About 3 months ago I found your channel and today the final piece of a mark 39 suit is mid print. I have never been a crafty guy but with modern printers and your videos I have everything printed, welded together and wearable. If I can do it, anyone can.
They’ve also made it so stupidly simple for people to get into printing & selling which is why I think we’ve seen a massive Costco guys BOOM in Etsy/tokshop sellers. It’s pretty friggin cool
My adventure here started Jan 4 2025 when my A1mini arrived. I see this as an appliance. I’m not pushing the bounds of technology. I’m using a microwave, a toaster, a desk lamp. I am thankful that those who worked these issues out and made it simple for me. My fields are cooking horticulture and the natural world. I just want to use a tool not build the tool.
Hahah ive evolved into -an old man shakes fist at a cloud- with phrases like "back in my day" glad to watch a video talking about the evolution of 3D printing as a whole. I remember the Hair spray, masking tape etc all the 'hacks' to hate your printer less. And now its so much better i love it!
2:20 and that's great! I won't miss those times when you literally spend several weeks just to make your printer print at poorly acceptable quality and after several prints you do it again, because something in that sheit went wrong again. Or broke. Or clogged. Or something else idk. Not saying that with new generation of printers on CoreXY basis printing became really FAST AF and more reliable, so you don't need to feel stressed all night and check remote interface every hour to be sure everything prints solid and nothing went wrong. God bless Bambu Lab for making revolution it 3D printing!
It's awesome seeing the direction of printers going towards consumer appliances that don't need tinkering. Truly opening up a world of possibility for artists and designers that may not necessarily want to learn the technical information on how to build/fix printers. Really looking forward to 2025 and the future printers that are released and hope that printer manufacturers keep pushing each other to make better products for us all to benefit from!
Getting an X1C was probably one of the best dumb purchases I've made in recent years. Last year I picked one up after being frustrated with my old printer. I still had a pretty stock ender 3 pro that had been sitting around for a while. I've been watching videos of people making props for years and years but only recently decided I wanted to learn modeling to make my own. The ender lasted about 4 prints before it gave out. I was already annoyed with having to level the bed after every print, then buying parts to upgrade based on research of people having similar issues to what I was seeing. Nothing was fixing it and I was realizing why I hadn't used the printer in a while. Too much messing around and fixing issues, when I just want to print stuff. I came across a few videos of the X1C and it solved literally every problem I had with the ender. Took some time to think it over and decided to buy one. Got it out the box and calibrated it, now it just works and I can focus on the parts of the hobby that I'm actually interested in.
Great video! I have had my Ender 3 Pro for about 4 years now and learning the ways of the printer was a rewarding and frustrating task that set the bar for entry a little higher than most people cared for. Fast forward now, 2 of my friends got Bambu printers and even though they work with technology, 3D printing was outside of their scope but now they have sent me a plethora of prints that they have done without even opening a slicer at this point thanks to the pre-configured files and the BambuHandy app. I myself just purchased a P1S and I am so excited for the upgrades it brings in quality, speed, ease of use etc. and the "just print it" mentality that comes with such a polished machine. So excited for the future of 3D and anyone on the edge of wanting to get one, there is no better time than now to get an A1 printer and just start!
Fellow military here, I found your channel about 2 years ago and have been following ever since. Finally just got my first printer for Christmas, just wanted to say thank you for getting me into this hobby for cosplaying and anime props. Thanks to you I felt comfortable diving in and using your content to help with my printing and look forward to more of it!
great video! i got a creality k1 max during black friday 2024 and i definitely had issues at first with the bed plate. but just a few hours of time and research i was to get it pretty darn level with printed shims from the community. too many people today freak out and cant handle when things when they go south or have to have this instant gratification and validation. Put the time in and you'll be rewarded. thanks for the videos Frank! you're a funny dude and your content is not like anyone else in this space!
"Stupid questions" are totally fine by me. As long as the answer isn't "did you try your filament?" If anything a Bambu printer will make bed leveling issues harder to solve. A friends X1C doesn't print close enough to the textured bed for some reason but you can't just change the Z-Offset. You have to hack your way into the Start GCODE... It's a bit like modern cars: The thing is still basically the same but a lot is hidden away from you and sometimes even locked away on purpose, meaning you can't help yourself when something goes wrong.
Your One Piece Devil Fruit videos is what got me to finally pull the trigger; that was about a year ago and now I put my K1C to work regularly without a single issue. It worked so well, that confidence I got turned to hubris and I immediately jumped to my Halot Mage S 14K which is now sitting in my garage slightly disassembled while I wait for a replacement LCD screen because the tiniest amount of resin managed to make its way in. It's crazy how much deeper the rabbit hole goes with 3D printing but I still feel like it isn't scary at all anymore, even constantly under threat of the dangers of resin and fumes. Thanks Frank!!
This video is why I tell people that a Creality isn’t a bad printer, just requires learning. Get a Creality if you want to learn, grab a Bambu if you just want to print stuff
I got the ender 3 pro in the way back, learned a ton from working on it. I used it until bambu hit the mainstream, it's truly amazing the advances that have been made between the 2 printers.
Sure, if you're getting something like an Ender. I just got a K1 Max, and it's very, very much set and forget. I have done zero tuning, literally none. The prints are strong and accurate.
I can say I am in loads of printing groups and have never asked a question because I watched about 300 vids from guys like you and makers muse before I bought my first printer then when i had issues I watched more vids on what I did wrong now I have 4 filament printers and 7 resin printers and a small business
I literally knew nothing about 3D printers 2 months ago. I knew nothing about CAD softwares either or even what a slicer was. One day I clicked on one of your videos because I wanted to learn more about what 3D printing even was. Then I clicked on another, and another, and suddenly found myself subscribed to your channel. Thanks to you and all I’ve learned from your videos, i know own a 3D printer and almost know how everything works. I’m even 3D modeling my own complex designs. I want to say thank you for sharing this new hobby with me. 🎉😊
Filament loading is a major issue that just hasn't been solved yet. Where to put the spool (not the back of the printer), keeping the material dry and ready to go, and frankly, just loading it. Solve that, keep it open source, and you will have even more people wanting to join the hobby.
@@thepope2412its a decently expensive add on where you pay for a lot of functionality you might not use, but yeah. I’ve got 6 ams equipped printers at work and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times we’ve had to do multicolor prints, much less use all 4 colors.
