Why buy or a make a whole printer when there are plenty of easy to use print services available?
I build a lot of models for shapeways:
http://www.shapeways.com/designer/Steve3dand have designed bits for computers.
http://www.shapeways.com/model/802978/120mm-pc-fan-filter.html?li=productBox-searchI'm blatantly plugging my store and services - my customer feedback thread
http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=11088&start=0& if you need something designed I do take commissions, yes:D but you can order prints from any store on there, there are hundreds of other sellers.
Items are printed on demand and delivered usually in a couple of weeks, they have production facilities in Europe and the US.
As for Lightwave, as long as it can export to .stl format you can get a properly constructed lightwave model printed anywhere. .stl is one of the oldest 3d formats, and very simple, no frills. so pretty much every 3d application should be able output to it.
Shapeways is more flexible with regards to format and mesh integrity than many other print services, but there are always many rules to follow in constructing a printable mesh that can make things more complicated than constructing a model for other purposes.
I imagine this would be really useful to lots of people interested in modding or replacing rare retro items, designing and printing any shape of mounts, clips, panels and so on. A full case even may even be possible but its limited by the physical size of the printer of course!
As for whether its commercially viable, bear this in mind, something twice the size can cost 8 times as much, as costs are largely determined by print volume which is directly related to print time, costs can be saved by hollowing out shapes and keeping wall thicknesses at a minimum.
