I want to have the full skill set to design and build Internet of Things devices, from the hardware to the code. I think its the most valuable skillset around today and 3D printing is a valuable part of the toolset. It took me time to build the printer, but in the process I learned about the technology and I immediately saw the possibilities for using it in new and interesting ways. By seeing how a RepRap is built (commodity parts + custom home fabricated parts) it changed the way I designed and built my hardware product. Becoming a 3D printer master builder only took a couple months and was well worth it.