Been working with foam for about 3 years now and just recently got a printer for Christmas. Now I can work on cosplays with a foam hybrid, and with your help I can execute that properly :D
I love my K1 Max and K2 Plus. They are excellent printers. But when anyone asks what printer they should get, I recommend bambu just because i know it'll be easy for them and i won't be inundated with questions on how to work it because it does everything. Not that the K2 plus isn't that. It's just that most people don't want to spend $1500 on a printer that weighs almost as much as they do when they're just starting.
I respectfully disagree with the idea that “filament calibration isn’t necessary.” While this might hold true for most users, those not using high-quality filament or skipping post-processing are likely leaving a significant amount of print quality on the table. Bambu Lab printers are tuned hot for speed out of the box, which isn't ideal for typical filaments printing at 20-50 mm/s. That said, when using the correct Maximum Volumetric Speed (MVS) for a specific filament, you’ll hardly need to adjust anything. For example, try running standard PETG with the stock MVS of 15-22 mm³/s-you’ll likely see noticeable adhesion issues, stringing, globbing, clogging, etc.
you helped me get my Neptune 3 figured out just by watching one of your videos and now I own a Bambu A1 and P1S and a few other printers. So thank you for your advice and all the time and effort you put in these videos for this community.
Got a printer a couple of weeks ago and your videos have been a huge help with getting started. Still lots to learn, but so far loving the hobby and my mind is blown every time I create something out of seemingly nothing!
I am a bit lenient on "Print fail why" because some of the people now are kids that dont know any better or older people who get referred to reddit by their kid who has a 3d printer. That being said, I do agree with this videos purpose to educate these things. I cant tell you how many times I go into those posts, then tell them to list like a bullet point list of settings and such, just to not get a reply for 3 days. Its a bit more annoying when 90% of these issues are so normal that they have been solved repeatedly in the reddit page or you could google your problem and 100 solutions pop up from either reddit or some other outlet. Now, if you are just super new and respond quickly, I really do not mind because you get a quick convo and you can teach the person. The good thing I feel most of the time is that when people post crappy posts, its only their first post, then they learn. The sphere of people joining now is much wider. Mainly because Bambu turned the hobby from being a 3D printer hobbiest to a 3D printing hobbiest.
I got a P1S while they were on black friday sale and it blows every other printer I've owned out of the damn water. Plug it in, it self-calibrates, no bullshit with levelling screws, no fretting over microstepping the z-height adjustment to get a clean line, NOTHING. It does all that shit itself. And to make it better, it's totally wireless on my network, doesn't keep its fans on forever while idle so I can keep it on, which makes it WAY more convenient when I want to print something, I can just do it and not go through having to go upstairs and turn it on and wait for it to cycle etc etc. Probably gonna sell my old ones now. There's no point to them anymore.
I will say this. I love my P1S and AMS... but I'm so grateful for my experience with my old Ender 3 Pro and various other older printers. When the P1S breaks down, I usually know how to troubleshoot, where and what needs to be fixed and have the skills to do so. That's something a lot of channels don't seem to touch on, the repairability of modern printers. Someone with experience can go from having to pay Bambu $20-70 for a new proprietary assembly, to pennies by just replacing the single component of the assembly that failed. I will give Bambu credit though, they are the only company I've dealt with that actually honored their warranty in the spirit of it. Most warranties are only 1 month if you're lucky and you'd be amazed at what parts companies call "consumables". Another well know company for example called the mainboard a consumable when mine burned out 3 weeks in and made me buy a new one from them. That made me "Giga" upset
3 year viewer here, why is Creality killing printers after one year like the CR-M4 because I have been using the printer and it’s just degrading over time and they never made any replacements and Creality support is useless they just don’t do anything
I gave up on BL coming out with a large bed X1 (had to spend the money last year - technically my business bought it) and bought a K2 MAX. Wow, what a nice printer! They took the BL X1C, cloned it, improved the shortcomings (gave us a hard wired network port!, better naussle wiper, better camera, better air filtering, etc.,....). It is also slightly faster than the X1C. It prints just as good (or almost as good) and has that HUGE bed that I needed. Did I, do I, trust Creality? Not as far as I can throw that 100 pound printer. The jury is still out on my trust of Creality, but so far, this printer is amazing! I will be happy to see what the BL X1-C MAX looks like and maybe, if I decide to stay in business past this year, my company can buy one of those too.
As someone who helped out troubleshooting printers on the Frankly Built discord server, and who started on a CR-10 S5 in October 2022, this video is something that I thoroughly agree with. Please research before asking questions because it makes my job of helping you easier. I also agree that having a plug-n-play printer like my Bambu Lab P1S and AMS is a relief after working with Ender 3's and CR-10's for so long lol
Love your channel Frank! Appreciate you sir! Got an X1 last year and have just been printing everything, it is amazing except for a Z axis failure which led me down a rabbit hole but was an easy fix :) Definitely complex for me under the hood as a novice so I am super grateful for you all helping us.
Exactly! Not just the printer, but slicing as well! I'm used to optimizing my 3d models, orientation and slicing settings. Nowadays I see people just print whatever they found online in whatever orientation they downloaded it in. With unnecessary or not enough walls, way too much infill etc etc Bambu wasn't around when I started printing 5 years ago and yes, I had struggles with my ender 3, but I wouldn't want to have it any other way! I'm happy the hobby has become so accessible though!
I was gifted a Ender 3 almost a year ago and didn't have a clue about 3d printing. I had heard of and knew about it, even purchased some stuff off ebay that was 3d printed. Befor I even open the box, I sat and poured over a ton of RUclips videos....THats how I found your channel.
Have watched you for a long while now and have always enjoyed your content! I currently have a K1 max and been busted for awhile and finally got it fixed yesterday by learning how to change the hot end and now works beautifully again! Keep up the great work and thank you again for the warm welcome!
I've been following you since I bought my first printer in October '23, it was used and didn't work. I got it working, bought another printer and have since printed 2 full suits of Mandalorian armor, one has a voice modulator in the helmet and a full Mark 85, with lights and a motorized helmet. Also, a small army of articulating dragons, a ton of fidget toys and even some playable ocarinas. I tried to mostly figure everything out on my own, but you were the best source of info if I couldn't. Thanks for all the help!
We got our kid an Ender 3v2 a few years ago. Then, when he learned how to use it, we got him a P1S, and he hasn't looked back. He is now designing RC car parts and printing other things. He is a hobby printer, and the P1s is perfect for him. Might get him the AMS for his birthday
I'm a few months new to this and pretty much just figured all the newbie stuff out on my own. Granted I have a P1S and just had to select calibrate out of the box is what it is. If it wasn't for the people before me starting it all. It wouldn't be as easy to start out. So thank you for all your hard work and dedication to evolving 3D Printing.
