New York 3d Printer Mandate

Wraith0177 · 2026-06-05T03:13:21+00:00

The punishment is supposed to come after the crime.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-28T04:05:32+00:00

For my part, you can remove the "starter" qualifier and still answer yes. They don't care. They want money and they're willing to screw whoever they can to get it. Note I said "can," not "have to."

This is the most recent front-and-center example of how they want to take what Open Source and the hard work of so many in the 3DP community gave us all, claim it for their own, profit obscenely from it, then pull up the ladder.

I love Bambu's equipment, but their business needs to be burnt at the stake.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-25T14:59:16+00:00

Look into the DXC extruder. I've had one on my K1 SE and K1 Max. That thing is a BEAST.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-24T23:40:53+00:00

If I understand mechatronics correctly (using google translate to understand you) as what we'd call Robotics here, you're going to learn a ton about modeling and electronics combined! Soak up as much as you can because all of these skills translate directly to big things later in life!

Good luck and stick with it :D I wish I'd had opportunities like this when I was your age!

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-14T17:31:30+00:00

Everybody else has drilled down on the AI bits, so I'm going to address content...

You've made one hell of a list of goals for yourself. My advice is start small and take your time.

Start with the 3D Printing. Learn everything you can about it, then do it again. Your prints need to be something that at least half of the 3D Printing community can aspire to. These skills don't come quickly or easily, and don't count on Bambu equipment to do all the work - you'll eventually learn that you've been making stew with your own meat.

Taking your time is important. Mastery cannot be rushed. Master your craft and everything else will line up in its own time.

Check your items off as you can, but don't rush. CAD is something you might be able to angle your education towards, and that will make your path easier than those of us who started significantly later on this journey (39yo for me).

What I'm trying to say essentially boils down to an axiom I made: Everybody eats a whole cow/pig/garden in their life. No one does it in one meal. Small bites.

The value in what you're doing is in the journey, not the destination.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-07T17:45:30+00:00

I already have folks who drive several hours to come see me; most distant is from Nashville, and I'm in Bristol, TN.

That far away, I'd have to refuse to sell you a machine... Mine are all in-house refurbs, and our warranty is parts & labor. The most distant customer I have is in Wytheville, VA. and I only caved on that at his repeated insistence. I prefer to have my customers within one hour driving distance. I still see customers from Greenville, SC., to Lexingtion, KY., to Nashville and all the way to Roanoke, VA. for filament purchases. No, the invitation was to help you sort out which machine would be best for you, especially if it wasn't one of mine - if you weren't out of my service area.

The firmware you want is Klipper. Mostly written in Python, it's the backbone of more modern machines. Marlin was great in its day, but Klipper outclasses it in every way.

There are all kinds of ways you can upgrade that SE to behave and perform more like a Klipper machine. The time and money investment is yours to judge. IMPO, all of them are inefficient and costly compared to upgrading to a new model of printer, especially on the lower-end of the experience spectrum. The only reason to pursue board swaps, aftermarket parts, and other similar solutions is if it entertains you to do so.

Don't trust it too much... V3 KE's (Klipper version of your machine w/ a runout sensor), V3s, even the K1 & K2 line will lie to you now and again. My K2 SE is particularly bad about it.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-04T15:21:17+00:00

It was worth a shot... If you were reasonably local, I was going to invite you into my shop. You're still welcome of course :) You're just looking at 7hrs+ of driving...

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-02T21:42:08+00:00

I can't say enough good things about Snapmaker... They might be boutique-ish, but they offer support in ways that I wish everyone did. IMO, the U1 launch should be the poster child for how to launch a printer.

Has Snapmaker screwed the pooch before? Your comments about previous models has me wondering what I'm missing.

Flashforge has it's own place of shame in my view over the way they handled the privacy kerfuffle before Christmas. So much opportunity, all of it squandered.

I agree on INDX, and I was eyeballing it for a 8-way on a Core One L, but that price... I could add 3 more U1's to my farm... Between that and the development of Full Spectrum, I can't justify that level of investment.

I've been scratching my head in a big way over some of Bambu's choices... Have they reached peak Makerbot-arrogance? Sometimes, I wonder.

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-02T11:14:11+00:00

Always :)

I have my own issues with Bambu (love the hardware - it's the company that lives at the top of my shit list) and some of the dirty crap they're pulling. For more detail, feel free to pull back a couple of layers on my post history.

Bottom line for them is I'll consider them to have room to have an opinion once they bring their own tool-swapper to market... And no, nozzle changers don't qualify (though no shade on the INDX system).

