After years of seeing amazing desktop 3D printers emerge year after year, I see a pattern.
I’ve been fiddling with desktop 3D printers for almost 15 years now, beginning with my first device, the venerable MakerBot CupCake. It took several days to assemble it from wires, boards, motors, and pieces of wood, and successfully printed only after weeks of trial and error tuning.
I still have that machine, although it no longer runs; I’m keeping it as a museum piece since it is serial number 1305.
Looking back at this machine, it was really quite terrible by today’s standards. The electronics were mounted on the OUTSIDE of the case with wires dangling everywhere, the wooden structure was wobbly, and the build volume was incredibly small — #3DBenchy for scale above. As you might expect, the print quality was abysmal.
In spite of all that, the machine was an astounding device at the time, mainly because it was the only one on the market. For a brief time, it was amazing.
Then other machines took the ball. The MakerBot Thing-o-Matic was a much better machine, but still terrible by today’s standards.
Other machines followed, like the Creality CR-10, the Ender-3, the Prusa MK2, and then the Prusa MK3. All this time, you’d read about these machines in online discussions being a “winner” that was usually recommended above all others. The winners would remain “on top” for a few months or even years in some cases.
These days, the majority of the online recommendations point to either the Bambu Lab P/X machines for professional use or to the Bambu Lab A series for desktop use.
I’ve used all of the Bambu Lab equipment, and they are truly amazing. They are fast, reliable, easy to use, handle a wide range of materials, and have a great price point. They are even multimaterial capable.
Today I read yet another discussion in which someone — a 3D print newbie — asked which machine should they purchase. The recommendations were mostly pointing at the Bambu Lab equipment mentioned above.
I had a thought, based on the many years I’ve seen this sequence play out.
The Bambu Lab equipment will continue to be top of mind — until it isn’t.
If the pattern holds, a company will inevitably produce a desktop 3D printer that supersedes the current “winner” with something even better, perhaps far better. That company could be Bambu Lab itself, or it could be another company.
When I read those recommendations online, I think about what is going to happen: another machine will leap over the Bambu Lab recommendations in coming months or years.
Then I wondered, what might that machine be? What features would it have that will make it even better than Bambu Lab’s current offerings?
Could it be even easier to use? Cost far less? Handle more exotic materials? Use AI to completely manage the print process for perfect reliability? Have a cool new industrial design? Offer far better safety features?
The new leading machine might have those or other amazing features for 3D printer operators.
Except for the safety stuff, because that’s always forgotten.