1. I saw Uncle Jesse’s video yesterday, and he really nailed it regarding Bambu Labs current dominance. 2. The one advantage that the Creality HI has is the CFS system with the built in dryer. That said, I’m still looking forward to your review. Due to certain health reasons, I won’t be able to get started in this hobby until May or June. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to afford a P1S Combo. If not. The A1 combo will have to do.
My current setup is TWO K1Maxs and TWO P1Ss (both with two AMSs) Thanks for all the great recommendations. I definitely agree with you on how the industry is going. For now, i'm set and don't see any reason to change my setup.
Great video. Question. As someone who is in process of setting up a print room (I just bought new printers and am getting the room ready), what do you use to mount all of your props on the wall? I want to try and do a similar thing with my prints but don't know how to hang them at the diagonal.
I started with a ender 3 v2 I got on a trade and had to learn all this. I got so frustrated after hours and hours of trying to get it right. I gave up and got a a1 with ams. Absolutely love it. Millions of times better!
I remember researching the Ender 3 pro for about 5 months before I pulled the plug. I don’t regret it because if I never researched filament types and different parts of the printer I would’ve been so lost! Listen to frank when he says research before pulling the plug on a printer! It’ll save you headaches and people on Reddit ridiculing you for lack of knowledge.
I am glad we have more printers that do everything automatically. But Bambu needs good competition, so I don't think we shouldn't ignore others "catching up." It's a good thing they are becoming automatic too. I'd also like to keep open source and the spirit of sharing alive, rather than making 3D printing strictly the proprietary domain of Bambu.
I started 3D printing about 5 years ago your channel and Uncle Jesse channels were some of the first channels I discovered about the subject of 3D printing. I specifically got into 3D printing to make cosplay armor. And watching the technologies change the way that they have has been astonishing. I've been so dependent on creality just because it was what I knew I missed out on some really amazing 3D printers and now that I've started buying other printers I probably will never go back to creality. About my first elegoo resin printer last year. An tried a bamboo printer for the first time. There is no comparison in the upgrade and quality and ease of use. The amount of time I've wasted fumbling with variations of ender 3 even though it's something I'm experienced with is insane when compared to the ease of access of just hooking up a bamboo printer and just printing.
I REALLY wish people would figure out that ALL NEWER PRINTERS are like what you described. Its not just "Bambu work out of the box" when literally they all do
@FranklyBuilt Frank, I own 11 of them and have been printing for 3 years. I own Anycubic, Flashforge, Creality, Bambu and Elegoo machines...Yeah Frank they all worked perfectly out of the box, ironically the1 machine that didnt was my P1P...It had bad sensors and tried to beat its own brains out slamming the extruder into the back corner of the machine
Guys it’s not a war. I do want to say that the reputation of different brand printers IS very different and that Bambu’s is known for being almost completely automatic. Even if other brands are the same, the public’s perspective on them is way different.
@@Lemon826YT very well said. With any brand they have some junkers right. You only hear about the bad it seems. But I’ve owned all Creality machines for years and never had any real issues. Maybe I’m just lucky? Idk. I e heard issue with all brands. 3D printing is a finicky thing with lots of room for user error that people like to blame on the brands. 90% of people who ask me for help on an issue it’s been user error of some sort. So I’d say a lot of the public issues would be the same. Then you have just bad machines. Nothing you can do. Same thing with all products. Even cars at times. What’s new lol. Some people hate ford and say it’s trash. Mine has never even had a light on the dash. Love it. The story goes on and on. 😂
@@Lemon826YT a lot of the people who I see have issues they all have this one common machine that really should’ve been done away with a long time ago and its the Ender 3 variants. That model is really the root issue if you ask me. As long as you don’t buy that one I don’t think you’ll have a bad experience based on my experience at least. And honestly, if you have an ender 3, you’re probably not that into 3-D printing anyways and you’re just a weekend user. So of course those guys are gonna have a lot of issues because they just don’t have the experience to handle even the smallest issues that arise whether it be the printers fault or their own. As long as the printer functions , issues like bed leveling, adhesion, filament jams , etc are all very simple issues that can be fixed in no time. And until you spend decent money on a machine you’ll be stuck with entry level machines that require a little love. Not saying you specifically. Talking to ender 3 complainers
I have a BambuLab A1, X1C, Elegoo Neptune 4 Max as well as a Prusa XL. By far my favorite printer is my Prusa XL. I think the mindset of “it just works” or “I don’t need to tinker with the printer” sets more in to the ongoing issue of the lack of problem solving. Just by setting up the Prusa XL up alone made me learn more about this printer than any other one I’ve touched. Although I do appreciate technology moving forward and being able to advance in areas people may not have considered 10 years ago, I do want to encourage a consumer base society to keep problem solving and learning in a balance. To me, sometimes user friendly items cause different problems than items that force you to think.
This is why is suggest for everyone to get a different print other then a bambu first, I had no clue what I was doing but after about a year I upgraded from a neptune printer to a bambu. It made the shift feel so much more relaxed and I find I had more confidence with printing and with using a more expensive machine.
I think it comes down to three companies who are actually innovating. Creality, Prusa, and Bambu. But the two faces of the entry level printers are def Creality and Bambu. And there’s this stigma like the old Ford vs Chevy debacle when it comes to those two lol. Which is why in doing a video on it. I interviewed the Creality team at CES last week and I don’t feel they are copying anyone. Can’t wait for you guys to see THAT video. I don’t think it’ll be as good as this one. But hopefully as interesting. We should do a podcast Frank!! 😅
Lots of valid points sir. Been doing this since 2019 when the Ender 3 was the printer of choice(because of cost) and Prusa was the Cadillac of all printers!(Now more like Rolls Royce with the price of the XL!) Thankfully the days of leveling & calibrating are long gone(still have to do it occasionally with 2 of my 6 machines, my still operable Ender 3 & Anycubic Chiron)but youre absolutely right in encouraging those new to printing to take the time ro learn their machine(s) becuase they WILL require maintenance to some degree and WILL occasionally have issues. Ive become well versed on Bambu's extruder because of $**t filament that I wanted to try & it bit me in the @**! & clogged the extruder. But it was a good learning lesson and I implore everyone to learn the hobby and their specific machines, its worth the time watching/reading tutorials for your printer and all the groups and online communities that support 3D printing. That time spent will pay off in dividends having gained the knowledge to not only know how to print anything you want but knowing the limits of your particular machine and how to maintain it and keep it printing for many years to come.