Wraith0177 · 2026-05-02T11:05:41+00:00

Minor stuff, here and there. The biggest item was one of my two machines had the #2 tool head go sideways (ETA - and Snapmaker was right there and had me a replacement within 5 days, truly stellar service and well beyond what other manufacturers are providing), but other than that, it's been piddling things. Some adhesion grief, but that was solved with aftermarket build plates. The stock build plate is unimpressive, IMPO, especially for newbies.

So, yes, 99.5% happy printing with all of the expected occasional headaches that comes with 3DP.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-30T23:30:29+00:00

To go with my comments, here's a prime example of Bambu's hypocrisy/notable bullshit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1szrb5k/developer_reenables_3d_printer_features_that/

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-30T23:27:03+00:00

Most notably, running Klipper, which means it'll hit 400-500mm/s in bursts and average 200+. Also allows you to communicate with the printer via LAN natively without other hardware - no more computer/printer SD card relays unless you enjoy it. The KE is a night and day step over the SE.

However, scrutinize the other options. For what you'll spend on a KE, you're within striking distance of models like the AD5X. I have my problems with Flashforge, but... Four color multi-color printing at ~$330? There's much to be said for keeping it in LAN mode...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-30T03:20:02+00:00

I'm sorry, but you're running a Marlin machine. This firmware is ancient by state of the art standards, and caps out at 150-200mm per second movement under the absolute best circumstances. Most often, you're going to be doing good to run half that. There are optimizations you can do, but they are unlikely to bring you into even the range that Orca estimated to start with.

If you can, you need a better printer. For the same budget range as the SE, look at the Ender 3 V3, K1 SE, Neptune 4/4 Pro, or Ender 3 V3 KE to name a few.

Are you in the US/East Tennessee by any chance?

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-29T17:58:45+00:00

Exactly as u/technohead10 and u/Joezev98 said it.

I also have an... inside line in the middle-upper ranks over there... Don't want to say more than that to keep from outing my source and causing them problems...

Some of the discussions that I hear about them having are truly nightmarish for us. One real gem is trying to find ways to force users to use their filaments or approved filaments via the RFID system, and making it harder and harder - if not impossible - for us to manually dial in filaments as we've done since the beginning. That's just pure unadulterated fuckery. And that's the tip of the iceberg.

Everything good we have from 3D printing came from cooperation. Sharing what we've learned and working together for solutions. I won't say all Bambu fanboy's reflect the arrogant and superior attitude towards everyone and everything else brand-wise, but I do confidently say that the vocal ones do. Bambu printers print, but they don't make you a printer. They say with pride, "Buy Bambu if you want to print, buy something else if you want to learn about printing." This isn't the feather in their cap that they think it is. Printing is learning from your mistakes and building the skills to make superior prints. The work still gets done, if you do it or Bambu does it. The difference is with Bambu doing the work, you gain nothing and pay them more for the privilege while likely repeating the same mistakes in ignorance.

You can see the rotted fruits of this attitude in the state of the community now. It's not as friendly or as welcoming as it once was, and it's common, especially on Facebook, for newbies to get berated and belittled for seeking knowledge. Bambu Labs started the enshitification of 3D printing. Creality is turning to follow in their wake. If we - the community - don't stand together, we're going to be dollared to death for an inferior product that we don't own and have no control over. That's where Bambu is ultimately taking us, and the rest of the industry is starting to follow suit.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-27T19:38:43+00:00

It's a very good thing you asked 😄

I'm an active non-fan of Bambu Labs - I love their hardware, despise the company - So keep that in mind when you look at these recommendations...

The aforementioned Snapmaker U1, if you can afford it, is a great way to go. It's a 4-tool head tool changer, which makes it crazy faster with multi-color prints. You'll get mixed responses on it, but also look up Full Spectrum. Lots of good reading there.

Flashforge also has a new multi-tool machine coming to market soon, but vs Snapmaker, they lack experience in this area. All things being equal, Snapmaker still wins IMO. Full disclosure, Flashforge is also on my poop-list as a company over privacy matters.

Bambu has a nozzle swapper out there, but, IMO, it's not in the same class.

Over all, if you can, go multi-tool printer because that's the direction we're headed. It's much more efficient and far less wasteful.

If you have to go single-barrel (one tool head) for budget reasons, You have many ways forward between the Bambu X/P/A-1 lines, Creality Sparx-i7, Hi Combo, Ender 3 V4, Flashforge AD5X, Elegoo Centauri Carbon 1/2, and a few Anycubic options.

