Recently Ive been looking into options for 3D rapid prototyping. There are two main categories, additive and subtractive. Additive involves depositing a liquid material that hardens, subtractive involves cutting out of a preexisting object. A few years ago the only options were tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and required specialized software and knowledge to operate. Now thanks to the open hardware movement there are more options available, and for less money. Read on for my initial investigation into what is available.

Cupcake CNC 3D printer $725 basic kit $950 deluxe kit
http://www.makerbot.com/
Fireball V90 CNC router $889 basic kit $1199 deluxe assembled
http://www.probotix.com/
Lumen Labs micRo CNC router $699 micRo Premium $999 micRo Gold
http://lumenlab.com/
Versa Laser/Epilog ~$8000-$15,000 and up
http://www.epiloglaser.com/ http://www.ulsinc.com/versalaser/
Rep Rap No complete kits available
http://reprap.org/
Fab@Home $3700 fully assembled $2750 Kit (on sale)
http://fabathome.org/