I've been printing now for a year. I was always fascinated by it but, didn't know it was affordable. So I took my time getting one. When I saw the Max, that was it for me. I've added a K1C, and working towards a K2 plus. I think printing is about to have a Cricut rush. People wanting to make a business. If you're not doing for fun, sorry you've wasted your money. I stumbled across your videos looking for insight into what I had purchased and how do I work it (lol). I have yet to tackle a helmet but, I sometimes ask my coworkers for projects to help me improve. As long as I keep it fun, it never gets boring.
I've been printing about 6 months. I just wanted to tell you I appreciate what you've put out there! You've helped me learn and make better prints over all. Keep on keeping on!!!!
People asking the same questions is a small price to pay for the tech becoming more accessible. What I don't like about some companies is releasing products within a year of each other that keep leap frogging within the company itself! Like why buy a higher budget ender 3 when you can get a cheaper k1 printer? Don't get me wrong I love my K1 SE but if I got a newly released ender 3 v3 (or some variant) just for the K1 SE to come out shortly after I'd be upset. You can have a great product but how you get there and how you present it matters too!
Been here since May 2024, ty for all you do Frank! Saved me a lot of cash, time and have helped me profit as a result. Look forward to all your future videos! Much love from south Texas!
I got my Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra for Christmas as santa didn't check the naughty list :) Son has had his small resin printer that he makes war hammer miniatures on for a couple of years and after watching him churn out and paint some figures I bite the bullet and boy is it addictive
So I’m actually still new to the hobby. I was given an Anycubic Kobra Neo as my first time printer over a month ago and it became officially mine over the holidays. When you mentioned using post-its to calibrate the z offset, I really felt that one! When I talk about the Neo vs something like a Bambu, I often say that the Bambu is like an automatic while the Neo is like driving a stick. I’m still enjoying it, though!
With everything from printers to slicers like orca who have stripped out all the nonsense and cut out all the stuff that isn't needed or doesn't work we have some to a beautiful spot where we get to truly just marvel at people's creativity. When I first start the models you could get were not nearly as numerous as they are now or as detailed. I think this advancement in printers has really pushed a lot of these modelers to really pack in as much detail as they can now knowing the printers can just do it no questions asked. I envy and am so excited to all the younger generations of people who will be getting into this hobby!
I plugged my 3d printer back in after some failures and currently in the process of making an iron man helmet. Mine is an Anycubic Mega X. Which does not have any saved parameters on any modeling software, and is actually discontinued. It makes me frustrated sometimes, but when I see it working properly, it is so satisfying
yes I'm loving them, I have a Wanhao i3 and CR10v2, I heavily modified them....I design terrain for tabletop gaming....my workflow just leaped forward when I got the X1C and now also have an A1. I focus 99% of my time designing and printing and my soldering iron is getting cold and have been cold for 6 months. The next time I fire up my soldering iron will be for LED lights for my terrain.
Whatcha don’t see a lot of in this community is people upping their skill level. And I understand why. You connect more with people when you’re using “household” items like spray paint. I’d like to see people using a little bit more advanced things like paint, sprayers and airbrushes. They’re quite affordable and I believe in the long run will save you a lot more money buying two stage paint than buying rattle cans that just go bad. Just my opinion.
I think your point is valid for pretty much everything, and as general life advice, even. People coming in doing zero research and acting entitled to an answer is happening in almost every community I’m a part of, across different media. People don’t even Google for things anymore, they just go straight to Reddit and write a post. There is a general decline in the quality of help being asked, but also in the help being offered, and I think that’s just because the more knowledgeable people just stop responding because they can’t be bothered. Out of 10 posts requesting help in the Bambu Lab sub, 8 will be the same two questions, one will be someone clearly doing something wrong and not taking the help they’re being offered, and the other one will be a legitimate and specific problem where the first 10 comments will blindly say clean your build plate with soap and dry your filament.
I don't think I ever commented on your channel before, but a BIG THANK YOU for voicing your opinion as a _user_ and not as a _fan_. The community needs more USER feedback instead of FAN feedback (or anti-brand YT trolls, and everybody knows who I'm talking about, I'm sure).
Feels like one long bambulab commercial and several printers today can print directly out of the box ☺️ With that being said, Even bambu works TILL THEY DONT.. And exactly this moment i am very glad that i have 12+ years of experience with 3D printers.. I think its just to biased, you have alot of good points, but making bambulab sound like a "No clone or copy" Yeah you know where im going with this 😆
Love your vids man, and you’re right about the influx of new users. I’m in a place of privilege to have designed a popular mod for the AMS that at over 50k downloads sees rapid upticks in downloads and boosts with each new wave: Black Friday and Christmas especially, and as more boosts come so do the questions, mean comments from 0/0/0/0 accounts, but also people who are kind and just looking for help after googling. Usually they think they’re asking other commenters or leaving a help review lol., and don’t realize that the designer sees the comments, but I always try to reset the convo and help them out, and I’m always pleasantly surprised by comments like “you’re the first person to thank me on here, have two boosts” my point being- we were ALL newbs at one point or multiple points, let’s have grace. Great vid!
Thank you for this video. It’s nice to see someone who I’ve learned a lot about 3D printing from over the years; basically validate what I’ve been thinking and observing for a while now. The tinkering, tweaking, fiddling, fussing and well…gate keeping and chest beating about “this is the (only) way”; are now mostly pointless. Good 3D printers have gotten to the “it’s a tool that you take out of the box and it just works” level. I agree that the level of fit and finish that comes with the Bambu machines should now be the minimum base level for any new product. If not, you’re probably wasting your time and money. Not at all saying that the hobby doesn’t have room for people who want to do all the tinkering and tweaking and extreme customization stuff. If that’s your jam, awesome! Just that nobody should dump on the people who didn’t come up through those ranks and who are happy to have a tool that for the most part, just works. Great video. Definitely not a nothing burger to me.
My A1 mini was fantastic for the first 3 weeks, then started failing prints constantly. It eventually quit, but for absolutely no discernable reason. Had a ticket open with bambu (they had me change the sd card), and I tried new nozzle and plate, recalibration, factory reset, anything I could find. Reminds me of troubleshooting bluetooth connections; very few settings to look at, it's too locked down to get into any technical diagnosis, just reset, power cycle, retry.
I love your enthusiastic approach to all of this, I am so glad I did my research before purchasing my Bambu X1 carbon, the machine is phenomenal and the print quality is outstanding.
I just got my first X1C and I love the screen so much and the bed checks are amazing... Exactly as you say it's stupid easy these days lol .. my first printers never worked well lol my how the times change quickly. Love your stuff Frank keep up the great stuff.
