Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer • Hacker News Board

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#301

Post by offbynull » Mon, May 11, 2026, 10:19 AM UTC

wolvoleo wrote: post #298

offbynull wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She had no desire to learn the ends and outs of 3d printers. She wanted something easy to use and reliable. The Bambu Labs printer I bought her has been just that. Where is this coming from? You absolutely need to know the ins and outs of a 3D printer. Nozzles wear out, build plates wear out, components need to be regularly cleaned properly and lubricated, you have to keep filaments dry, certain filaments can only…

The maintenance needed is minimal, and Bambu make it easy to learn in their wiki. It even sends you reminders to lubricate the Z-axis (the others don't need it). I've never had a clogged nozzle on my bambu printers but that is also clearly documented. I've been doing 3D printing for 15 years so I've been through all the heavy maintenance printers. But most of that knowledge I don't need anymore. First layers are alwa…

That hasn't been my experience. Bambu's documentation, including the guides and wiki, is disjointed and inconsistent. You'll often find contradictions between pages or information that isn't appropriately fleshed out. Sometimes bits and pieces on a topic are spread across several wiki pages and guides. You'll also find that there's now an increase in AI slop in some of the introductory guides (e.g., tons of emdashes and sentences that don't seem to make sense).

Having the printer give you reminders to do something doesn't mean that maintenance is minimal.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#302

Post by Orygin » Mon, May 11, 2026, 12:37 PM UTC

sottol wrote: post #49

nullstyle wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.…

Prusa is also pursuing patents (they say it's because of Bambu but lol), and they are not releasing their firmware sources for recent printers.

Bambu did not close the tech they used to make their printers. Others (including Prusa) are making CoreXY and they 100% also benefit from the RnD that Bambu did (either hardware, or the slicer (without which Orca would not exist in its current form)).

Bambu just made better products for cheaper and Josef got mad. But I'm certain that Prusa could compete had they focused on making price-competitive polished printers, and not focus on $5k monster printers for enterprise.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#303

Post by lobsterthief » Mon, May 11, 2026, 12:49 PM UTC

darkteflon wrote: post #210

sottol wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you have a reliable printer, the workflow is mostly to slice -> send to printer -> wait and check on it every couple of hours until it's done ime. Imo it no longer super matters how much better the on-screen ui or webcam are. Mutli-color though is where Bambu has a good leg up. (Diluted) Vision Miner Nano Polymer Adhesive and a good bed leveling probe has done a lot to make my printer set and forget, no matter w…

Can anyone in the commentariat recommend a great, locally available adhesive in Japan? Vision Miner is import-only and pricey. I’ve been using glue-sticks but am ready to level up as I’m moving away from PLA.

High-hold hairspray will work wonders for you. I’ve been using it to print, including on glass, since 2014.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#304

Post by numpad0 » Mon, May 11, 2026, 12:58 PM UTC

darkteflon wrote: post #210

sottol wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you have a reliable printer, the workflow is mostly to slice -> send to printer -> wait and check on it every couple of hours until it's done ime. Imo it no longer super matters how much better the on-screen ui or webcam are. Mutli-color though is where Bambu has a good leg up. (Diluted) Vision Miner Nano Polymer Adhesive and a good bed leveling probe has done a lot to make my printer set and forget, no matter w…

Can anyone in the commentariat recommend a great, locally available adhesive in Japan? Vision Miner is import-only and pricey. I’ve been using glue-sticks but am ready to level up as I’m moving away from PLA.

I just have a layer of Cape hairspray, on a hardware store aluminium sheet, taped onto the moving down Z frame with Daiso acrylic foam tapes, on a RAMPS1.4 + SERVO42B modified i3-style Cartesian build, works for me.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#305

Post by jjkaczor » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:33 PM UTC

offbynull wrote: post #125

jchw wrote: post #66

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,…

I'm also in the same boat of regret, but for other reasons. Their support team is beyond awful. I purchased an H2S AMS combo just shy of two months ago (mostly because I saw it being praised by HNers a while back) and found out recently that the AMS they've sent me is defective. It's been truly a bizarre experience trying to deal with customer support. They told me to disassemble the AMS and swap a couple of modules…

Odd - I bought an H2C about a month ago - and the nozzle-swapping Vortek rack just wouldn't calibrate or operate - blocking even calibrating the left-nozzle from proceeeding.

However - yes, they did have me perform multiple disassembly/re-connect steps and document, and then of course every question/answer was at least a 24-hr turnaround (some delays were because I keep my printer at my office and chose to work from home a few times), eventually they sent me an entire new Vortek rack - which, once installed worked perfectly.

I was not looking forward to packing the entire thing up and shipping it back.

hmmm - they never asked for the old one back... (hmmm, harvest the servo motor? drag-chains and rods for other projects? Mount it on the wall and use it to store extra induction nozzles? Ideas?)

