lol. I bought a 3D printer this weekend and have been using it to prototype keyboard designs. Before I decided to buy the printer, I had been trying to send my designs out to third parties. Here are some things that happened within the span of about 10 minutes this morning:

1. Shapeways told me that they can't print the prototype model I sent them about a week ago
2. A company whose website promised an "insta-quote" last friday got back to me to tell me that my (very similar) prototype part would cost more than $500
3. I pulled the fully-manifested prototype out of my own printer - and it turned out great.

Admittedly, I'm sure part of the disconnect is that I don't need the part to have good surface quality - it's just for evaluating the ergonomics of the key placement. But neither of these services even have an option for "I don't care very much about the details, just the structure". Feeling very glad I bought the printer instead of wasting a ton of effort and time waiting for third party services. Seems likely to pay for itself faster than I expected.