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California’s New Bill Requires DOJ-Approved 3D Printers That Report on Themselves
(blog.adafruit.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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Technology
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You can still get an Ender 3 (essentially the end result of RepRap). Every vendor has their own.
That said? If you buy a printer in 2025 (let alone 2026) and it does not have an integrated enclosure, you are opening yourself up to a world of hurt. The price difference isn't that much anymore and even just having a box to hold the waste heat in solves like 90% of print problems.
Bambu are, above and beyond, the best bang for your buck. They ALSO are ahead of the curve on locking things down to support only their networked slicers. Which... is a huge concern with stuff like this.
Personally? I love the Qidi printers. I have a Q1 something or another and convinced a friend to get a different model. They use a semi-open fork of Klipper so you can theoretically make something work when it is abandoned. Which is good because the various CoreXY printers are no longer all based on the same standard so part kits aren't (easily) interchangeable. And, of course, you can use Orcaslicer or whatever else you want.
Keep in mind that is all FDM. For Resin (SLA?), the ship has already sailed and people are genuinely happy to run slicers with literal fucking ads in them. Assuming the vendor doesn't lock them out of even that garbage.
Thanks, yeah, I like the idea of an enclosed printer so that I can print outdoors (with an extension cord or portable power station) and not get my living room full of fumes. Is that a reasonable thing to want to do?
On a warm and dry day? Maybe?
But if it is cold? Some printers have built in heaters. They aren't strong enough to handle that. And if it is moist? You ACTUALLY will be someone who needs to dry your filament and good luck.
As for fumes and microplastics? That is the other big advantage of the enclosures (that I tend to try to avoid mentioning because people are fucking stupid). Even with no filter you are going to be getting a lot of benefits from the residues and the like hitting the walls first. And most of the CoreXYs can trivially add an actual filter to the vent... many that you print yourself.
It isn't the same as a proper exhaust system but.. ain't nobody doing that.
Hmm, ok, so much for that idea. I had hoped it wouldn't depend much on ambient temperature and humidity. Thanks.
Do you recommend any FOSS CAD software for designing parts? I've played with OpenSCAD a bit and maybe that suffices, but I wonder what else there is.