This week the industry has split in two: on one hand, Bambu Lab is facing a reputation crisis it can no longer contain, with Jeff Geerling, Gamers Nexus, and Louis Rossmann leading the boycott. On the other, California advances a bill in committee that would require all 3D printers to include anti-gun "censorware." Also: Creality inches closer to a stock market listing, Peopoly drops a large-format beast, and Fabbaloo declares war on water-washable resin. Let's get into it. 🔥
🔥 Featured
💻 Bambu Lab on fire: Geerling, Gamers Nexus, and Rossmann lead the boycott
Last week we covered in Weekly #008 that Bambu Lab had sent a cease-and-desist to developer Paweł Jarczak for maintaining an OrcaSlicer fork that connected directly to Bambu printers without going through Bambu Connect. What looked like a routine legal move has turned into one of the biggest reputation crises in consumer 3D printing. A textbook Streisand Effect: the harder Bambu tried to bury the story, the bigger it got.
On May 12th, Jeff Geerling (1.07 million YouTube subscribers) published "Bambu Lab is abusing the open source social contract" — a devastating breakdown of how Bambu benefits from the open-source ecosystem — OrcaSlicer is a fork of Bambu Studio, which is a fork of PrusaSlicer, which is a fork of Slic3r, all licensed under AGPL-3.0 — and then uses legal threats to prevent the community from maintaining interoperability. Gamers Nexus re-hosted the fork with Jarczak's permission, pledged $10,000 USD toward his legal defense matching Rossmann's contribution, and announced a switch to Prusa with $5,000 USD already spent on hardware. Louis Rossmann uploaded the code to his FULU Foundation on May 14th and publicly dared Bambu to sue him.
The most symbolic gesture came from a competitor: Snapmaker gifted Jarczak a U1 with open-source Klipper firmware so he could keep working without depending on Bambu. When a rival manufacturer ships you free hardware to help you escape another manufacturer's walled garden, the message to the market is crystal clear. For us, the core question remains the same one we left open in #008: who actually owns your printer when you turn it on? In 2026, that question is no longer rhetorical.
To be fair: none of this has reached the courts. Everything so far is public statements, market action, and material donations. Bambu argues that the AGPL code does not grant access to their private cloud infrastructure, which is governed by a separate user agreement. Jarczak counters that the network plugin is optional and that his fork uses Bambu Studio code verbatim. There will be more chapters. Read the full coverage at Tom's Hardware →
⚖️ Regulation
⚖️ California's AB2047 Passes Appropriations Committee: 11-4
On May 14, the California Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced AB2047 (the "California Firearm Printing Prevention Act") by a vote of 11 to 4. The bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, would require every 3D printer sold in California from March 2029 onward to include a weapon-detection algorithm certified by the state's Department of Justice. Disabling that block would become a civil offense carrying fines of up to $25,000 per violation.
Regular Weekly readers will recognize this one. Back in #004, we covered the Electronic Frontier Foundation's pushback against exactly this kind of legislation. The EFF flagged it in April with a line that now hits harder: AB2047 wouldn't just force "censorware" into every 3D printer — it would also criminalize the use of open-source alternatives. What the EFF warned about in April just cleared committee in May.
The technical problem is obvious to anyone who has ever touched a printer: an algorithm that scans files and decides what can be printed requires, by definition, a control layer over the software. That puts it on a direct collision course with Klipper, OrcaSlicer, Marlin, and the entire open-source ecosystem that millions of makers — including those in Spain — use every day. It's the same open-vs.-closed tension running through the Bambu situation, except this time it would be written into law.
Does this affect us in Spain? Not directly — but California sets global regulatory trends, and the EU is watching closely. This is worth keeping an eye on: today it's firearms, but whatever control infrastructure gets built will be available for whatever comes next. The bill is still moving: the next step is a full Assembly floor vote. Read the EFF's full analysis →
💵 Industry
💵 Creality Nearly Public: Clears HKEX Listing Inquiry
On May 11, Creality cleared the Hong Kong Exchange's listing inquiry — the final hurdle before going public. The prospectus reveals figures that had been closely guarded until now: 2024 revenue of 2.288 billion RMB (approximately $318 million USD), with a gross margin of 30.9% but a razor-thin net margin of just 3.9%. The four co-founders still control 82% of the company, which holds more than 900 patents and operates over 260,000 m² of manufacturing space.
The net margin figure is the one that tells the real story: 3.9% is extremely tight. Creality moves enormous volume — the Ender, K1, and Kobra lines are everywhere in the Spanish market — but earns very little per unit, squeezed by the ongoing price war with Bambu Lab and Anycubic. It's the flip side of the Chinese market consolidation we've been tracking since #007, when Elegoo closed its funding round: the industry is maturing financially, but consumer-side margins remain brutal.
