The late-model Chinese printers you see today (which are overwhelmingly duplicates of the Ender 3) are the beneficiaries of lots of community development over t

The late-model Chinese printers you see today (which are overwhelmingly duplicates of the Ender 3) are the beneficiaries of lots of community development over the last ten years - this has the added benefit of making cheap and easy printers for new users to get into. From the Cupcake to now: 1) A constant-speed DC Motor as an extruder is not sufficient for 3D printing, you really need to be able to change how much filament you're moving. 2) A small melt-zone in your hot-end is critical to reducing jamming - This is why the E3D design has been so reliable. Looking through some old pictures, I remember how insane the cupcake hotend was (wrap some Nichrome wire around coupler, and some thermal cement around that, and your thermistor attached to that, and wrap the whole thing with some fiberglass insulation and Kapton tape) 3) Proper mechanical components shouldn't really be substituted - M8 threaded rods are not ACME leadscrews. I remain amazed at what the community (mostly Prusa, honestly) has been able to get out of 8-bit electronics.