3D Printing - % of time tweaking the printer?

[Stephen Tashiro]

How much of the hobby of 3D printing is spent in tweaking, adjusting, or upgrading the printer? - versus time spent actually using it to make something?

This 2013 article indicated that using 3D printers was similar to having a "project car" that you'd always be working on. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/08/home-3d-printers-take-us-on-a-maddening-journey-into-another-dimension/3/

Has the state of the art in 3D printing advanced beyond that level?

[Bill Bukovec]

One friend used his 3D printer as a tool to teach his kids about electricity, mechanical devices . Mostly, family time really.

Our I.T. guy bought a hobby level printer. The first thing he did, was ask me to print a sturdier bracket for him. (We have an industrial sized printer at work. ) Even the high end printers need tweeking now and then.

Looking back, I must have printed a couple hundred minions at my last job (each personalized with the person's name) . 3d printers are fun when they work.

[Stephen Tashiro]

3d printers are fun when they work.

Yes, but how often do 3D printers "for the home" work?

My theory is that if they worked as well as CNC machines then a lot of threads about 3D printing would find their way into the CNC section of SawmillCreek. Is that theory valid? Or do people interested in CNC have no interest in the kind of things that can be fabricated by 3D printers?