3D Printing Was AWFUL 5 Years Ago

High-level summary

The video’s creator (Adam) reviews how consumer 3D printing has changed in roughly five years by revisiting an Ender 3 V2. He demonstrates the practical pain points of older budget machines and explains the industry shifts that made modern printers faster, more reliable, and more user-friendly.

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Ender 3 V2 — hands-on demo and problems

Stock features

• Upgraded screen, integrated PSU/motherboard, small toolbox.
• Bowden extruder (motor mounted away from the hotend).

Key drawbacks of the stock configuration

• Bowden setup: lighter print head but poor for flexible filaments due to long PTFE tube/back‑feeding, causing slop and extrusion issues.
• No auto bed leveling.
• Single Z lead screw: susceptible to gantry tilt/slump if the eccentric nut or fasteners loosen.
• PTFE tube routed close to the hot zone (risk of softening/degradation).

Common user fixes / popular mods

• BLTouch‑style bed leveling probe to replace manual spring/screw leveling.
• Dual Z lead screw upgrade for gantry stability and alignment.
• All‑metal hotend (e.g., Microswiss) to avoid PTFE overheating and to enable PETG/higher‑temperature materials.
• Direct‑drive extruder swaps to reliably print flexible filaments.

Practical workflows and older pain points demonstrated

• Manual mesh bed leveling and saving mesh to EEPROM.
• Cutting filament at a ~45° angle to ease insertion.
• SD card formatting issues and odd file/compatibility failures.
• Glass bed adhesion problems (e.g., PETG printing without glue).

Real‑world impact

• Older budget printers were much slower: example given of prints that took ~10 hours on an unmodified Ender vs ~2 hours on modern fast machines.
• As a result, some users relied on having multiple printers in parallel rather than investing in speed upgrades.

Demo note

• The hands‑on attempt to print a simple “nacho tester” on the Ender 3 V2 illustrates common setup friction; the print was not completed.

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Industry turning point — Bamboo Lab X1 Carbon

What the X1 Carbon did

• Packaged several features into a consumer product, making them accessible and reliable out of the box rather than as piecemeal mods:
  • Automatic bed leveling
  • Input shaping and vibration compensation
  • Micro LiDAR / toolhead scanning to auto‑adjust settings
  • Filament runout sensing, accelerometer‑based tuning, filament cutter
  • Consistent part cooling and an enclosed heated chamber (256 mm cube)
  • Multi‑material/multi‑color “box” accessory

Effect on the market

• Raised mainstream expectations: features that were previously add‑ons became expected out‑of‑the‑box capabilities.
• Other manufacturers quickly adopted similar conveniences (multi‑material boxes, purge wipers, nozzle scrubbers, etc).
• Bamboo Lab’s success attributed more to packaging and user experience than to inventing each individual feature.
• Pricing (~US$1,200–1,500 for combos) was framed as fair value for a highly integrated experience.

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Current and near‑future trends

Tool changers

• Emerging as the next major wave in consumer 3D printing.
• Examples mentioned: Snapmaker U1, Bamboo H2C, Bond Index (upcoming), and Vontek (referenced by commenters).
• Advantages:
  • Enable multi‑material/multi‑color printing without the same purge waste penalties of single‑nozzle multi‑material boxes.
  • Better support for multi‑tool workflows (e.g., swapping extruders, mill, or other end‑tools).

Market prediction

• Within about a year, more brands are expected to offer or announce tool changers, shifting momentum away from single‑nozzle multi‑color solutions.

Overall trajectory

• Printers are becoming faster, more automated, and more integrated across hardware, firmware, and slicer software — making them more consumer‑friendly.

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Guides, reviews, and tutorials referenced

• Channel’s early mod videos: step‑by‑step guides for adding bed‑leveling probes, dual Z installs, all‑metal hotend conversions, and direct‑drive swaps (creator notes these early videos are “bad” but exist).
• Hands‑on demo: the Ender 3 V2 “nacho tester” print used to show typical setup friction.
• Practical tips repeated in the video: manual mesh leveling and saving to EEPROM, filament insertion technique, SD card troubleshooting, and PETG bed prep.

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Practical cautions and technical notes

• PTFE liners/heat limit: PTFE begins to degrade near ~240°C — use all‑metal hotends for PETG or higher temperatures.
• Spring‑based beds: stock springs on Ender‑style beds often lose level quickly; stiffer springs or auto‑level probes help maintain consistency.
• Bowden systems are problematic for printing flexible filaments; direct‑drive is preferable.
• SD card and file compatibility issues were common on older machines; saving settings and file formatting could be unreliable.

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Speakers and sources

• Adam — creator / presenter (primary speaker)
• Cory — channel co‑host (early collaborator)
• Companies / products referenced: Creality (Ender 3 V2), Microswiss (all‑metal hotend), Bamboo Lab (X1 Carbon, H2C), Snapmaker (U1), Anycubic, Creality (multi‑color accessories), Bond (Bond Index), Vontek, PCBWay (sponsor)

Note: Subtitles were auto‑generated, so some brand spellings or names in the transcript may be slightly off.