Are FDM printers appliances yet?

One day, resolving issues like this will be easier - or automatic

This Saturday was Pumpkin Fest, and the streets were filled with people enjoying the (too warm for Fall) weather. Some family members popped into the boutique, and they’d already been around to the various street vendors. Apparently, 3D printed items were popular with one of the cousin’s children.

For that moment, I wondered if it made sense for them to get a 3D printer. Maybe something like a Creality Ender 3 V2 NEO? Eesh… that name.

You see, Mom, the engineer, has an aunt that’s into all of the crafting things. She has a vinyl cutter. She’s an avid crafter. I gave her an open-frame diode laser engraver, and she uses that without issue. I don’t think she would have any issue with something like an Ender.

In truth, the latest generation of FDM printers is so friendly. They’re engineered to be a “click-to-print” experience - basically like an appliance. Most of the printers are fully assembled (or nearly so). Most of them have simple app or in-slicer control, so you’re not walking over a flash card or drive. Most of them have auto bed leveling. Some even have automatic filament loading and unloading.

All of that is true, yet I can’t recommend FDM printing to those that don’t have even the slightest sense of adventure.

Why?

My Creality K1C got a jam in the extruder on Friday night. I waited until Sunday to remove the extruder, remove the gearbox assembly, remove the debris, and reassemble everything. It took me about 5 minutes, once I had sufficiently motivated myself. Mind you, I take apart things with order of magnitude higher complexity, but I still had a little dread. “What if you break the extruder motor wire harness or connector?” I didn’t break anything, but I still had the apprehension. It was the first time I’d really done anything with the K1C.

It wasn’t hard. It certainly wasn’t any more complicated than working on my old Ultimaker 2+. I guess my point, though, is that it was still more than I’d expect the most casual of users would want to do. Sort of like clearing a paper jam from an early laser printer or photocopier. Eventually those devices got simpler and more robust paper paths and handling equipment to deal with iteratively reducing the failure modes and failure rates.

That’s what I expect will happen with consumer FDM printers, too. You can already tell that the manufacturers have put a ton of engineering into improving speed, print quality, and dramatically reducing print failure rates. The next step is to have reliability and serviceability be the differentiating features. Once that happens, people can get FDM printers without fear - or a need to have familial tech support at the ready…