Lauren WeinsteinAug 19, 2024

Damn. Just did my first print on the Bambu Lab A1. Given my experiences with other 3D printers over the last almost 10 years or so, this thing comes across like genuine alien technology. Printed the traditional 3DBenchy calibration test boat. Essentially all I did was push the filament into one of the four AMS Lite entry funnels, clicked print ... and ... that was it. Crazy fast -- about 20 minutes. Looks and feels essentially flawless. If I didn't know better, my first impression would be that it was injection molded. It takes a number of minutes before that print started since the machine was doing a variety of automated cleanup/purge/calibration steps, and then it launched and was almost a blur.

Very cool. Or hot. Or sick. Or groovy. Or whatever current euphemism you prefer. We're definitely in the 21st century with this one.

Show threadMarcus JenkinsAug 20, 2024

@lauren Nice!

I haven't tried Bambu Labs but I have noticed an uptick in usability across the board since about 2 years ago now that just about all manufacturers offer auto calibrating Z height, no-springs buildplate designs. These things Just Work compared to the old Ender 3 standard. And don't get me started on my first 3D printer - a Sunhokey Prusa-i3-based design with a perspex chassis. Never heard of Sunhokey? Yeah, well, that says it all.

#3dprinting

Show threadLeonianUniverseAug 20, 2024
@marcusjenkins @lauren wow, I am using An ender 3 V 2 and I am lucky if I can get any print at all to not just end up a solid blob, this sounds cool in comparison.
Show threadMarcus JenkinsAug 20, 2024

@LeonianUniverse @lauren That's a real shame because 3D printing can be good fun. I'm definitely not an expert, but I've wrangled about a dozen printers in the last 8 years.

Solid blob sounds like whatever you're printing isn't sticking.

* Try normal PLA first, not PETG, PLA plus, ABS
* Print at ~ 190°C nozzle with 50°C bed
* Bed levelling - easy after the first few times
* Clean build surface with alcohol & kitchen towel between prints
* Use a little glue stick on the bed

Show threadLeonianUniverseAug 20, 2024
@marcusjenkins @lauren as for bed leveling, I use the leveling paper method, easy method for sure to use and especially nice because I am completely blind and its all tactile.
Show threadMarcus JenkinsAug 20, 2024

@LeonianUniverse @lauren I also use the paper method on my non-automatic levelling machines. I may be telling you things you already know, but:

* You should do the bed levelling with the nozzle and bed at printing temperatures because of thermal expansion.

* Having the nozzle hot enough to melt the filament while levelling also ensures that there’s no solid filament hanging from the nozzle which would screw up the levelling.

Show threadLeonianUniverseAug 20, 2024
@marcusjenkins @lauren wait... level while the printer is heated? Should I pre-heat the printer in advance before printing in order to give the filament sufficient time to heat up pre-print?
Show threadMarcus JenkinsAug 20, 2024
@LeonianUniverse @lauren I'm pretty sure that everyone says you should bring the printer up to temperature before levelling, yes. Because the hot end, the nozzle and, to a much lesser extent, the bed will all expand when hot. Hence my warning about not burning your fingers. You can probably get away with only heated bed to, say, 40° and that would be close enough. The nozzle should be hot, though, when bed levelling for the 2 reasons I mentioned. But be careful! Perhaps wear gloves?
Show threadLauren Weinstein
@marcusjenkins @LeonianUniverse Seriously, the Bambu A1 does all this automatically, and much more. Period. It just doesn't make sense to use anything else unless you WANT to be doing all the manual calibration and fighting the hardware all the time, especially at the A1 and A1 Mini price points.
Aug 20, 2024 at 1:27pmWeb
Show threadMarcus JenkinsAug 20, 2024

@lauren @LeonianUniverse Quite so. But if you've already just bought an Ender 3 V2 you might want to at least try to get it working.

I have a couple of Anycubic printers that have a fixed print bed, auto bed levelling and auto Z calibration. They were inexpensive and worked out of the box and I've printed a LOT of stuff with them in PETG and PLA. I believe Creality and others also offer basically the same these days. All around $/€ 200.