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#306

Post by dns_snek » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:40 PM UTC

locallost wrote: post #293

dns_snek wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you care so little about consumer rights that you see advocacy as just "drama" then what are you if not a mindless consumer, in the most literal sense? This story is at the heart of everything that's wrong with consumer rights these days - digital locks, coercive upgrades, removing features after the sale, AGPL violations, and legal bullying of independent developers, enthusiasts, and hackers. The original title…

They never said they don't care about consumer right, but that your over the top comments and ad hominem attacks smell more of drama than of consumer rights. I hope I never produce the words "return to mindless consuming" just because someone dared to criticize my idol. Ditto for "when you care so little about consumer rights". Pretentiousness is not a virtue.

> They never said they don't care about consumer right

They didn't need to. Describing it as "just" drama means that you find the subject matter performative and unwarranted, that's what makes something "just drama".

> I hope I never produce the words "return to mindless consuming" just because someone dared to criticize my idol

I invoked "mindless consumption" because of how ridiculously dismissive they were acting towards the discussion about consumer rights, i.e. mindful consumption.

Criticize him all you want, but don't get upset when someone calls you out for criticizing a baseless straw man.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#307

Post by jjkaczor » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:41 PM UTC

offbynull wrote: post #125

jchw wrote: post #66

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,…

I'm also in the same boat of regret, but for other reasons. Their support team is beyond awful. I purchased an H2S AMS combo just shy of two months ago (mostly because I saw it being praised by HNers a while back) and found out recently that the AMS they've sent me is defective. It's been truly a bizarre experience trying to deal with customer support. They told me to disassemble the AMS and swap a couple of modules…

I have seen one YouTube video that seemed to indicate a problem with pulling filament was because of a little flap within the new 4-1 PTFE filament adapter. There is a little rubber valve/flap (apparently it is a consumable, because the printer came with extra) - which he found if left in-place would cause filament jams, so he removed it, and no more feed problems. (Unfortunately, I cannot find the exact video - I have seen/bookmarked too many)

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#308

Post by jjkaczor » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

offbynull wrote: post #301

wolvoleo wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The maintenance needed is minimal, and Bambu make it easy to learn in their wiki. It even sends you reminders to lubricate the Z-axis (the others don't need it). I've never had a clogged nozzle on my bambu printers but that is also clearly documented. I've been doing 3D printing for 15 years so I've been through all the heavy maintenance printers. But most of that knowledge I don't need anymore. First layers are alwa…

That hasn't been my experience. Bambu's documentation, including the guides and wiki, is disjointed and inconsistent. You'll often find contradictions between pages or information that isn't appropriately fleshed out. Sometimes bits and pieces on a topic are spread across several wiki pages and guides. You'll also find that there's now an increase in AI slop in some of the introductory guides (e.g., tons of emdashes…

Outside of Prusa - how would you compare Bambu's documentation against it's competitors?

In my experience, having owned 2-other printers prior to an X1C - there is absolutely NO comparison - EVERYTHING was community, Reddit, forum or random YouTube guidance from non-manufacturers.

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#309

Post by chopin » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:49 PM UTC

Auracle wrote: post #266

duxup wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was almost just like you I got some recommendations from HN, all of them were for Bambu. I was lucky and they didn’t have any in stock when I wanted to buy… Now I’m nervous about buying one from anyone.

There’s no reason to be nervous. You can use their slicer (which works well!). If you don’t want to, you can use one that sends through their Bambu Connect software, which Orca Slicer doesn’t want to support for…reasons. Or you can use it in LAN mode. Or you can just transfer the gcode via an SD card or flash drive like ye olde days. Despite the tone of the other reply to your question, they are absolutely the easies…

Which options are faster?

Re: Louis Rossmann offers to pay legal fees for a threatened OrcaSlicer developer

#310

Post by jjkaczor » Mon, May 11, 2026, 1:50 PM UTC

jchw wrote: post #66

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,…

I was lucky enough to have seen the initial controversy and install the X1Plus firmware on my X1C about 2-weeks before lockdown. It has worked flawlessly with OrcaSlicer ever since. For monitoring when I am away from my office, I setup VPN, HomeAssistant and could do it from my computer - but there was also a "Bambu Companion" app released pretty quickly in that timeframe (there are probably others now) which allowed my to replace the "Bambu Handy" functionality on my phone.

So - of course, I swore I would not buy another Bambu. But, when looking at the various pricing and other aspects of competitors - about a month ago I did end-up buying an H2C with double-AMS and an HT - mainly to reduce filament waste, have a larger build volume, be able to use multi-materials for support "quickly" and have active chamber heating for more "engineering" type filaments. Don't believe the hype about the chamber filter though - I have found with ABS, you still need external exhaust or air filtering as even though the chamber "closes" and recycles via the filter, you still have the "poop chute" venting fumes...

... and of course... even if I wanted to switch to LAN-mode, unfortunately OrcaSlicer does not yet support the H2C... perhaps it never will unfortunately...