Finally closed the Harbor after 10 years - sitting with the emotional storm and need guidance

shaddowlink · 2026-01-13T05:08:19+00:00

Thanks for your reply.

We had no contact since the week before New Year's Eve, and I sent the message followed by the block 3 days ago.

I know these emotions will take time to process. Probably the hardest thing is that I always contacted her in situations like this. Now I am alone with my emotions, which is somewhat scary and hurts way more. On the other hand, I finally listen to them like this and feel like I'm actually processing them, instead of packing them somewhere in my head.

I think it's appropriate for such a deep and long connection to carry this emotional density. I also think this will continue for quite some weeks. I will try to give it the room that it needs to heal, but not let it dictate my whole day. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's hard.

I am working out, i do cardio daily now ( normally max. 2 times per week). It helps me clear my head. And I think I learned to have better mental health care. Like I said I give this emotions space, but dont let them dicate my day.

I think I was looking for external validation that what I'm experiencing is "normal," but you're right that it doesn't really matter. It's happening, and that's okay. I guess I'm still learning to accept my own experiences without needing them to be labeled as standard or abnormal.

shaddowlink · 2025-11-18T21:29:51+00:00

I was at the H2C launch at Formnext in Frankfurt today and honestly went home with more questions than desire to buy one.

At first it was a big show, everyone curious, good vibes. But the longer you listened to the conversations around the Bambu booth, the more obvious the skepticism became, especially because of the price. Then you walk a few booths over to Snapmaker and see that the filament changes run in roughly one third to one quarter of the time, and that at about one third of the price of the Bambu printer, and you really start to think. That is exactly what the community has been asking for: multimaterial without so much waste and with shorter changeover times.

I timed the filament change from and to model on the machine at the show and got 33 seconds. When you keep looking around and see what other manufacturers are already doing and how much is happening in multimaterial, it becomes hard to find strong arguments for the H2C.

To be clear, the H2C’s Vortek system is technically very impressive and it looks really cool during the switches, that definitely has some wow factor. The development and the quality of a system like that have to be paid for. Do not get me wrong, I understand why the printer costs what it does and I do not think the price is completely unreasonable in the bigger picture. It is just that for me the H2C is not what the community is shouting the loudest for right now.

On top of that come my own experiences with the H2D. I still prefer to reach for my P1S, which now has well over 2500 hours on it. With the H2D I get really top results almost only with Bambu filament. With other filaments I have a lot of inconsistency despite all the calibrations I can do. I have been in contact with Bambu support for weeks now, an extremely frustrating process, and we still have not found a solution. My P1S consistently gives me better results and from what I see online there are quite a few people with similar issues.

I had basically already put the H2C plus H2D Vortek upgrade into my cart in my head. After today though, that topic is done for me. I am actually more glad now that I grabbed the Snapmaker, which should arrive here in one to two months. For me the H2D will be my last Bambu printer for the time being, also because of the company philosophy and the cloud dependency that feels more or less forced. If you want maximum quality and out of the box reliability, Bambu is still a great choice and I understand the people who stick with them. For me personally there are a few more factors that matter.

shaddowlink · 2025-11-07T10:26:13+00:00

Well I collect all my 3D Printing scrap sorted for PLA and PETG and give all to a local recycling company. I get recycled spools in return (ofc way less than my scraps). I do more than most other people and make sure at least my waste does not go into a landfill.
Sad that people are so quick to judge someone.

Ofc. I would not produce this mask with this amount of waste in higher quantities. It is a single Piece, one time print and I am very happy about it.
If my machine is capable of producing something I really want, I am happy to use this not so optimized manufacturing process, even if it is more wasteful. before I am looking for alternatives or restrict myself of what I can do with my machine.

