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Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself' | Better HN

Louis Rossmann tells 3D printer maker Bambu Lab to 'Go (Bleep) yourself' (opens in new tab)

(tomshardware.com)

182 pointsiancmceachern2h ago133 comments

133 comments

jchw1h ago

I made the tragic mistake of getting a Bambu printer (an X1C, with AMS even...) right before they gave all of us the middle finger. I now have it offline, running out of date firmware, connected to a special WiFi network that is isolated from the Internet.

That upset me, but now I'm pissed. Now I don't even care about their stupid printers. Now I'd like to waste Bambu Lab's time and cause problems for them.

And also, while this X1C should be going strong for years, my eyes are on Prusa should I want another printer any time soon for any reason. Less polished or not, they seem like they're still better for consumers even though they are apparently less open than they used to be. But I'm of course interested in hearing what people recommend, too. (I got an X1C because I knew it would be simple, but I don't particularly mind getting my hands dirty or anything. I did build an Ender 3 kit before that.)

ChristianJacobs2h ago

Bambu showed their true colours last year when they would've eliminated offline access altogether if not for public outrage. You don't own your Bambu printer, you're leasing it at a subsidised premium.

This move does not surprise me at all, and I'm genuinely happy that Louis is willing to shell out money to help those that can't defend themselves.

I'm happy that Bambu finally made Prusa care, but I will not cheer them even if they consistently innovate. It's just sad.

Louis is one of the most passionate YouTubers you can watch. I don't think he gets it right 100% of the time, but when you are that vulnerable (and what appears to be authentic) you're bound to not make the the right call every once in awhile (as we all do).

I support him even though people can pick him apart.

OrcaSlicer supports Bambu printers already. Does anyone have any better sources for what this other fork supposedly did?

EDIT: I’m not going to sit through another angry Louis Rossmann video, but from what I can see someone tried to make a branch of OrcaSlicer that interacted directly with Bambu’s private cloud APIs to impersonate Bambu Studio. I don’t agree with the legal threats but this case is about connecting to their non-public cloud APIs, not connecting to the printer directly.

syntaxingnew16m ago

I’m so torn about bambulabs. Prusa needs to redesign their core one so it doesn’t use 3D printed parts (I get how that’s part of their philosophy but it’s not working anymore), $400 cheaper, and have a reliable AMS system. There’s just no other brand that can compete with Bambulab right now in terms of price vs performance.

sottol1h ago

Bambu also tried to patent several widely used techniques in china, fyi.

https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/8/6/141

kamranjonnew25m ago

Does anyone know if there is another printer manufacturer that has an equivalent to the Bambu A1S with it's custom AMS system. I don't think people realize how good that printer and AMS system is (the AMS system for the X1C pales in comparison), and I'd love to support another company, but haven't really seen another bed slinger with the simple center-rotating AMS style system seen on the A1S AMS. For context I run a business where I sell 3d printed parts for old film cameras - and the A1S is a workhorse.

PunchyHamster2h ago

Definitely gives me second thoughts about getting one. They look like easiest way to get into 3d printing as a tool (rather than another hobby), but their recent attitude just makes me think I should suffer a bit less advanced product just to not have to deal with that shit.

Jabrov1h ago

“Our cloud services are inundated” … says company that killed product from working offline and forced it to be connected

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5, why you would need to communicate with a cloud service to use a 3D printer?

TurdF3rguson1h ago

30 Million requests per day is not coming from hobbyists, and even if it were, a $40/month VPS can handle that easily.

echelon_musk46m ago

Nowhere in TFA did they say what OrcaSlicer does. I must be expected to go to the GitHub and find out for myself!

j1elo2h ago

Pawel Jarczak could consider donating the code to an anonymous random friend who happened to upload it to a chinese code forge where development could continue.

everyone32m ago

I like Rossman and usually agree with him, but imo hes a very bad speaker. I cant watch his videos. His problem is that, instead of getting to the point, he spends an inordinate amount of time pre-defending against bad faith arguments he assumes he will receive in response to his point. Thats just pointless imo, he should just make his point and if idiots dont get it then who cares, I dont think theres anything we can do for them anyway.

kristofferR36m ago

Found a clone here: https://github.com/unS0uL/OrcaSlicer-bambulab

Reminds me of:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tQIdxbWhHSM

the_af1h ago

I have to say the Bambu A1 Mini has been a game changer for me. I wouldn't own a 3D printer otherwise. While it doesn't really "just work" as the hype would have it (I believe this is impossible with current tech), it comes pretty damn close. Probably the printer that does it best.

