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The problem is that they only print stuff made of plastic.

The most interesting things are either made of silicon/metal (computer chips) or organic matter (food, people) and neither are printable.

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This space is evolving very quickly - it's not perfect by any stretch, but you can actually order metal parts from Shapeways[1], and there was a story recently about NASA "3D-printing" rocket parts using nickel alloy[2].

1. http://www.shapeways.com/materials 2. http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/140084-nasa-3d-prints-roc...

I recently at a conference and sat in on a session on 3D printing. There were several materials to choose from now, mostly plastic, but I saw rubber and a few other materials.

There's a sort of "faux wood" material you can print with as well.[1] And there is such a thing as 3D printing with metal also[2], although that can be much more expensive and probably isn't down into the reach of DIY'ers yet.

[1]: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/11/3d-printer-wood-filament...

[2]: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/143552-3d-printing-with-m...

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