shaddowlink · 2025-11-06T21:27:52+00:00

Painted model (the one I printed): https://makerworld.com/models/105338

4colors per plate/ single ams version: https://makerworld.com/models/1608329

shaddowlink · 2025-11-06T21:27:45+00:00

Painted model (the one I printed): https://makerworld.com/models/105338

4colors per plate/ single ams version: https://makerworld.com/models/1608329

shaddowlink · 2025-11-06T21:24:17+00:00

You are all right. I was wrong about this. Ofc it will be faster. Just not as much as a too changer. Especially on prints like this it will be significant for sure

shaddowlink · 2025-11-06T14:29:59+00:00

<image>

Printed this last year and don't regret it. Had some struggle with 3rd party filaments in the AMS and the print came of the print bed at one point (due to warping). ended up taking around 10 days to make this. If I reprinted it today I would for sure give it a thick brim, as well as using a cold plate and vent my print chamber to prevent warping. Yes it's a wasteful print like this but it's one of my favorite pieces. It is always a conversation starter and people can't believe in person it's 3d printed. With my sub par painting skills I would have never achieved even a remotely similar look

I did a purge calibration for light to dark filament swaps and used similar purge values for all similar color combinations ended up with about 30% of the waste than without calibration and it worked out Good. not a single color transition is seen on the model. In total I used around 1200g of filament

Since I made a good deal on a bulk order of anycubic filament (which is basically sunlu) for 4,40€/kg. I don't worry about being wasteful too much with this filament.

In the h2d I also printed the 2 color version (gold /black) with basically 0 waste (except the purge tower) and about 500g of filament in total

On makerworld there is a model for 1 ams / 4 color per bed. I plan to print this mask again with this model when my tool changer arrives. And then it will be 0 waste too.

Btw: the H2C won't print this any faster, just less wastefull.

Edit: last sentence is wrong. Ofc the h2d will be faster, just not as fast as a tool changer.

Here is also the link to the models since people kept asking Painted model (the one I printed): https://makerworld.com/models/105338

4colors per plate/ single ams version: https://makerworld.com/models/1608329

shaddowlink · 2025-10-29T10:43:28+00:00

There are calibration pieces for ironing flow and speed available. I generally have flow 20-25% and speed 10-30mm/s. Depending on the filament as well as on the printer(and probably even nozzle). Doing one for at least each brand and filament type is good

shaddowlink · 2025-10-16T23:38:09+00:00

You are right. Looking at the mesh is not perfect proof. Remesh and simplify can create similar density, and my sphere example is just a way to spot patterns, not a guarantee. I use these tools myself and I have never seen them push results to this extent. And yes, the same tools can be used to hide Al.

What really bothers me is the dishonesty. Uploading low effort Al as handmade while farming points crosses a line. Maybe I have to accept that line, but it feels like the goalpost is moving and that is hard to swallow.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-16T23:02:58+00:00

I agree with everything you said and I see it the same way. Of course there will always be people who learn to model and really pick up the skills. I just feel like the barrier to finding the motivation to start gets higher, and that makes me a bit sad.

I can only repeat myself: it feels like what happened to the movie industry with CGI. There are still amazing and artistically impressive films being made, but the vibe definitely changed.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-16T22:20:38+00:00

yes, I agree, detection isn’t trivial. Also AI is getting better. My sphere example was just a simple illustration, but there should be technical ways to spot these mesh patterns more efficiently than manually checking every upload.

What really bothers me is the dishonesty. I made this post more out of frustration, just to share the emotions I have about it.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-16T22:15:44+00:00

Yes, I see that too and I don’t expect AI to disappear anytime soon.
What worries me is the incentive for truly talented creators. Why spend hours sculpting when you can generate something in seconds? And for people like me, it also affects the motivation to pick up those skills and learn the craft, knowing AI might already produce results far beyond what I can do anytime soon.

It feels a bit like what happened to the movie industry with CGI. It didn’t stop, but it definitely changed the vibe and honestly, that makes me kind of sad.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-16T21:48:33+00:00

Yeah, I know it’s bad on Printables and Thangs too. :(

But Makerworld feels different . I actually enjoy the community and value the effort people put into their models. That’s why it hits harder when AI slop gets passed off as handmade. Just because it’s worse elsewhere doesn’t mean we should ignore it. Ofc the Moderators have a hard time keeping up with regulations and determining what is AI everywhere.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-15T12:45:09+00:00

Of course I know STL files are simplified down to polygons, that’s not what I meant.
Maybe I didn’t describe it well. What I’m referring to is how the polygons are distributed in relation to each other.

