This community is the whole reason that I built my v2.
My cousin bought her son an Ender 3, and it sat about 99% complete for a long time. When I was out visiting last year, I completed it and did some rough tuning, enough to get it started anyway. (Really, it was close, but just needed someone who know what it was supposed to do to dial in the last few things.)
The MP3DPv2 can be built pretty cheap, mostly for me, it’s a matter of “If I’m going to build it, then I want these things to be better.” I’ve got some super cheap NEMA17 motors (2 are earmarked for a ZenXY build.) I could use $0.30 microswitches instead of a BLTouch for an i3 clone printer pretty easy. There are extruders and hotends that can be purchased for dirt cheap. The build platform can be unheated for PLA. And yet, because of the markup on the parts, even waiting for a month for them to come from China, it would still be hard to beat that $99 Ender.
One of the discussions that I have had with people is the concept of “professional” vs amateur or hobbyist. one of the martial arts sensei that I listen to also does amateur photography, and has said that Professional is “good enough.” the pros don’t always go with the very best, top of the line equipment, because their goal is to earn money. They get what’s good enough for the job for the lowest total cost. A hobbyist might spend thousands of dollars on a Leica camera, and thousands more on all of the peripherals and lenses.
Now Ryan might actually spend more on his 3D printers in his print farm, even though the purpose of the print farm is to make parts to sell for money. The MP3DPv2 had a dual purpose though, and that was to showcase one thing that the MPCNC could do. The v3 and v4 are less that way, but still showcase his 3D printed part designs, which are at the core of the MPCNC/LowRider CNC machines. I’m sure that he could purchase 3D printers that are “good enough” to do the job for what it costs him to build his own. Maybe not with as good hardware though, and that maybe saves him a bit of cost/spool printed. I don’t know what his books look like.
I know that I could buy cheaper printers, but for me it is a hobby, not a profit centre. My v2 printer was entirely a project for the CNC, rather than a printer to build and use…
If you use an inexpensive hotend/extruder, it’s probably close to an Ender. both are bed flinger types similar to an I3. The Ender has a single Z motor, which makes homing simpler, but can introduce problems if the rollers come loose and the X axis isn’t level anymore.
The v2 is definitely less expensive to build than the v3 or v4.