Are DIY 3D printers in danger?

Comments · 468

• CA

  @CanuckCreator · 5 months ago · pinned

  With the rise of laws regulating 3d printing in various places, do you think that will lead to an increase in people interested in building their own printers in the future?

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• MA

  @mattlott1113 · 5 months ago

  I'm a proud member of the community of printer builders who have also never printed a dragon

  276

• CA

  @CandidProle · 5 months ago

  If the DIY scene dies where will Bambu, Creality, and Prusa get all their ideas from?

  121

• PA

  @paulseverson3583 · 5 months ago

  Funny thing, you mentioned DJI dominating the quadcopter scene , the engineers from DJI started Bambu labs lol.

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• MR

  @MrJanglinJack · 5 months ago

  maybe it's not the DIY community that's shrinking. maybe it's just that the off the shelf printers got so good and affordable that the "general  population" is getting into 3d printing at an exponential rate, resulting in the DIY printers looking way less in comparison. what i believe it's happening is that a lot of the DIY 3d printing enthusiast also have an off the shelf 3d printer or two

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• ST

  @stephenremillard9462 · 5 months ago

  What frustrates me about much of the 3D printing industry is how it’s marketed. A large portion of advertising focuses on printing figurines, decorative trinkets, and novelty items. Objects that, more often than not, end up forgotten or discarded. This is especially true with resin printers, but it extends to most consumer-oriented machines as well.<br><br>That’s a missed opportunity.<br><br>For me, the real power of 3D printing lies in its ability to bring useful, custom-designed objects to life. There’s something deeply satisfying about identifying a need, designing a solution, and then physically creating it. Modern design tools and accessible printers are accelerating that kind of practical creativity in ways we’ve never seen before.<br><br>This is what the industry should be highlighting: empowerment, problem-solving, and meaningful creation—not &quot;just&quot; decorative crap.

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• TA

  @TaylorMosqueraCastro · 5 months ago

  The first time I saw a 3D printer, I immediately thought back to my childhood, when I would take apart my toys to make my own. Having one of these was a whole other level; it wouldn&apos;t be with cardboard, wood, and wire anymore. Back then, they were expensive, and looking for a way to save money, I came across the RepRap project and got hooked. I became addicted to assembling and disassembling things, building my own creations until I reached Voron. Now I have my latest creation, 600x600x500, and I really hope I can finally dedicate myself solely to printing, hahaha. I&apos;m working on a Tridex, but I still have a lot to learn because I want an IDEX with one of its print heads using my Tradrack. Let&apos;s hope it comes to fruition because the people who are at a level where they can help me with this tend to be quite arrogant. That&apos;s why I follow this channel, because you&apos;re a humble guy. Thanks for all the knowledge you share, and thanks again for helping me configure the CAN bus, hahaha; that was an exciting battle.

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• P0

  @p00pyp00per · 5 months ago

  what makes me the most upset is the stagnation of capability (again). The first stagnation you mentioned I think had lots to do with market segmentation between consumer and industrial printers, and I see the exact same thing happening again. Case and point bambu artificially limiting their 2nd gen consumer printer nozzle temp to 300C. I wouldn&apos;t care so much about the out of the box printers capturing the market if they actually pushed the things that matter forward, but everytime they just segment the actual paradigm shifting changes into the industrial printers.<br><br>We have some really nice materials now, like composite nylons and all the PEEK-like plastics, but all of the (popular) brands refuse to increase their consumer printers&apos; specs to properly support them. Yeah, these materials are more expensive right now, but I 100% certain much of that has to do with them being &quot;premium&quot; and &quot;for industrial printers&quot; and the fact that since no-one of can print them, the economy of scale doesn&apos;t exist. <br><br>In this day in age every 3D printer that isn&apos;t just a slop factory should have a 450C nozzle, 150C bed, and an active venting chamber (I don&apos;t need a heater, the bed can do that, I just need to be able to set a max and min chamber temp. I highly doubt a thermometer and a servo motor costs more than $5, come on.) We have been stuck in PLA land for nearly 10 years, I think it&apos;s high time the real capabilities of printers is properly expanded if anyone wants the ecosystem to continue to grow.<br><br>actual capability improving multi nozzle tool changer-esque stuff would also be a fair direction to go in, but I think that is a much larger ask, especially if you include multi-nozzle size capabilities. The just improve specs direction is just so free (cost and complexity wise) in comparison.

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• GS

  @gsxr1kmatt · 5 months ago

  Core One + Kit build (running, but waiting on Founders INDX Kit), a U1 (crazy value!), and an AWD XOL CPAP Voron 2.4 350mm in my basement, and I&apos;m in process of building a 350mm^3 USABLE Voron 2.4 w/AWD for INDX.<br><br>BUILD YOUR PRINTERS.

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• RA

  @RadioactvPanda · 5 months ago

  My thoughts exactly! It hurts to see the commercialization gobble up any innovation and downselect all these 3d printer brands.

  7

• AN

  @AndysRecRoom · 5 months ago

  I have been building 3d printed turntables for three years. Since I need a large bed, things like the Bambu units simply won&apos;t work. I currently use a highly modded (not quite a VZBot) Tronxy to make the platter and plinth for my &nbsp;turntables. The kit was quite nasty but a fairly easy way to get a frame and some usable bits. The BIGTREETECH Manta 8P with Klipper is incredible and even have a large LCD computer screen hoooked up for easy control.<br><br>I can&apos;t imagine how frustrating it would be if a fancy pants Bambu breaks and the user has no idea how to repair it! I even printed and assembled an Annex Engineering Sherpa Micro Extruder. Any part can be built/serviced/repaired. <br><br>Personally even though the main reason for a 3d printer was production, building them is actually way more fun. Love your channel, a fellow Canuck from Vancouver.

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• IR

  @Irbis3D · 5 months ago

  That is exactly why I decided to combine nostalgia for the Ender era with modern trends. And my projects are focused on turning old printers into modern machines.

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