I was thinking about this question today as someone used our work printer for some personal stuff.
As for me, I am printing little things that I would say make it worth it. I’ve printed lens adapters for my camera for example. That’s worth a good 14 to 30 bucks per print. My most favorite photo was with an adapted lens that came from a projector. I also printed IEMs and those things are worth it. Listening to music is second to none on those things. Plus I printed the same shell but for ear protection and again the fit is perfect and sure there’s post processing to get smooth surfaces but in the end it looks like a professional made it. So I think 3d printers are worth it.
Not really. I purchased one with pretty significant maintenance/process requirements, had I gotten one a little more seamless (self leveling/etc) I think I’d use it far more often than I do now.
It’s almost definitely a pain in the ass, but you can probably add self leveling to your existing printer.
Tried! Added one of those white barrel self leveling poke tools (can’t remember specifically what they’re called). It was a huuuuuge pain in the ass and only works about 50% of the time oddly, lol.
Sounds like you’re talking about a bltouch or a clone, they were in the market super early, I think they were one of the first.
There are more options out there now, but most do work on the same concept.