The accessibility is great, but the double edged sword is that there is an overwhelming number of models available. Many are actually quite bad. Poor overall design and for not great for printing (either design, or materials). When I started 3d printing around 12 or 14 years ago (the days of the Mendel and pieced together i3's when we 1.75mm filament started to gain popularity). At that point in time you could consider the printer WAS the hobby. It did support other hobbies but the printer was as much of a hobby. Finding a good kg of filament for $20-30 could be a challenge. Now, 3d printers are a tool to support other hobbies. They are turn key, out of the box ready. I recently picked up an X1C and if I skipped the 15 minute calibration, I could have been printing in
Been 3d printing for about 3ish years now and finding your RUclips channel has helped me so much with many of my cosplay projects ive learned so much just from my own trial and error and watching your videos its been a great ride and hell even the shortish amount of time ive been doing the hobby the tech has gotten so much better im using the elegoo neptune 3 max currently it does the job but i definitely wanna try and get a k1 max sometime in the near future or something similar wish you the best frankly
3D printers have changed [improved] so much in the three years since I got my first one, a Sunlu S8 bed-slinger; they've become more of an appliance now.
I didn't get one for christmas. I bought one last week from my tax returns (went super fast this year). Checked around a bit for which are decent and just are consistent enough with nice bundles. I knew of Bambu but the prices were higher compared to what I ended up going for. A Creality Ender 3 V3 SE (what a name). But I read many good things about it and almost all reviews are very positively surprised since apparently they used to be a bit more hit and miss. I always loved the idea of being able to make my own spare parts for literally everything and anything and I finally decided to get into it. And just a few days ago a little plastic part of my Rode microphone broke which, weirdly, gets me more hyped because I immediately have a small starting point to aim for and get started. I think it is just great to have the ability to create your own stuff on demand when buying a similar piece somewhere would just stack up higher and higher along with all the spare parts you buy throughout your life.
Thank you this is one of the reasons why I keep in touch with your channel when to see the new videos pop up I didn't even know where that Best buy was selling 3D filament for bamboo and I am like adamant about that I've been trying to get that stuff locally for years😅
Qidi made a bigger Bambu X1C (the Plus 4) with a hotter nozzle and a heated chamber for less money. It was my first 3D printer, and it works amazingly well. The multi-filament system just isn't out yet. I do plan to get the H2D when it comes out though. Having dual heads on demand without any tool changes will be a game changer. I just hope to god it has a larger bed (hopefully 350mm cubed) and a chamber heater.
Slaps Sticky Note, "Is it level?" 🤣... Lots of great points in here! I learned a lot from you myself when I was first getting into the hobby, but made it more difficult on myself getting an Ender first. You learn though
So cool to learn that best buy sells bambu filament etc. I do agree about the note on people having patience. The Bambu facebook groups are riddled with toxicity and they all just need to step back and remember to be kind and helpful when possible. So many having never had to go through the early printing learning stages. I've also been around for 6 years printing and never knew the term tramming but right out of the box sometimes the bambu printer needs manually trammed. My X1E did but its not talked about.
What's happening right now is very similar to what happened 6 years ago when the Ender 3 came out. While creality didn't create that design of printer and took it from the Prusa i3, it heavily popularized it and made it accessible, and for years, there weren't a lot of major hurdles in innovation. Everyone was just trying to copy the Ender 3 and make their own cheaper version of it, with very few improvements if any.
It has become stupid easy and I love it, because I was always a person that actually liked printing and hated the tinkering but back starting on my first CR10, you had to learn to tinker in order to print, I don't miss that though
Hi Frank! I am one of the noobs here! Got my X1C just after thanksgiving. I held off for a long time because as you said, I expected a use learning curve. My brother has had one for years (electrical engineer), and finally told me to get one and try it out. I probably would have been fine with the P1S but I figured if I am going to bite the bullet, might as well and get all the bells and whistles just in case I need it. Well now I am learning fusion 360 and just finished printing my first Deadpool helmet! Your videos have been perfect for a noob like me to learn from and pay attention to the things that are important (sizing, cutting, etc). Thank you for your content!
As a lot of people here i also want to thank you soooo much its been nearly 2 and a half tears now since i found you and got my first printer. Thank you very much for this great journey and i wish you an incredible 2025 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Great video Frank, agree 100%, we have come a long way. Still amazes me how i don’t have to go through all the setup as before and the slicers had a huge upgrade as well. Kudos! 👏🏼👏🏼💯
I think this is like the first video I have seen from you channel, just ordered my own bambu printer (havent even received it yet, used one a few times for uni), but I have been looking around the creators related to 3d printing. Honestly as someone who is in tech (3d modelling / programming / photogrammetry / etc) for a long time I know how satisfying it is to start in a field that has very little 'userfriendly' features yet built into it (whether that may be hardware or software), so when I see some comments like they will never know what it was like I understand where they are coming from. But at the same time, always learning something new, you realize at some point that you are glad that these features exist, because at some point you do just become less and less willing to try new thinks as such slow starts end up just becomming bigger and bigger barriers of entry as your unable to spend less time on hobbies you already have. So although im looking forward to delving into and learning how I can combine 3D printing with all my other hobbies, I certainly am thankful that Bambu has made it so easy to get into it. Something I certainly didnt consider to do 5 or so years ago, whereit seemed like such a more daunting task of having to not only learn how to use, but likely tinker/upgrade/fix many aspects of owning a 3D printer.
Well, while we all started from "0", when we were starting, we were looking things up, read what was said before. No one has problem with new people, but also, those new people should invest some time into trying to find out what is happening. When you have to copy/paste for 30th time same thing on the question "it doesn't print" without even knowing what type of filament and temperatures they are printing on. Heck. I still use hair spray instead of glue for higher temperature plastics (hair spray works 10x better and thinner layers). I have had a lot of printers from a lot of companies, and there is a place for every one of them, but as with everything in life, it is so much easier when you know what you are looking at when something breaks. Just invest time into learning about your printer.
I like helping beginners on facebook and where ever else but honestly it seems like most of these people don't even look at the slicer when they load the model in. or most of them wonder why the top or bottom of a print isn't perfect like the sides. like they have absolutely zero research done on printing before getting into it. Then you get the people that tell them that variable layer height will fix 100% of their problems or literally any printing issue can be solved by switching to gyroid infill. There's people with printing experience that send these newcomers down a rabbit hole trying to get perfect 3D prints when it's just never going to happen. that all being said I'm actually grateful I started with an Ender 3 and had to problem solve a lot of stuff. Now that I'm on my X1C it's mostly a cake walk.