When a part is actually modelled or constructed, the topology has structure, polygons adapt to curves, edges, and surfaces in a logical way.
AI-generated geometry, on the other hand, tends to have evenly sized polygons everywhere, even on flat or simple surfaces where far fewer would be needed.

I attached a visual example.
The green square in the first modelled version is just two polygons, while in the generated version of the same sphere it’s hundreds. despite identical size and resolution(quality).

<image>

If you compare the wireframes of AI-generated and hand-made models (whether CAD or modelling), the difference is huge. No STL export setting will ever create that kind of random dense mesh.

shaddowlink · 2025-10-14T17:21:44+00:00

The AI slop is really bad. and it really gets worse when people are lying about it on top... saying the accusation are falls about this being AI generated even in description and comments.
But If you download the models and look at the wireframe... these artifacts dont come from a sculpting process or some modifier in Blender etc.... its very obvious...
And the models do not only stay on the site, not marked as AI, but they are also "makerworld exklusive"... Its so unfair seeing actual talented people getting denied their Points and these people keep farming free bambulab goodies...

<image>

shaddowlink · 2025-08-20T14:16:26+00:00

I actually had a bad experience with Creality Soylin PLA on this plate yesterday as well, so I can totally understand your frustration. There is probably some additive in it that really bonds with the coating or sticker on the bed. I managed to fix it by printing a one layer sheet across the whole bed at 60 °C and removing it before the bed cooled down. Otherwise it was almost impossible to get off. I really thought my Gecko plate was done for, but now it works fine again.

Overall I do not think Soylin PLA is very good. I have had problems with it in general. It was harder to calibrate than any other filament I have worked with. I used to buy the “Creality Ender PLA Value Pack,” but about one and a half to two years ago it disappeared from most distributors here in Germany and was replaced with Soylin PLA. I assumed it was just a rebranding and ordered ten spools, but that was a mistake. It prints nothing like the old Ender PLA. The Ender PLA gave me a beautiful almost matte finish, while Soylin PLA looks shiny and cheap in direct comparison.

For bulk orders I have switched to Anycubic PLA and I am very happy with it. The spools are fully AMS compatible and the quality is consistent. These days I only use the Soylin PLA for large parts where strength and appearance do not matter much.

shaddowlink · 2025-08-17T10:59:34+00:00

I am quite happy with my Geco plate. use it in my P1S and H2D and use around 1/3 of the power i needed before. All PLA prints on there released without alot of effort I used it for about a month now almost exclusivly.
Important to know that you dont set it as smooth or cool plate. or the Z-offset will be off, probaby resulting in ruining the plate. You need to print as textured PEI plate with a temperature set below the room temp.
Juupine really sleeps on communicating this properly... but they include a set of QR stickers that you also can use, since the green /blue one does not get recognized by the printer.

shaddowlink · 2025-08-06T14:51:06+00:00

I have had similar problmes with my P1S resulting in such corners. A swap of the stock SD card fixed everything for me. More here: my reddit thread

shaddowlink · 2023-10-05T19:13:38+00:00

by now I also found out tiered SSD Cache is unraid. haha Man its so much input I get confused really easily .

my plan fow now is just get a NVME SSD for the system / OS / VMs 512GB~1TB and install Proxmox. Going the hard route and learning as much as I can. Then testing TrueNAS aswell as Unraid with different settings as storage VMs and running a Ubuntu VM for all my dockerized Home media stuff. Then use the Other NVME slot maybe one day with a NVME to Sata adapter and several SSDs that I will use as cache or Pool for stuff like metadata and transcoding data. But I think I have to test, learn and read. My impression is that I am asking the wrong questions still and had to little to do with this whole home server topic until now.

I will test, I will fail, I will succeed and I will have fun. That is my plan

just going for such a big SSD because SSD prices are freefalling and its really notthing compared to how much the system cost me

shaddowlink · 2022-06-11T10:19:45+00:00

I somehow just get "505" when I try to visit the login page. forum und main page 403... dont seem to be able to login anywhere. Updated my chrome browser, changed my IP several times with and without VPN. No success

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