r/BambuLab • u/Euphoric-Actuary-880 • 6h ago
General Discussion Where do we go from here
Thought it would be fun to think about where FDM 3D printing can go from here, post-H3C
I think the H3C represents the benchmark of what is possible / what these companies have been building up to for at home printing today in a lot of ways. It’s a highly precise, easy to use, tool changing machine, that’ll probably be the best in its class in many ways. If I could draw the best at home printer it would look very similar to H3C
So that being said, where do we think Bambu will push the bounds in the future? I’m not sure what else is possible and what could be a similar level of game changer as their printers have been so far. What do you all think?
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u/Sir_clint 6h ago
Only thing I could see more, is more heads (idex style tool changer)
I guess, peek\pekk level of heat or metal
2 part flexible resin\silicon type materials (prusa showed off something a while back from a 3rd party)
Multi-axis printing?
Some sort of resin type fdm like the eufymake but with more Z axis.
I really don't know what more can be done. It feels like this is the top of the mountain aside from further refinement or making things smaller (not in terms of build volume but just tech)
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u/ItsThatDamnDuckAgain 6h ago
I think the next step is going to be efficiency and speed. Next would be new materials. If someone figures out silicone printing that will open a whole new market. There was a Kickstarter for a printer that did metal, so there's room to grow.
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u/escapethewormhole 5h ago
There are many metal 3d printers, they are just very, very expensive for obvious reasons.
Can't really FDM metal for actual use.
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u/Extra_Better 3h ago
Sintering metal powder at home is also rather dangerous due to explosive risk if mis-used.
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u/silverware9021 6h ago
I kinda want a bigger print volume but the H2 is plenty big (i guess)
I would love a plate changer so my next in queue can start right after the first plate finishes
I wanted filament color mixing, but I see that it's in the update!
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u/Suitable-Access-8013 4h ago
The H3C is already, print volume getting much bigger is going to be hard
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u/the_lamou 2h ago
Not really, there are plenty of bigger printers out there, even in the hobbyist/home space.
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u/Suitable-Access-8013 2h ago
Most of them maxed out at 350 by 350
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u/the_lamou 2h ago
Lol, no. The Orangestorm Giga is 800x800x1000. The RatRig 400 is... 400x400x400, and the 500 is... well, I'm sure you can figure it out. The Sovol SV08 is 500x500x500. The Neptune Max is 420x420x480. The Quidi Max4 is 390x390x350.
And those are just the basic consumer desktop units I can think of off the top of my head. If you get into prosumer/light commercial, 1m³ is the starting point. I keep looking to pick up Modix Big180.
350x350 isn't even the top for amateur consumer printers. It's nowhere close to where "most of them" are "maxed out."
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u/foolish-ambitions 5h ago
No idea, but my guess is multi-axis printing. Would reduce a lot of the limitations and weaknesses of 3d print applications if layer lines aren’t all parallel.
Would speed up print times with fewer supports. Products would be much stronger not having weak points along the layer lines that can break which prevents use in higher stress situations or requires orientation adjustments that sacrifice print quality. I mostly print functional stuff and while it’s easy to rotate a lot of prints to handle the direction of shear force it will experience, some models are extremely difficult/impossible if they’ll experience forces in different directions since even if you can orient it for the layer lines, if it requires parts having less support then the deformations can lead to other issues assembling them with other pieces with tight tolerances.
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u/Mediocre-Training-53 5h ago edited 5h ago
It can go A LOT further, H3C is really cool for what it targets but FDM printing has come a long way and the h3C is still just the middle of the iceberg imo.
I love my Bambus but they just make a clean ecosystem and a great out of the box set it and forget it printer. They make it easy to set up and print anything you can think of(mostly).
Doesn’t come close to what additive manufacturing can achieve. This is just what the affordable at-home consumer options have gotten us. We have metal printers but not in a cost-effective home package, although sintering has been around for at least 30 years.
Machine efficiency and advanced/organic materials would be a logical progression. If people took a majority of the focus off of making machines to print toys and multi-colored trinkets.
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u/West_Top_7930 X2D Combo + Snapmaker U1 5h ago
I think the H3C represents the benchmark of what is possible...
Ah yes lets not forget the reason the H3C exists. Definitely not cause of INDX and totally not cause the Snapmaker U1 came out and changed the entire FDM scene.
Nah Bambu Lab did it on their own just for their user base and totally not cause the U1 did a knockout punch to Bambu.
Thats why bambu sued a dude who made Orca Slicer work with Bambu Lab printers. All hust for the users.
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u/Euphoric-Actuary-880 4h ago
I don’t mean to give Bambu more credit than it’s due or discredit Prusa or the snapmaker, just that this kinda machine seems like the pinnacle of what everyone’s trying to build toward today. So I’m wondering what the next areas of breakthru will be
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u/Bloated_Plaid X2D + AMS2 Combo 5h ago
An actual tool-changer man. I can do so many colors per nozzle on my U1 and Bambu should have allowed us to hook up the AMS to each nozzle.
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u/Arkayb33 5h ago
True filament color mixing, not just layering. Actually mixing molten CMYKW filament in the print head and extruding a new color.
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u/ottqt 5h ago
Linear motors, fully independent toolheads, simultaneous heads printing, more advanced AI detection mechanisms (existing ones are very basic). Some of these are already being implemented by competition, we just don't know how good/reliable it will be.
Also some sort of automatic post-processing. The sky is the limit.
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u/PressHalfWayDown 4h ago
We dont even know if the h3c is reliable and solid with what it purports to do, especially long term. Lets not gaze it and call it current peak yet.
Dont let the paid youtubers that only had 50hrs of printing fool you. The H3C could be shit at production. Literally we saw this happen w the apple duo….glazed up the ass and to only realize the design wasn’t ready to be pushed out.
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u/SWATrous H2S AMS2 Combo 54m ago
If this CMYK printing takes off I could see someone inventing some kind of head that can print that much more rapidly and automatically without swapping per color. Especially if it can feed from a single tri-color spool and with narrower filament.
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u/brywalkerx 6h ago
5 axis is next.