Trying on my noobie boots-Intro

Hey all, I'm El Catski and i live in Exeter (Countess wear)

I've been interested in the 3d printing world for a while now and been waiting for the price to drop,
It would seem the day has come.

I've kinda got my eye on building a Prusa Mendel i2 mainly for the joy of building one really, thinking of starting the build after christmas,the lodger is moving out and the missus says i can use the summerhouse (reasonable sized shed with power, networked PC, Sofa and minibar!)

A little about me~

I'm a 3D modeller/CAD monkey in the nuclear industry
Used to be a CNC Lathe/Mill setter/operator so have knowledge (albeit rusty) of G-coding
Enjoy 'getting the spanners out'

I envisage using the machine mainly to print increasingly elaborate and ridiculous lampshades and jewellery boxes for my better half and scifi models for myself when she is not looking!

Would love to get in contact with any local Reprappers wishing to share knowledge and experience before i lose my resolve and hit Ebay with gay abandon and make some ill informed and expensive choices.

Cheers