Bambu Labs A1 Mini 3D printer

I'm really liking my Creality K1C, it is quite speedy printing and yields excellent quality!  Since this is my first 3D printer, I have a lot to learn!

Bambu makes some very nice machines and going from 50mm/s to 500mms is quite the leap!Multi color is very cool but be aware that there is an issue in that there is a 'lot of waste'... the print-head (extruder) has to purge the previous color.  Prusa dealt with this by adding additional print-heads... but, you are really getting up there in price for that machine.

Ender-3 V3 Core XZ... 600mm/s.  Prints that took 15 hours can now be done in 2-3 hours with better quality.  I just ordered a couple of .2mm nozzles and will get after some LionDrive Spiders once they arrive.

@Dennis-LaRock posted:

Bambu makes some very nice machines and going from 50mm/s to 500mms is quite the leap!Multi color is very cool but be aware that there is an issue in that there is a 'lot of waste'... the print-head (extruder) has to purge the previous color.

We should find that video of the Bambu multi-color spitting out the purged waste.  It was something like three times the fiber that was actually used in the model.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

We should find that video of the Bambu multi-color spitting out the purged waste.  It was something like three times the fiber that was actually used in the model.

1.2 Kilograms of WASTE for a 500 gram print!   They give you the numbers in the first 40 seconds of the video.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mult...ch%3Fv%3DO6d1RKYapFI

@Kelunaboy, that looks like the same kit my son printed for me.

Here it is compared to a couple die cast Jeeps and one from a Tamiya kit. The 3d printed is the one with the star only, the die cast and Tamiya have circled stars. I’ll ask him what factor he used to scale up.

I printed one of these just to see what it would look like.  This was at the full speed of the printer at .2mm layers, but it came out reasonably well for a 25 minute print.

I didn't have olive green, so it's a black jeep.

You can adjust the purge on the Bambu machines. I would have to look up how I did it but it has saved a ton of filament.

Also, for what it's worth, the P1S really blew my mind as a guy coming from 2017 equipment where I did most of the setup and fine tuning. I figure it must be how people felt during major technological leaps in the past because I was absolutely speechless that it calibrated itself in under 30 minutes and then printed incredible parts. It took me about an hour to assemble my old Creality machine and then it took many hours to calibrate it. It was a good learning experience though. I'm considering purchasing another P1S.

I believe Prusa has the option of a second print on the bed using the waste filament. It would work if your second print is of something where color doesn’t matter like an item to be painted or a paint teepee for a spray booth.

@BillYo414 posted:

Also, for what it's worth, the P1S really blew my mind as a guy coming from 2017 equipment where I did most of the setup and fine tuning. I figure it must be how people felt during major technological leaps in the past because I was absolutely speechless that it calibrated itself in under 30 minutes and then printed incredible parts. It took me about an hour to assemble my old Creality machine and then it took many hours to calibrate it. It was a good learning experience though. I'm considering purchasing another P1S.

FWIW, my Creality K1C came fully assembled, took me about 5 minutes after carefully unboxing it to have it ready to run.  The full calibration took around 20 minutes and it prints great looking parts.  This is all the more amazing since I'm a total 3D printing neophyte, this is my first 3D printer.  I actually did seriously look at 3D printers a few years ago, but they seemed so primitive and slow compared to the polished products of today that I didn't pull the trigger.

I must admit, the multi-color printing of the P1S would be cool, but I think getting my feet thoroughly wet before adding that complexity is probably a good idea.

@gunrunnerjohn there were primitive and slow out of the box. It took a great deal of upgrading to get them to shake a leg and look good doing it. My machine was faster than stock machines but not quite as fast as these modern printers.

I'm reviving my old machine using some new electronics and Klipper firmware. We'll see how it goes. I need a slightly bigger bed than the P1S gives me and my old CR10S Pro would do the trick if I can get it revived.

The bigger bed will become a factor at some point I'm sure, but I'm a ways from that issue so far.  I have a lot of education on 3D design first.

One of my club members just picked up a Bambu unit in a pick up place in Yonkers. Another member may go out now and get one also.

The purge waste when changing filament is a concern, however project design, print orientation, and printer adjustments could help minimize waste.

@BillYo414

Do you have the AMS with your P1S?
I considered the P1S + AMS combo but without knowing the brand and reading negative reviews about the on-printer control panel,  I decided on the A1 Mini.
Still on the fence about purchasing the AMS Lite for my A1 Mini - my concerns are needing twice as much workbench space, and the open filament storage.

