Open source roots, a self-built printer, and a decade of melted plastic
I have been 3D printing for over a decade now. What started as curiosity about a new way to make things turned into a hobby that intersected with CAD, robotics, and eventually a life-size R2-D2 build. Along the way I went through multiple printers, built one from scratch, watched a company abandon its community, took a break, and came back to a machine that changed my expectations entirely.
This is not a buyer's guide or a technical deep-dive. It is the story of how I got here and what I learned along the way.
3D printing led directly to my interest in CAD. For the full story on how I went from Shapr3D to Fusion 360, see From Shapr3D to Fusion 360: A CAD Journey.
The Early Days: MakerBot (Open Source Era)
My first printers were MakerBots, back when MakerBot was still an open-source company. This was before the Replicator+ line, when the hardware designs and firmware were community-driven and freely available. The open-source philosophy was a big part of what drew me in. You could modify the machine, share improvements, and learn from what other people were doing.
I ran two of these machines. They were not perfect. Calibration was fiddly, prints failed regularly, and you spent as much time tuning the hardware as you did actually printing. But that was part of the appeal. You learned how the machine worked because you had to.
Upgrading: MakerBot Replicator+
Eventually I upgraded to two MakerBot Replicator+ units. These were more polished machines with better reliability and print quality out of the box. The trade-off was that MakerBot had started moving away from open source. The hardware was more locked down, the software ecosystem was more controlled, and the community-driven spirit that had defined the early machines was fading.
At the time, the Replicator+ was still a solid printer. It handled PLA well, the build volume was reasonable, and having two machines meant I could run parallel prints for larger projects. But the direction MakerBot was heading was already visible.
Building My Own Printer
One of the more interesting chapters in this journey was building my own 3D printer using my MakerBot. I printed the structural components on the MakerBot, sourced the electronics and hardware separately, and assembled the whole thing from scratch.
The project hit a snag when the extruder tray did not work properly. Rather than trying to find a replacement part or hack something together, I decided to design a custom one. That decision is what pushed me into learning CAD. I needed a tool that would let me design a precise mechanical part, and that search led me to Shapr3D on the iPad Pro, which kicked off an entirely separate journey documented in the CAD article.
Building a printer with a printer taught me more about how these machines work than anything else I have done. When you assemble every stepper motor, belt, and hotend yourself, you understand why prints fail and how to fix them.
Leaving MakerBot
MakerBot eventually went fully closed source. The firmware was locked, the parts were proprietary, and the pricing climbed to a level that was hard to justify for hobby use. The company that had helped popularize desktop 3D printing by embracing openness had pivoted to chasing the enterprise market.
For me, that was the exit. I was not going to invest more money into an ecosystem that was actively moving away from the values that brought me in. I sold the machines and stepped away from 3D printing for a while.
The Break
I took a real break from printing. Other interests filled the time, and I was not in a rush to buy back in. The consumer 3D printing market was evolving quickly, and I figured that waiting would mean better options when I was ready to come back.
That turned out to be the right call.
Coming Back: Bambu Lab X1 Carbon
When I started looking at printers again, one name kept coming up: Bambu Lab. Their X1 Carbon had a reputation for reliability, speed, and print quality that was in a different league from what I had used before. I also looked seriously at Prusa, which has a strong open-source reputation and a loyal community. I almost pulled the trigger on a Prusa, but ultimately went with the X1C.
Today, I am glad I made that choice.
The X1 Carbon is the most reliable and highest quality consumer FDM printer I have ever used. It just works. Auto bed leveling, automatic flow calibration, an enclosed build chamber for consistent temperatures, and print speeds that would have been unthinkable on my old MakerBots. The failure rate is remarkably low compared to anything I have owned before.
The AMS: Multi-Color Printing
I also picked up the AMS (Automatic Material System), which is Bambu Lab's multi-filament feeder. It holds four spools and automatically swaps between them during a print. This means multi-color prints without manual filament changes. For a project like R2-D2 where different parts need different colors and materials, the AMS has been a significant time saver.
The Bambu Lab X1C is not open source. The firmware is proprietary and the ecosystem is more controlled than something like a Prusa or Voron. For me, the reliability and print quality outweighed that concern for this particular tool. Not every decision has to be ideological. Sometimes the best tool for the job is the one that works the best.
The R2-D2 Project
The printer that brought me back to 3D printing also gave me the confidence to take on a project I had been thinking about for years: a life-size R2-D2 build.
The Astromech.net community is the home base for R2-D2 builders. They maintain build plans, share files, document their builds, and help newcomers figure out where to start. The community has been around for years and the depth of knowledge there is incredible.
I am using their files and guides as the foundation for my build, printing structural and cosmetic components on the X1C. The combination of the printer's reliability and the AMS multi-color capability means I can print parts with embedded color details rather than painting everything by hand.
The R2-D2 project is still in progress. It involves 3D printing, electronics, motors, sound systems, and a lot of patience. It will get its own article when it is further along.
Printers I Have Owned
| Printer | Qty | Era | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MakerBot (Open Source) | 2 | Early | Community-driven, educational, high maintenance |
| MakerBot Replicator+ | 2 | Mid | More polished, but closed-source shift began |
| Custom Built | 1 | Mid | Printed on MakerBot, led to learning CAD |
| Bambu Lab X1 Carbon | 1 | Current | Best reliability and quality I have experienced |
What I Learned
- Build a printer to understand printing. Nothing teaches you more about how FDM works than assembling a machine yourself, wiring the electronics, and troubleshooting the first dozen failed prints.
- Open source matters, but so does reliability. I will always prefer open-source tools where the quality is comparable. But when a proprietary tool is significantly better at the job, that is a valid trade-off to make. The X1C earned its place in my workshop.
- Take breaks. Stepping away from printing for a while meant I came back to dramatically better hardware at lower prices. The market moves fast. You do not always have to be on the bleeding edge.
- Communities make projects possible. The Astromech.net community is the reason the R2-D2 build is feasible. Shared knowledge, tested plans, and experienced builders willing to help is worth more than any single piece of hardware.
- One hobby leads to another. 3D printing led to CAD. CAD led to robotics. Robotics led to electronics. A broken extruder tray on a self-built printer started a chain of learning that is still going.
Resources
- Bambu Lab - Makers of the X1 Carbon and AMS
- Prusa Research - Open-source 3D printers and community
- Astromech.net - R2-D2 and astromech droid builder community
- Thingiverse - Free 3D model repository
- Printables - 3D model sharing community (by Prusa)
- From Shapr3D to Fusion 360: A CAD Journey - The CAD story that started with a broken extruder