Good video but just want to share my experience. I am one of theses guys that decided to get into 3D printing for Christmas. I bought myself a Bambu Labs A1 Mini for Christmas. I have not enjoyed my experience so far. It was faulty out of the box. I tried to open a support ticket but could not submit without the logs. I could not get the logs because they are on a Micro SD card plugged into the Printer. Why those logs are not accessible over the network or why they do not include the required SD Card reader seems like poor design and service to me. I ordered an SD Card reader and waited a week for it to arrive. When I finally got the logs and submitted the support ticket they told me they were sending a replacement Sensor and gave me a link to instructions on how to disassemble my brand new Printer and install the new Sensor. Once installed, by me, not a qualified Printer Tech the Printer started to print but was not pulling the filament. The Printer thought it was printing, went through all the steps and threw no errors but just printed nothing. I tried again and got the original error again. Told Bambu Labs I wanted a new Printer or a full refund and now they want me to send them my Printer before they will dispatch a replacement or I can pay again and get the replacement first. So here I am on the 15th of January having opened my Bambu Labs A1 mini on Christmas day waiting on return postage labels to send back the Printer. It will no doubt take at least a month for my replacement to arrive. I am sure there are lots of people with good experiences but I am very unimpressed with 3D printing so far. The product was DOA and the Support is poor.
About 3 months ago I found your channel and today the final piece of a mark 39 suit is mid print. I have never been a crafty guy but with modern printers and your videos I have everything printed, welded together and wearable. If I can do it, anyone can.
What slicer did you use and how did you position the face plate?
@Gl1tch_2024 Orca slicer. Tilted slightly forward like in franks videos
@ ight bet thank you
They’ve also made it so stupidly simple for people to get into printing & selling which is why I think we’ve seen a massive Costco guys BOOM in Etsy/tokshop sellers. It’s pretty friggin cool
LOL Uncle Jessie sliding into the DM's nice Unc 🤘
That price on the A1 mini is "stupid" cheap for what it is capable of!
@VoxelWorks3D The A1 mini is a toy
@anthonylong5870 point being?
3D printing is too easy now hahaha
My adventure here started Jan 4 2025 when my A1mini arrived. I see this as an appliance. I’m not pushing the bounds of technology. I’m using a microwave, a toaster, a desk lamp. I am thankful that those who worked these issues out and made it simple for me. My fields are cooking horticulture and the natural world. I just want to use a tool not build the tool.
Hahah ive evolved into -an old man shakes fist at a cloud- with phrases like "back in my day" glad to watch a video talking about the evolution of 3D printing as a whole. I remember the Hair spray, masking tape etc all the 'hacks' to hate your printer less. And now its so much better i love it!
Pepperidge farm remembers lol
2:20 and that's great! I won't miss those times when you literally spend several weeks just to make your printer print at poorly acceptable quality and after several prints you do it again, because something in that sheit went wrong again. Or broke. Or clogged. Or something else idk. Not saying that with new generation of printers on CoreXY basis printing became really FAST AF and more reliable, so you don't need to feel stressed all night and check remote interface every hour to be sure everything prints solid and nothing went wrong. God bless Bambu Lab for making revolution it 3D printing!
It's awesome seeing the direction of printers going towards consumer appliances that don't need tinkering. Truly opening up a world of possibility for artists and designers that may not necessarily want to learn the technical information on how to build/fix printers. Really looking forward to 2025 and the future printers that are released and hope that printer manufacturers keep pushing each other to make better products for us all to benefit from!
Getting an X1C was probably one of the best dumb purchases I've made in recent years. Last year I picked one up after being frustrated with my old printer. I still had a pretty stock ender 3 pro that had been sitting around for a while. I've been watching videos of people making props for years and years but only recently decided I wanted to learn modeling to make my own. The ender lasted about 4 prints before it gave out.
I was already annoyed with having to level the bed after every print, then buying parts to upgrade based on research of people having similar issues to what I was seeing. Nothing was fixing it and I was realizing why I hadn't used the printer in a while. Too much messing around and fixing issues, when I just want to print stuff. I came across a few videos of the X1C and it solved literally every problem I had with the ender. Took some time to think it over and decided to buy one. Got it out the box and calibrated it, now it just works and I can focus on the parts of the hobby that I'm actually interested in.
This video is only 9 days old and it already didn't age well. Bambu Labs shot themselves in the foot.
Great video! I have had my Ender 3 Pro for about 4 years now and learning the ways of the printer was a rewarding and frustrating task that set the bar for entry a little higher than most people cared for. Fast forward now, 2 of my friends got Bambu printers and even though they work with technology, 3D printing was outside of their scope but now they have sent me a plethora of prints that they have done without even opening a slicer at this point thanks to the pre-configured files and the BambuHandy app. I myself just purchased a P1S and I am so excited for the upgrades it brings in quality, speed, ease of use etc. and the "just print it" mentality that comes with such a polished machine.
So excited for the future of 3D and anyone on the edge of wanting to get one, there is no better time than now to get an A1 printer and just start!
Fellow military here, I found your channel about 2 years ago and have been following ever since. Finally just got my first printer for Christmas, just wanted to say thank you for getting me into this hobby for cosplaying and anime props. Thanks to you I felt comfortable diving in and using your content to help with my printing and look forward to more of it!
great video! i got a creality k1 max during black friday 2024 and i definitely had issues at first with the bed plate. but just a few hours of time and research i was to get it pretty darn level with printed shims from the community. too many people today freak out and cant handle when things when they go south or have to have this instant gratification and validation. Put the time in and you'll be rewarded. thanks for the videos Frank! you're a funny dude and your content is not like anyone else in this space!
Totally agree. I just had to try my own design 5 different times and I had to keep telling myself that it was okay to not succeed immediately
"Stupid questions" are totally fine by me. As long as the answer isn't "did you try your filament?"
If anything a Bambu printer will make bed leveling issues harder to solve. A friends X1C doesn't print close enough to the textured bed for some reason but you can't just change the Z-Offset. You have to hack your way into the Start GCODE... It's a bit like modern cars: The thing is still basically the same but a lot is hidden away from you and sometimes even locked away on purpose, meaning you can't help yourself when something goes wrong.
Your One Piece Devil Fruit videos is what got me to finally pull the trigger; that was about a year ago and now I put my K1C to work regularly without a single issue. It worked so well, that confidence I got turned to hubris and I immediately jumped to my Halot Mage S 14K which is now sitting in my garage slightly disassembled while I wait for a replacement LCD screen because the tiniest amount of resin managed to make its way in.
