My buddy bought one but I'm sure it was around $15k, not a hobby model. I've also had some experience with them at the University.
AutoCAD is not a good tool for it, you should really use SolidWorks for parts or Rhino if it's a bit more organic. The problem with most programs like AutoCAD is their blending capabilities. SolidWorks sees a part as a whole, AutoCAD does not. So you will need to tack on another $3000 for the software. Make sure you have a good design computer that is capable of rendering the design without bogging down so add another $1500 for the CPU.
The material is expensive.
I made a Desert Aircraft fuel dot in SolidWorks and we made a duplicate on his machine...it started and we waited for an hour and then left to let the machine finish it. The part needed surface finishing afterwards.
He makes prototype parts for companies like Lockheed and Bell. He charges them what seems to be a hefty fee to common folk but to make a tooling mold that can cost thousands of dollars for a part and find out it doesn't work is unacceptable so he can cut out a lot of guess work. I've seen a control yoke top portion that was made and it came out nice.
If you make scale landing gear it would be a great tool to make the gear with the printer first so it would save a lot of trial and error.
I don't know if you'd be saving any time or money making a small simple part by the time you design it, draw it up in a CAD software, then print it, you could have made the part by hand and saved a lot of money.
Last edited by Timthetoolman1; 11-14-2013 at 07:39 AM.