@gunrunnerjohn

I considered the Creality K1C as well - for the speed and ability to handle filaments that require higher bed temps.  I read that Creality is going to release a multi-filament model this summer.

"I have a lot of education on 3D design first. "   Same here!  Working on learning both Tinkercad and Fusion 360.

@Kelunaboy I do not have the AMS. I didn't see much benefit to having it besides less spool changes. I also use Hatchbox PLA instead of the Bambu filament so I would have had some inventory that couldn't easily be used. I mostly printer model train stuff so it is likely to be painted or looks good in gray. The on-printer control panel isn't a big deal. You can run the printer from a computer or your phone for the most part. But honestly, the control panel is bare bones simple and to the point. So it just works. I like that and have zero complaints.

My biggest beef is that Bambu isn't unlocked. Apparently I can jail break it if I chose to and that scratches my itch. There's isn't a tremendously good reason to do that just yet though.

@Kelunaboy posted:

@gunrunnerjohn

I considered the Creality K1C as well - for the speed and ability to handle filaments that require higher bed temps.  I read that Creality is going to release a multi-filament model this summer.

"I have a lot of education on 3D design first. "   Same here!  Working on learning both Tinkercad and Fusion 360.

That was one factor in my selection, I wanted to be able to print stuff like carbon infused nylon at some point for smoke components.  Also, I wanted a fully enclosed printer so that when I print the stuff like ABS that really stinks, I can vent it away through a HEPA filter at least.

I'm using TinkerCAD right now, I'll start with Fusion 360 when I can't get stuff done in TinkerCAD.  There's a lot to learn!

@Kelunaboy posted:

Working with my new Bambu Labs A1 Mini 3D printer.  In the background is my first 3D printer, a Creality Ender 3 kit from 2019.
The technology has really progressed in the past 5 years!

This Jeep model is a free download from the Bambu Lab "Makerworld" web site and is noted as 1:64 scale.  The printed body measures 1-3/4" actual.
I really like the model kit "tree" format and the snap together assembly.  Iʻll paint it before assembly and work on re-scaling to 1:48 before reprinting.

So far the A1 Mini has been easy to use, and produced much faster and smoother prints than my old Ender.  This Jeep took about 50 minutes to print.
The auto leveling is great and once cooled the prints pop right off the textured build plate.  There is a camera and remote monitoring application.

I am considering ordering the optional 4 filament automatic material system, but might just go for one of the larger enclosed printers.

I too upgraded from an Ender 3v2 to an A1 mini, WOW!  I don't have to be a mechanic every time I want print something and 99% of the time it prints as advertised and when it doesn't it's usually a case of shoot your own foot off.  Also I went with the AMS and so far it seems to do exactly what it's suppose to and is very easy to work with.  The only drawback so far has been the bed size, however I have really been improving on my ability to seam large parts back together (Thanks to Fusion 360).  So far I have only used PLA which seems to do pretty much most of what I have been making.

@Ross posted:

@Kelunaboy, that looks like the same kit my son printed for me.

Here it is compared to a couple die cast Jeeps and one from a Tamiya kit. The 3d printed is the one with the star only, the die cast and Tamiya have circled stars. I’ll ask him what factor he used to scale up.

I used the kit that @Kelunaboy used, but I used the multi-color kit.  I scaled it up to 1:48 in Tinkercad, and then printed all the different colors.

Being somewhat of a neophyte at 3D printing, I printed these way too fast for the filament that I was using, so this pre-production sample isn't exactly perfect. I also used a brim that was a PITA to remove, and it turns out, I didn't need any brim anyway.

I tuned the printer settings and printed 24 sets of parts for this, there are five colors used, no painting.  The star and circle is very small plastic pieces pressed into the pattern on the hood, and I used two different shades of Army Green to get the two-tone efffect so the canvas was a different color from the Jeep chassis.

I just have to make time to snap together all the parts and I'll have my flatcar loads.

Here's the last six chassis prints in the chassis green coming off the printer.  You can see with the proper printer settings, they are a much better print.  The first sample was printed at 300mm/sec, and these were printed at 50mm/sec with Ironing.  The only filament I've found that prints decent at the full 600mm/sec max speed of my printer is the Creality Hyper-PLA.  That's really nice filament for high speed printing, too bad it doesn't come in the colors I nee for the Jeeps.

FWIW, my Creality K1C has printed perfectly anything I've thrown at it so far unless I screw up with the setup or prep.

" I also used a brim that was..."

I found that a debur tool used in metal shops is helpful in removing brims and elephant foot areas on 3d prints.