It's crazy how much deeper the rabbit hole goes with 3D printing but I still feel like it isn't scary at all anymore, even constantly under threat of the dangers of resin and fumes. Thanks Frank!!
This video is why I tell people that a Creality isn’t a bad printer, just requires learning.
Get a Creality if you want to learn, grab a Bambu if you just want to print stuff
I got the ender 3 pro in the way back, learned a ton from working on it. I used it until bambu hit the mainstream, it's truly amazing the advances that have been made between the 2 printers.
Sure, if you're getting something like an Ender. I just got a K1 Max, and it's very, very much set and forget. I have done zero tuning, literally none. The prints are strong and accurate.
Thats not true anymore. Any new Creality is just as easy as any Bambu....And so are any other brand
@@aardvarkletSame here
The creality ender 3 I had was trash. I spent more time trying to get it to work than printing cool things.
I can say I am in loads of printing groups and have never asked a question because I watched about 300 vids from guys like you and makers muse before I bought my first printer then when i had issues I watched more vids on what I did wrong now I have 4 filament printers and 7 resin printers and a small business
I literally knew nothing about 3D printers 2 months ago. I knew nothing about CAD softwares either or even what a slicer was. One day I clicked on one of your videos because I wanted to learn more about what 3D printing even was. Then I clicked on another, and another, and suddenly found myself subscribed to your channel. Thanks to you and all I’ve learned from your videos, i know own a 3D printer and almost know how everything works. I’m even 3D modeling my own complex designs. I want to say thank you for sharing this new hobby with me. 🎉😊
Thanks for your videos! Getting into 3D printing right now, any thoughts on Bambu forcing cloud dependency via firmware update?
Filament loading is a major issue that just hasn't been solved yet. Where to put the spool (not the back of the printer), keeping the material dry and ready to go, and frankly, just loading it. Solve that, keep it open source, and you will have even more people wanting to join the hobby.
isnt that what the ams does
@@thepope2412 not everyone will want an AMS or CFS.
@@thepope2412its a decently expensive add on where you pay for a lot of functionality you might not use, but yeah. I’ve got 6 ams equipped printers at work and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times we’ve had to do multicolor prints, much less use all 4 colors.
I'm in the "little bit of effort" stage now, it's exciting learning all I can while I'm waiting for mine to ship out
Been working with foam for about 3 years now and just recently got a printer for Christmas. Now I can work on cosplays with a foam hybrid, and with your help I can execute that properly :D
I love my K1 Max and K2 Plus. They are excellent printers.
But when anyone asks what printer they should get, I recommend bambu just because i know it'll be easy for them and i won't be inundated with questions on how to work it because it does everything.
Not that the K2 plus isn't that. It's just that most people don't want to spend $1500 on a printer that weighs almost as much as they do when they're just starting.
I respectfully disagree with the idea that “filament calibration isn’t necessary.” While this might hold true for most users, those not using high-quality filament or skipping post-processing are likely leaving a significant amount of print quality on the table. Bambu Lab printers are tuned hot for speed out of the box, which isn't ideal for typical filaments printing at 20-50 mm/s. That said, when using the correct Maximum Volumetric Speed (MVS) for a specific filament, you’ll hardly need to adjust anything. For example, try running standard PETG with the stock MVS of 15-22 mm³/s-you’ll likely see noticeable adhesion issues, stringing, globbing, clogging, etc.
you helped me get my Neptune 3 figured out just by watching one of your videos and now I own a Bambu A1 and P1S and a few other printers. So thank you for your advice and all the time and effort you put in these videos for this community.
Got a printer a couple of weeks ago and your videos have been a huge help with getting started. Still lots to learn, but so far loving the hobby and my mind is blown every time I create something out of seemingly nothing!
This is a common complaint with everything from fish finders to Linux to tuning a guitar. Tech marches on.
I am a bit lenient on "Print fail why" because some of the people now are kids that dont know any better or older people who get referred to reddit by their kid who has a 3d printer. That being said, I do agree with this videos purpose to educate these things. I cant tell you how many times I go into those posts, then tell them to list like a bullet point list of settings and such, just to not get a reply for 3 days. Its a bit more annoying when 90% of these issues are so normal that they have been solved repeatedly in the reddit page or you could google your problem and 100 solutions pop up from either reddit or some other outlet. Now, if you are just super new and respond quickly, I really do not mind because you get a quick convo and you can teach the person. The good thing I feel most of the time is that when people post crappy posts, its only their first post, then they learn. The sphere of people joining now is much wider. Mainly because Bambu turned the hobby from being a 3D printer hobbiest to a 3D printing hobbiest.
I got a P1S while they were on black friday sale and it blows every other printer I've owned out of the damn water. Plug it in, it self-calibrates, no bullshit with levelling screws, no fretting over microstepping the z-height adjustment to get a clean line, NOTHING. It does all that shit itself. And to make it better, it's totally wireless on my network, doesn't keep its fans on forever while idle so I can keep it on, which makes it WAY more convenient when I want to print something, I can just do it and not go through having to go upstairs and turn it on and wait for it to cycle etc etc.
Probably gonna sell my old ones now. There's no point to them anymore.
video for sizing iron man cosplay
I will say this. I love my P1S and AMS... but I'm so grateful for my experience with my old Ender 3 Pro and various other older printers. When the P1S breaks down, I usually know how to troubleshoot, where and what needs to be fixed and have the skills to do so. That's something a lot of channels don't seem to touch on, the repairability of modern printers. Someone with experience can go from having to pay Bambu $20-70 for a new proprietary assembly, to pennies by just replacing the single component of the assembly that failed. I will give Bambu credit though, they are the only company I've dealt with that actually honored their warranty in the spirit of it. Most warranties are only 1 month if you're lucky and you'd be amazed at what parts companies call "consumables". Another well know company for example called the mainboard a consumable when mine burned out 3 weeks in and made me buy a new one from them. That made me "Giga" upset
3 year viewer here, why is Creality killing printers after one year like the CR-M4 because I have been using the printer and it’s just degrading over time and they never made any replacements and Creality support is useless they just don’t do anything
I gave up on BL coming out with a large bed X1 (had to spend the money last year - technically my business bought it) and bought a K2 MAX. Wow, what a nice printer! They took the BL X1C, cloned it, improved the shortcomings (gave us a hard wired network port!, better naussle wiper, better camera, better air filtering, etc.,....). It is also slightly faster than the X1C. It prints just as good (or almost as good) and has that HUGE bed that I needed. Did I, do I, trust Creality? Not as far as I can throw that 100 pound printer. The jury is still out on my trust of Creality, but so far, this printer is amazing! I will be happy to see what the BL X1-C MAX looks like and maybe, if I decide to stay in business past this year, my company can buy one of those too.