One detail that ties directly back to our lead story: Creality's prospectus explicitly states that "substantially all" of its printers run modifiable, open-source firmware. In the middle of the Bambu storm, that's no throwaway line — it's deliberate brand positioning. Read Fabbaloo's full prospectus breakdown →
🔧 Hardware
🔧 Peopoly Giga 800: Large-Format FGF Printing for $15,000 with Klipper
Peopoly, known for the Magneto X and Phenom lineup, is making its move into pellet-based printing (FGF) with the Giga 800: an 800×800×800 mm build volume, dual-zone pellet extruder, throughput of up to 3 kg per hour, and CoreXY motion with closed-loop servos. Starting price: $15,000 — compared to the $50,000–$300,000 typical of industrial FGF machines.
What makes this especially relevant to this week's narrative: the Giga 800 runs open-source Klipper firmware and includes an air-gap mode (fully offline) designed for defense, aerospace, and R&D environments that can't send data to the cloud. While Bambu tightens its cloud control, Peopoly is doing the exact opposite — open ecosystem, zero telemetry — and pitching that as a selling point. Open source is no longer just the "tinkerer's choice"; it's a feature on a $15,000 machine.
For most makers and small shops, this isn't a purchase to consider right now — but it is a clear signal of where the professional market is heading: pellets at a fraction of filament costs, and firmware you actually control. Full details at Fabbaloo →
🧪 Materials
🧪 Fabbaloo: Water-Washable Resin Should Die
Kerry Stevenson (Fabbaloo) has published a provocative opinion piece worth taking seriously: water-washable resin is, in his view, misleading marketing. The argument holds up. The toxicity of resin comes from the photopolymer itself — not the solvent you use to clean it. Water contaminated with uncured resin is still hazardous waste. It evaporates more slowly than isopropyl alcohol and — most critically — it creates a false sense of safety that leads newer users to skip proper protective equipment.
This really matters for the Mr Resin community. A huge number of miniature printers reach for water-washable resins specifically because they seem "safer" or "cleaner." The reality: it's still resin, it's still toxic when uncured, and contaminated water poured down the drain is often handled far worse than a properly filtered and reused bottle of IPA. This ties directly into the safety guidelines we covered back in issue #001.
This is an editorial opinion, not a peer-reviewed study — but it's well-reasoned and worth keeping in mind. Whatever resin you're working with, PPE (nitrile gloves, eye protection, ventilation) and proper waste curing are non-negotiable. If you need to restock post-processing supplies, check out our alcohol and post-processing section. Read the full column at Fabbaloo →
💬 Our Take This Week
Three currents are colliding this week with unusual force. First: the open vs. closed debate is going public in a big way. Bambu is losing goodwill while Snapmaker (giving away a Klipper-based U1 to a developer), Prusa (now winning over Gamers Nexus), and Peopoly (actively selling Klipper as a feature) are all gaining ground. The open ecosystem has become a genuine sales argument — not just a niche for tinkerers.
The second: regulation moves from threat to legislative reality with AB2047. And the third: capital is reshuffling — Creality heading toward an IPO with razor-thin margins. If #008 was the trigger, #009 is the shockwave. On our end, we're staying in the trenches: resin, free tools, and this newsletter so you don't have to read eight blogs every week. 💪
❓ This Week's Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly happened between Bambu Lab and OrcaSlicer?
Bambu Lab sent a cease-and-desist letter to developer Paweł Jarczak over an OrcaSlicer fork that allowed connecting to Bambu printers without using Bambu Connect, the brand's mandatory cloud layer. The developer shut the project down, but the community responded with a boycott led by Jeff Geerling, Gamers Nexus, and Louis Rossmann.
What is California's AB2047 and does it affect me?
It's a bill that would require all 3D printers sold in California to include a certified algorithm that blocks the printing of firearms. It doesn't directly affect users outside the US, but California sets global regulatory trends and the EU is watching these precedents closely. It's not law yet — it still needs to pass a full Assembly vote.
Is water-washable resin safer than standard resin?
Not necessarily. According to Fabbaloo's analysis, toxicity comes from the photopolymer itself, not the cleaning solvent. Water-washable resin is still toxic when uncured, and contaminated water is hazardous waste. Personal protective equipment — nitrile gloves, safety glasses, and proper ventilation — is mandatory with any type of resin.
What does "open-source firmware" mean for a 3D printer?
It means the software controlling the printer — like Klipper or Marlin — is open source: anyone can view it, modify it, and adapt it. The upside is full control without depending on a manufacturer's cloud; the downside is that it requires more technical knowledge. This is at the heart of this week's open vs. closed ecosystem debate.