Of all the things, 3D printing was what really sparked my interest towards computers and graphic design. In high school, I signed up for a Computer Animation class and when I walked in, I was greeted with dual monitors, reasonably specced computers, and several top-of-the-line (for the time) Makerbot 3D Printers. For obvious reason, this class almost immediately became one of my favorites and it was what essentially put me down my path towards where I am now.

It wasn’t for some time though until I would actually get my own 3D printer. A little before getting out of college, I would finally decide on one, an XYZprinting¹ Da Vinci. For only a little over a $100, the device printed fairly nice, but it required XYZprinting brand filament similar to how inkjet printers work and why I don’t like them, as well as it restricted me to printing with their proprietary slicer (we’ll get back to this). Once I ran out of filament, I put it in the closet never to use it again- someone found it while helping me move and I offered to let them keep it.

Eventually, while scrolling through board game groups online, I saw someone post their 3D printer for sale: a Robo 3D R1+², $150 and without the restrictions mentioned above. I contacted the person, meet up to exchange, and when I brought it home, I immediately began using it print whatever kind of fixtures I could for the house: a utensil holder for the kitchen, PS4 wall mounts, and a shelf for my monitor just to name a few. That printer was my best friend…until it wasn’t.

Sadly, the device is almost 10 years old. It hit a point where some of the components started to fall apart (probably from poor management on my side) and with no wiring experience or leads on what I needed to replace it, the R1 has found it’s way to my closet just like my last printer had. However, I do intend for it to see use again once I figure out what it needs. In the meantime, it served as a great excuse to upgrade I felt it had given me the experience I needed to look for something more update and featureful. After enough time, research, and saving, I decided on the Bambu Labs P1S.

Talk About Perfect Timing

I ordered my Bambu printer and almost the very day after it arrived at my doorstep, Bambu Lab came under controversy due to recent changes to their firmware requiring authorization and authentication to control key functions of the printers. Under this new update, only Bambu Lab specific software would be able to interoperate with the printer(s) you’re working with by sending your print through their remote client before accessing the printer.

What exactly is the issue? A couple. For starts, this can absolutely cripples the workflow of users who prefer 3rd party printing software like Orca Slicer or OctoPrint. Not to mention, for how the authorization control system works, Bambu would have direct access to see what you’re printing and how it’s being made. Further, this restriction could just be a start; there could be further restrictions down the line such as fees associated with using their service.

A user explained these issues almost perfectly on the Bambu Lab forums, but this is a rundown of their illustration: imagine your printer is a house and the prints you send are cleaners. Prior to the update, a cleaner would need a key to get into your house where they do the job they were hired to do and leave. Under that system, there is a risk of malicious cleaners going in and ruining the house because there’s no way of confirming whether or not they are legit.

Bambu’s solution to this is essentially to hire a bouncer. This bouncer would be tasked with protecting your home by verifying that the cleaner actually intends to do their job as they were hired to do.

The problem comes down to the classic quandary of who watches the watchman? Even if we do have Bambu as a bouncer, we can’t see exactly who they allow in or what changes they may make to them. We lose control over how to use our system even if we do have an increase in “security”.

A big part of why I was interested in Bambu Labs is the same reason I grew so attached to my Robo 3D: the openness of it’s infrastructure. I could use it how I wanted with whatever tools I needed to. Bambu has things easier, but I’m restricted to how I’m able to use it.

So Did I Return it?

No, actually.

I’d be lying if I said a big part of the reason wasn’t the cost of returning it and my want to get printing again, but the bigger reason is that this doesn’t really scare me. It bothers me– absolutely. Part of why I’ve gravitated so much towards open source and libre technologies is to avoid these sorts of issues. However, I’m not an absolutest.

I’m used to loading my prints onto an SD card, popping it into my printer, and running it from there. These changes don’t affect my work flow, but I can completely understand people who are frustrated because these changes can fully disrupt theirs.

I do get the gravity the things. I don’t think Bambu Lab should just be forgiven for changing things like this. I hope Orca Slicer and other third-party slicers are able to work around these restrictions so people can use their systems like they actually own them.

It just means next time my printer goes out, I’m not looking towards Bambu for replacement.