Even a hotbed replacement isn’t that bad. I ended up swapping out the entire hotend when I shorted the thermistor because I thought I also broke the heater cartridge as well. You can partially disassemble the MK3S’s tool head and it’s basically remove-> insert the new part and close it up again - > rewire.
I’m going to go against the grain here and say you should get a Prusa. I had an Ender 3 V2 as my first printer and it was an endless series of headaches with all of the little adjustments and tweaks I needed to make every other print. I nearly gave up the hobby and took a break for about a year because I was so sick of it. Furthermore, an Ender absolutely did not teach me everything there is to know about how 3D printers work, even with all the fiddling.
Eventually I got an i3 MK3S+ kit. The kit helped me to actually learn everything about what goes on inside a 3D printer. I would recommend staying away from preassembled printers, at least at first. Ever since building it, it’s basically been a fire and forget type of machine, barring routine maintenance and a shorted thermistor that was my own fault. It’s my main workhorse and I now use it to run a small 3D printing business.
On top of all that, Prusa’s designs are all open-source, their printer profiles are extremely well-tuned using PrusaSlicer, and getting official replacement parts is a breeze. It’s definitely something I would get if you want or need something that can’t have a lot of downtime.
As for your question regarding PLA, it should be okay, but if you’re really concerned about it, you can get an enclosure to help contain the fumes. I have the official Prusa enclosure with all the add-ons. I think you can get it bundled with a printer for a discount.
JSON by a mile. I hate the YAML plague, it’s some of the most unintuitive syntax I’ve seen and yet it’s everywhere in DevOps/SysOps.
Would it be possible to embed harder plastic bumpers/reinforcements from PETG or PLA inside the walls? I feel like that could make something like this even more useful
I usually watch a video after reading the rules and trying to play for a little bit. It usually helps cover the gaps in understanding or areas that I’ve misinterpreted the rules, while also allowing myself to become familiar enough with the game that I don’t get lost.
There’s a reason why PETG/PLA are used as interface materials for supports in multi-material printers. There’s no molecular bond and so the parts will snap off very easily.