[pbronez]

To get started, buy a printer.

If I was starting over, I would get a BambuLab A1 https://bambulab.com/en-gb/a1

If you want to spend less, you can get an Ender 3 or one of its many clones https://www.creality.com/products/ender-3-3d-printer

I advise against self-assembly. Especially for your first one, let the factory assemble it. Doing it yourself significantly increases the likelihood of alignment/calibration problems.

These will be frustrating and hard to chase down, especially if you don’t have a mechanical background. You can make a whole hobby out of building, modifying and upgrading 3d printers… but that’s a very different thing from using a 3d printer as a tool for other projects.