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>Why should 3D printing require spending weekends troubleshooting machines just to keep the thing working? I want to print models not play repair technician.

I’m sympathetic to your POV but the reason you should is that’s the price to keep things open.

Obviously many people don’t care about that. Fair enough. But then you should be prepared to deal with their shenanigans.

Prusa also does things like maintain and develop printables.com and PrusaSlicer (itself forked) which many of these closed printers fork with minimal changes.

People don’t care about this either. So again, get ready to deal with garbage when Prusa goes under.

I think it’s sad since the whole domestic 3D printer thing started as open source.

> I’m sympathetic to your POV but the reason you should is that’s the price to keep things open.

No, it's not, and the perception that it is hurts the cause of openness.

Open Source has every ability to be better, to Just Work, to not require constant debugging. Good Open Source systems manage this. The fact that 3D printers apparently have not is the fault of those printers, not any inherent quality of openness.

QIDIs might need a slight bit more tinkering with settings for new filaments but they’re pretty solid and offer more than Bambu does for the money

Comparing Bambu to Voron is an absurd comparison

What do they offer more in your experience?

Chamber heater is really nice for ABS

> Comparing Bambu to Voron is an absurd comparison

I politely disagree. I was in the market for a more modern printer, and it boiled down to either a BL or a Voron - in the end I decided against ease of use and in favor of an open ecosystem. I agree in that they are not universally interchangeable, but for some people either can be an option, each with distinctive advantages and disadvantages.

because 3d printing is not there yet.

the whole process is basically cnc but with z hops and extruding instead of removing material.

we do not even have conical slicing yet.

> because 3d printing is not there yet

Ya, it is, and it’s been there for quite a while now thanks to Bambu.

The X1 just works. Coming up on a year of frequent use, I can count the number of failed prints on one hand. It’s incredible.

i do not believe you. it is mostly a material issue not a printer issue

> it is mostly a material issue not a printer issue

Tell me you don’t anything about 3d printing without telling me you don’t know anything about 3d printing.

if you think that there are not limitations with current fdm thermoplastics and software, i do not know what to tell you.

Both modern (pre assembled) Prusa and Bambu are very good at this. They guide you through the full setup process, automate first layer reliable, have decent stock profiles.

It's all just much less tinkering then 5 years ago.

You're saying this yet anyone can buy a random Bambu and just print.

I've owned or used probably every major (and some minor) printer released in the last 8 years and for most people Bambu really will just be "plug and play" (and even if something goes wrong they'll hold hands as much as needed)

as i said to another reply, it is a material issue.

That does not match my experience. The printer I have has had parts break with light use, and a really poorly engineered z-axis homing which results in wildly inconsistent zero heights and a very high print failure rate.

It is. I have no interest in messing around with 3D printers and was annoyed by the fact that Bambu lab lied about the 15 minute setup time. It was more like 45 minutes, but after that I never touched the printer again and started printing instead.

Also, subtractive manufacturing is much harder than additive manufacturing, because you need to position the machine around an existing piece of stock and sequence your operations manually, instead of letting a generic slicing algorithm slice from bottom to top with an offset vs the intended printing location only being a problem if you accidentally print over the edge of the build plate, which is usually not possible mechanically.

it is not that. i mostly mean that for anything functional that needs to take a load you need at least petg or asa (abs is a bit old now), which require proper storage.

also there are so much stuff that are in open prs and issues for years that are not implemented for slicers.

I think the AMS unit for the Bambu is somewhat sealed and has desiccant in it.

"take a load" - I don't know what kind of load, do you mean the fact that PLA is creeping under sustained load?

If that is YOUR usecase that is fine, but that does not mean that set and forget works just fine for others. Btw gun people use PLA plus just fine.

that is just one example of issues with thermoplastics. the AMS is great though.

"Take a load" = perform mechanically and or structurally at levels of force, temperatures, etc. at levels higher than the properties of PLA allow for.

Don't get me wrong here. PLA is a great polymer, However you can't really expect parts made with it to hold up when compared to other "engineering grade" polymers.

Well for example layer bonding is better compared to some other materials. It's just that load over time it will creep. And of course shite under temperature.

It can be a fantastic material for some functional parts.

But even if not, I don't see how it's invalidates that there are printers out there that are more or less set and forget.

Bambu printers, or at least the one in our shop runs ASA set and forget style.

It is a great machine though it does not always make the strongest parts, and single material builds is geometry limiting. Lack of chamber heat and one nozzle makes some things easy, but does not entirely avoid the trouble with higher performing polymers.

I don't think anyone expects PLA to be used for anything that requires structural stability. There's far better filaments for that application. Some of the carbon fiber infused PETG filaments for example are incredibly strong.

Not many people use 3d printing for applications that require extreme strength though, that's really not the goal many people are aiming for.

You would be surprised!

I do this for a living and people are always looking for more parts to run through the process and better filaments to see those parts end up performant.

CF-PETG is strong! For a bit more toughness and temp resistance, PA12CF35 is seeing a lot of use. Some companies out there have service departments to keep machinery running. They apply FDM more than you might expect. Alloy 910 for gears, Cf of various kinds for abrasive scenarios, like cardboard handling, in one scenario.

There are countless firearm receivers that have been printed on pla plus, many with thousands of rounds on them. Sure they may turn into a puddle in a hot vehicle, but they are functional and definitely take a load. Pla + is actually preferred in that community over the others you mentioned, although asa is becoming more popular, along with filled nylon alloys.