Why do 3D Printers Suck? Please share your user experience I'm working with a group at the MIT Launch startup accelerator for high school and I was hoping to do some market research regarding some of the current problems with desktop 3D printers. I was hoping to get some feedback from all your experience with 3D printing and the hours of troubleshooting you've likely encountered.

What workarounds and aftermarket modifications are the most useful? If you could change one thing about your printer what would it be? How do you troubleshoot issues and how long does it take? What would make you more likely to 3d print more often (ie never clogged, didn't have to watch first layer, etc)? In your opinion, what are the biggest issues the desktop 3D printing industry faces? Just share any wishes, thoughts, hopes, dreams, etc about 3D printing

Thank you so much for your time and sharing your experience!
First, regarding "Why do 3D Printers Suck?" - The answer is They Don't!

Every tool has its limitations and you need to work withing the limitations of the tool.

Second, there are A LOT of different types/technologies, manufacturers, and price points and all of these have specific limitations.

I live in Tigard, OR and both my boys are in High School.  Our High School has a pretty advanced Technologies Department.  We have had a 3D printer for a several years and use it for printing parts for our after school programs (we have three FTC teams, one FRC team, and one (underwater) MATE team).  This last year the school introduced a CAD class and added about 15-20 new Afina printers so that the students can print what they design.

I talked to my sons (they have both used the printers) and they said the only problems they ran into were mistakes they made.  Two examples of that are:


Printing with ABS and having it warp (probably bed temp)
Trying to print a design with too thin a wall


I think there is a BIG opportunity for improvement here.  Having a "Slicing" program that doesn't require tweaking and would warn of likely print problems would help A LOT.  I like the idea of the new PrusaControl.  If this idea could be extended further as Thomas Sanladerer suggested in his video review

I know the Head of Technologies Department (I help mentor several of the after school programs).  He has been responsible for getting printers and I recall he was concerned about more high-level things:


Service, Maintenance and Repair
Fumes (this is a lot of printers in one place with students in the same room)
Network interface and driver compatibility with school computer/network standards.


I believe there is another opportunity here.  If you could provide some sort of a "printer farm" where the students could send their print to the "farm" and then have a highly visible indicator on the selected printer would their name/ID when their print starts.  That way you can get more efficient use of the printers and the space they consume.