cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/opensource/p/1823177/3d-printer-reviewers-being-honest-in-this-industry-will-put-you-out-of-a-job
This is the emails between the YouTuber YGK3D and Anycubic, it seems like they won’t send 3D printers to reviewers who mention their GPL3 license violations.
tl;dr Anycubic uses open-source software for their firmware, but doesn’t make it public as per license agreement, and they don’t seem to be friendly to anyone who calls this out.
More info: https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxIMpZTkXqFo0H6pDwhZpdYqMYvLhPvWA5?lc=UgxA-4LYvwrnonXuXsZ4AaABAg
I want to get into 3D printing before it’s outlawed and I’ve been gravitating to Bambu because I’m novice enough that marketing works. Where should I be looking? Price is a consideration but not my first.
Before this I would have suggested Anycubic as second choice. My S1 has been good and the Kobra X is amazing for the price.
The Snapmaker U1 is the current darling of all Youtuber reviewers. It runs Klipper, the opensource firmware. Get one yesterday.
Thank you. Open Source is basically table stakes for any new investment I make moving forward.
Strongly suggest not going with Bambu, they have a history of attempting to start a walled garden ecosystem, the only thing that has stopped them thus far is backlash.
It depends on what you want out of the hobby honestly. 30 years later, I just want a printer that works, without fuss. I’ve done the customizations, I’ve done the firmware flashes and attached third party controllers. But I’m a huge fan of my Bambu P2S, because it just works. In over 300 hours I’ve only had 2 failed prints. I haven’t done one iota of really anything to it. Plugged it in, and the things just been chugging away. Lots of parts availability, locally and online (which is huge). Lots of support available locally too.
My previous printer, an Anycubic coincidentally, used to take like 4 or 5 false starts before you could finally get a good first layer.
I get the hate, I get that people want customization and what not. But some people just want shit that works. That’s why I look at Bambu as the McDonalds of 3d printing. It ain’t that healthy for you, it’s a scourge on the planet, but it also tastes kinda good and it’s a guilty pleasure from time to time, right?
Yes theres Prusa and all sorts of other printers that are good too, don’t take this the wrong way. Run your own journey for sure. But I’m running mine too.
Yeah ironically one of the reasons I used an Anycubic, because while they may have issues with FOSS compliance, the firmware I did load on there (Rinkhals) isn’t
IMO, toolchangers are the future trend in 3d printing. Snapmaker U1 is the current hype due to being relatively cheap and using open source klipper based firmware. Other than that, Prusa has a toolchanger, I would prefer them over Bambu any day. But me personally, I will either wait till U1 becomes cheaper or wait for a diy OSS solution like Voron with IDX once it comes out. But that definitely shouldn’t be anyone’s first printer.
I think toolchanging is where it’s going to be too. Just want to see what’s out there in a few years after some development. I’m just sticking with AMS right now, because it’s largely foolproof. But that Snapmaker stuff is definitely pretty impressive. Cant wait to see where that goes
It will go the way CNC has gone, tool changers and 6 axis. The only thing holding back the technology to consumers is patents.
The new bondtech indx is really interesting, all the active electronics are in the main tool head, so it’s more in line with how typical cnc tool changes work and should be less expensive compared to other extant tool changing options.
Prusa just licensed the indx for their new toolchanger, but there are going to be kits for a variety of common platforms.
Look for a used Prusa.