I've been telling myself that for as long as 3D-printing has been consumer tech (about 20 years ?) and now it's shifted to "I'll borrow one my friends' printers if needs be".

In truth every time an issue fit for 3D printing has come up in my life, I solved it easily with wood and cardboard. I'm starting to recognize I might be a craftsman at heart.

Check your local library, a lot of them have one and can help you get started. It's usually pennies to print too. I printed an adapter for my coffee grinder at my local library a few weeks ago and it took 2 days and cost me $4. Fantastic stuff.

Even with my old/cheap Ender 3 Pro, I printed something overnight took 13.5 hrs, there it was

I thought the same thing while reading this. But I worry that I'd get one and it'd just sit on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.

You might already have one, and just don't know it :-) If you don't, it's much cheaper to get one that the author considers a 3D printer.

From TFA:

> 1. I like to think that all printers are 3D, unless it's a printer in Flatland.

Skip the too-cheap entry level and get something reliable. They’re great to have handy, but easy to fall into maintenance and calibration hell. Modern 3D printers have enough sensors and smarts to self-calibrate reliably. That’s essential to make it a tool and not a tinker toy.