I didn't want another hobby, fiddling with settings and materials, and generally going down the 3D printing rabbit hole. I just wanted to print stuff for my actual hobbies. And the A1 does this, with little fuss, for which I am forever grateful.

Who are some 3D printer vendors that are worthy of support?

GuB-422h ago

I'd say Prussa.

I am not going to say they are perfect, but I think they have a good balance of ethics, openness, product quality, innovation, availability and price. By that I mean their are the best in none of them, but I don't think of anything better as a combination.

nullstyle1h ago

Prusa sat on its haunches for a decade, happy to leave progress on the table as long as their salaries got paid. Bambu actually got non-technical people into the hobby and has always had more bang per buck.

Buy a bambu; use Orcaslicer

Edit: didn't mean to say "held the industry back"; I would categorize my opinion more along the lines of "were happy to get fat on past offerings" or the like.

sottol1h ago

My thing with bambu was always that they polished whatever the industry (and hobbyists) had invented and closed it all off, then also innovating on top of that but never giving back unless they _had_ to. Polish and mechanical design are great but corexy kinematics, input-shaping are imo what made the X1 stand out as the fast+good-qual printer when it launched. A lot of what they added on top was then to build a moat.

This may be a controversial take, but imo it would be Bambu to set the industry back by a decade if they "win" and lock up the market. That's clearly their strategy afaict.

Does anyone remember Bambu patenting existing open inventions as their own? I can't seem to find good links anymore (?!) but there's some details here https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/8/6/141

therouwboat1h ago

I did quick search and bambu p2s seems to be 30% faster than prusa mk4s and few hundred cheaper. Prusa is more accurate, more open and has better spare parts supply. Bambu doesn't have wifi connection unless I use their cloud?

I'm gonna keep using mk4s.

How did Prusa hold the industry back? Were they suing other printer manufacturers who innovated?

"Not innovating myself" isn't the same as "holding other's innovations back".

sottol2h ago

I would have said Prusa a year or two ago but they've reneged a little on their open-ness. That was probably in response to Bambu being fully closed and gaining so much market share.

The Core line of printers seems promising and a big leap towards closing the gap towards Bambu's corexy printers but haven't used one yet and I've been out of the game a little. Bambu though is probably more of a high-end appliance type than Prusas more utilitarian feel.

Lukas_Skywalker1h ago

I have a Prusa MK3S and it has been very very reliable. There's also a ton of mods you can download and print, which modify or extend the printer for specific use cases. They are a bit more expensive then their Chinese counterparts, but in my opinion, it's definitely worth the extra cost for the peace of mind.

kennywinker1h ago

I just bought a qidi printer. It arrives in a few days, so I can’t speak to the machine’s quality beyond saying it’s reviewed pretty well - but the software is all open source klipper with no locks preventing you from modifying it. The hardware itself is closed source, but if you want an open hardware machine in 2026 you need to build your own voron.

Obviously it depends on what you’re doing and what is importante to you. It’s hard to beat Bambi Labs H2D or X2D for versatility, practicality, and price. Engineering filaments are getting a lot cheaper as the market expands so it helps to have a printer than can handle those. Given Bambi Labs is so cheap compared to the alternatives customers would probably be better off putting aside the savings to buy a second printer from a different supplier when one starts to catch up.

Prusa is the most open of the printer manufacturers. They did have to backtrack a bit because Bambu copied their slicer to use for themselves and undercut them, but they're still as open as you can get in a capitalist economy.

iwontberude1h ago

They just can’t help themselves, they want market share and the margins

selectively1h ago

Oh boy, the lunatic libertarian that maintains a Kiwi Farms account and engages in a great deal of harassment has opinions.

This is HN. This isn't YouTube. Rossman is beneath this place.

everyonenew29m ago

I mean considering how absolutely fucked the 2d printing space has been (HP) It's not surprising that 3d printing will involve identical shenanigans once it becomes even slightly mainstream. And that's what Bambu does, make 3d printing accessible.

rafram1h ago

When was the last time Rossmann had anything nice to say? He seems utterly miserable. I don’t doubt this is an important issue, but when he inserts himself into a dispute, it only gets more overblown and vitriolic on all sides.

(The ridiculous NYC to Austin thing is pretty representative. Complained incessantly about loony liberal New York, moved to Austin, now he complains about Texas. Sorry! Turns out there is no utopia for pathological contrarians.)

Rossmann lost all my respect when he shit-talked GrapheneOS. Bambu works great. He can rant around the world while monetizing his videos. I neither care nor listen.

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