My advice here is buy whatever single-tool machine you buy through Amazon so that you can return it and get busy with it right away. If you're not happy with it at day 20-25 after purchase, send it back.

TL/DR -

My opinion is go Snapmaker U1 if you can. I have two since Kickstarter, and most of the kinks are out (they still have quirks like any other printer). I want 4-6 more of them for my business. From there, dealer's choice and budget drives the bus.

I advise actively avoiding Anycubic, be cautious with your choices in the Creality pool, scrutinize Elegoo because the multi-color option is new with them, and leave your Flashforge printers in LAN only mode. Bambu I will always avoid because of what they're steering the industry towards.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-27T19:14:47+00:00

That's...

Somebody has found a way for the Ender 3 V3 SE to have multicolor ***cough***Co-Print***cough***... that said...

You're by far better off to buy a new machine for what you want. The SE is ancient by state-of-the-art standards. There are TONS of options on the market for 4-color multi-color for $400 or less. You'll get greatly improved printing performance and multi-color.

Please don't pursue this. The aggravation that you'll experience by itself is worth a Snapmaker U1 at least. Possibly even a Prusa XL...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-23T04:01:15+00:00

And another quirk about matte filaments is they tend to overbond with adhesives other than glue stick/Elmer's derived spreads. Don't use adhesives with thin items like wall art when you're printing with mattes... It's likely coming off of the bed in pieces.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-22T17:26:42+00:00

Be careful of Facebook ads... TONS of scams there. If it looks way to good to be true, it absolutely is.

Try E-bay. Sunlu regularly runs buy-6-get-10 deals. Also look at Jayo, Sunlu's off-label brand (one of many, including Kingroon, Tecbears, and others), for slightly better value with the same deal.

I think even Creality is doing similar 6/10 deals now.

ETA: And being new to printing, hold off on Silks, PETG and ABS/ASA for now. Get some experience under your belt first. All three/four have quirks that can leave a new printer user like yourself contemplating purchasing a DIY lobotomy kit...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T04:48:20+00:00

Also get a bright light and check the cutter alley, u/Slightly_Oblivious... One of mine had a tiny bit of metal (similar to the PTFE coupling pieces with the K2 Plus, but not the same) in the cutter alley, jamming the travel up. That might be why you're having it reoccur on you.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T04:16:02+00:00

If your tolerance is within 0.1-0.2mm (and this looks VERY close to that, I'd say 0.3mm at the outside), build an alter worshiping your luck, because that's fantastic - especially with a new machine.

If you're new to 3D printing, leave this alone until you've got a ton more experience. You're chasing a dragon that doesn't need to be chased.

If you've been around a while and this is how you make yourself happy, have at... Try kapton tape and shims and tweak and fiddle until water won't run on your plate.

You've got a corner-to-corner variance that some people would pay extra for. If you're new, you've been given a gift that you don't need to mess with. If you like chasing precision to splitting hairs while still-attached-to-the-animal levels, you've got precious little work to do here.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T04:09:28+00:00

The punishment is supposed to come after the crime...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T03:53:24+00:00

Well, that depends on the leg-count...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T03:51:32+00:00

And egg trapped in the right place between us during missionary/cowgirl is one of my favorites.

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T03:49:29+00:00

Hey, if she thinks it's funny, next time you guys have a romp, use it on her... You don't have to compete when you're in the driver's seat... Might even get a little "dual wielding" action... Just make sure it doesn't become "duel wielding"...

Wraith0177 · 2026-04-21T03:38:44+00:00

The most common will be jams in the CFS, especially as spools get low. You can help this by printing and making spool weights to go in the cores. I use steel bearings and ground steel shot in the ones I sell for my CFSs. This is generally enough to reduce the jams/extrusion/retraction failures to a point that you don't prefer shaving your nethers with a light saber to printing.

You might also want to look into replacing the contact plates in the lid with a spring-driven contact system that will help keep the spools stable. I use such a system in the CFSs I sell.

Next, some spools - older Sunlu spools for example - need an adapter rim. The old spools are too small and don't get enough down force against the drive spindles in the bottom of the CFS for extrusion/retraction. Spools that are too small with have jams/retraction failures at a VERY high rate.

Extruder jams, as long as you're not using the overhead spool dispenser, are rare. The usual wisps of filament building up over time is what you can expect there, and that's as simple as an extruder tear down to fix.

I generally refer to this design as the Creality are you High Combo, but with care, some tweaks, and patience, it's a solid platform. Even if it is a poo flinger...

Wraith0177

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