3D printer made by 3D printer: myth or reality?

3D printer can print almost everything, from clothes and buildings to functioning tissues and organs. But is it possible to create one more 3D printer in such a way?

The answer is yes but just partially. A 3D printer can produce plastic details (body, cores and attachments) but not metallic components (electronics and engines).

Let’s review Snappy printer by RepRap as an example. The device presented two years ago consisted of 61 printed details. Elements that additive technologies failed to create were bearings, glass, engines, battery block and electronics. This experiment can be repeated: producers have posted models for printing on GitHub.

3D printers consist of so many various details and components that they will be hardly printed completely as single devices. Printing of all their elements separately with further assembling will be quite real. However, it raises the question of reasonability: it is easier and cheaper to produce cables and engines using traditional methods.