The 3D printer market has certainly blown up as of late with all kinds of machines to choose from. Here's a few off the top of my head that I might consider for your project:
Cel Robox – Based off of a successful KS campaign, the design has been tweaked a bit since it was first unveiled. It is an enclosed system, which is handy to avoid unwanted small fingers entering the build area.
Robo 3D R1 Plus – Another KS success story. It has gone through several iterations and has resulted in a fairly reliable "out of the box" printer.
Wanhao i3 – A clone of the Prusa design, Wanhao has tweaked this basic printer several times to improve the overall quality. The most recent version has a touch screen to eliminate the external control box which has traditionally been tethered to the previous models via an umbilical cord system. There is a large online user presence for these machines which makes troubleshooting fairly easy. The newest model (the "Plus") has had some teething problems with the new bed bearings, but once that is resolved it looks like it could be a very favourable unit.
Recent Crowdfunding Systems:
Crowdfunding systems can be hit or miss, but some of the units above which have been highly successful started life as crowdfunded projects so I don't immediately discount them.
Tiko – A $179 USD delta printer which has been delayed for two years. Shipping has recently started (now that the company has an actual factory) and once they ship the 16,000 backer units they'll be off and running with retail sails. They estimate that once their production is ramped up, they'll be producing around 10,000 units a month. Overall a nice clean (self contained) design that I've been following fir quite some time.
Trinus – Promises to be a rock solid platform, albeit with a very small build volume. The unit can swap between a 3D printing head and a low wattage laser engraver in around 60 seconds and ships with around 11 modules to assemble (with an initial assembly time around 30 minutes). The KS units haven't shipped yet, but are supposedly on track for August release.
Holy Mackinaw BIG Systems:
Have you ever thought "I'd sure love to print a really big *insert subject here*, but I just can't do it with all these small consumer machines…"? Take a gander at the custom built gMax by gcreate. Available in two sizes, this printer is built in the States using 80/20 aluminum and is designed for those who think big.
Naturally, the list above is not all encompassing as the market is quite large, but I hope it at least sheds some light on the subject for you. I might also suggest taking some time to watch some of the excellent review videos on Youtube by Angus of Maker's Muse and Joel of 3D Printing Nerd. Both guys are quite informative, non-partizan and genuinely entertaining to watch.
We are in rural Central Texas so not a lot of local talent to draw upon.