As someone who helped out troubleshooting printers on the Frankly Built discord server, and who started on a CR-10 S5 in October 2022, this video is something that I thoroughly agree with. Please research before asking questions because it makes my job of helping you easier. I also agree that having a plug-n-play printer like my Bambu Lab P1S and AMS is a relief after working with Ender 3's and CR-10's for so long lol
Love your channel Frank! Appreciate you sir! Got an X1 last year and have just been printing everything, it is amazing except for a Z axis failure which led me down a rabbit hole but was an easy fix :) Definitely complex for me under the hood as a novice so I am super grateful for you all helping us.
I see value in the learning struggle of the ender. Now when my bambu screws up, i already know how to fix it
Exactly! Not just the printer, but slicing as well!
I'm used to optimizing my 3d models, orientation and slicing settings. Nowadays I see people just print whatever they found online in whatever orientation they downloaded it in. With unnecessary or not enough walls, way too much infill etc etc
Bambu wasn't around when I started printing 5 years ago and yes, I had struggles with my ender 3, but I wouldn't want to have it any other way!
I'm happy the hobby has become so accessible though!
ive been printing since 2018 and i still watch all your videos! keep it up man you are always on point!
I work at Best Buy. I didn't know we sell 3D printers and I was already looking at the X1C. You got me sold.
I was gifted a Ender 3 almost a year ago and didn't have a clue about 3d printing. I had heard of and knew about it, even purchased some stuff off ebay that was 3d printed. Befor I even open the box, I sat and poured over a ton of RUclips videos....THats how I found your channel.
Have watched you for a long while now and have always enjoyed your content! I currently have a K1 max and been busted for awhile and finally got it fixed yesterday by learning how to change the hot end and now works beautifully again! Keep up the great work and thank you again for the warm welcome!
I've been following you since I bought my first printer in October '23, it was used and didn't work. I got it working, bought another printer and have since printed 2 full suits of Mandalorian armor, one has a voice modulator in the helmet and a full Mark 85, with lights and a motorized helmet. Also, a small army of articulating dragons, a ton of fidget toys and even some playable ocarinas. I tried to mostly figure everything out on my own, but you were the best source of info if I couldn't. Thanks for all the help!
We got our kid an Ender 3v2 a few years ago. Then, when he learned how to use it, we got him a P1S, and he hasn't looked back. He is now designing RC car parts and printing other things. He is a hobby printer, and the P1s is perfect for him. Might get him the AMS for his birthday
I'm a few months new to this and pretty much just figured all the newbie stuff out on my own. Granted I have a P1S and just had to select calibrate out of the box is what it is. If it wasn't for the people before me starting it all. It wouldn't be as easy to start out. So thank you for all your hard work and dedication to evolving 3D Printing.
1. I saw Uncle Jesse’s video yesterday, and he really nailed it regarding Bambu Labs current dominance.
2. The one advantage that the Creality HI has is the CFS system with the built in dryer. That said, I’m still looking forward to your review. Due to certain health reasons, I won’t be able to get started in this hobby until May or June. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to afford a P1S Combo. If not. The A1 combo will have to do.
My current setup is TWO K1Maxs and TWO P1Ss (both with two AMSs)
Thanks for all the great recommendations. I definitely agree with you on how the industry is going. For now, i'm set and don't see any reason to change my setup.
Great video. Question. As someone who is in process of setting up a print room (I just bought new printers and am getting the room ready), what do you use to mount all of your props on the wall? I want to try and do a similar thing with my prints but don't know how to hang them at the diagonal.
I started with a ender 3 v2 I got on a trade and had to learn all this. I got so frustrated after hours and hours of trying to get it right. I gave up and got a a1 with ams. Absolutely love it. Millions of times better!
I remember researching the Ender 3 pro for about 5 months before I pulled the plug. I don’t regret it because if I never researched filament types and different parts of the printer I would’ve been so lost!
Listen to frank when he says research before pulling the plug on a printer! It’ll save you headaches and people on Reddit ridiculing you for lack of knowledge.
I am glad we have more printers that do everything automatically. But Bambu needs good competition, so I don't think we shouldn't ignore others "catching up." It's a good thing they are becoming automatic too. I'd also like to keep open source and the spirit of sharing alive, rather than making 3D printing strictly the proprietary domain of Bambu.
I started 3D printing about 5 years ago your channel and Uncle Jesse channels were some of the first channels I discovered about the subject of 3D printing. I specifically got into 3D printing to make cosplay armor. And watching the technologies change the way that they have has been astonishing. I've been so dependent on creality just because it was what I knew I missed out on some really amazing 3D printers and now that I've started buying other printers I probably will never go back to creality. About my first elegoo resin printer last year. An tried a bamboo printer for the first time. There is no comparison in the upgrade and quality and ease of use. The amount of time I've wasted fumbling with variations of ender 3 even though it's something I'm experienced with is insane when compared to the ease of access of just hooking up a bamboo printer and just printing.
I REALLY wish people would figure out that ALL NEWER PRINTERS are like what you described. Its not just "Bambu work out of the box" when literally they all do
They very much all do not. You’ll see
@FranklyBuilt Frank, I own 11 of them and have been printing for 3 years. I own Anycubic, Flashforge, Creality, Bambu and Elegoo machines...Yeah Frank they all worked perfectly out of the box, ironically the1 machine that didnt was my P1P...It had bad sensors and tried to beat its own brains out slamming the extruder into the back corner of the machine
Guys it’s not a war. I do want to say that the reputation of different brand printers IS very different and that Bambu’s is known for being almost completely automatic. Even if other brands are the same, the public’s perspective on them is way different.
@@Lemon826YT very well said. With any brand they have some junkers right. You only hear about the bad it seems. But I’ve owned all Creality machines for years and never had any real issues. Maybe I’m just lucky? Idk. I e heard issue with all brands. 3D printing is a finicky thing with lots of room for user error that people like to blame on the brands. 90% of people who ask me for help on an issue it’s been user error of some sort. So I’d say a lot of the public issues would be the same. Then you have just bad machines. Nothing you can do. Same thing with all products. Even cars at times. What’s new lol. Some people hate ford and say it’s trash. Mine has never even had a light on the dash. Love it. The story goes on and on. 😂
@@Lemon826YT a lot of the people who I see have issues they all have this one common machine that really should’ve been done away with a long time ago and its the Ender 3 variants. That model is really the root issue if you ask me. As long as you don’t buy that one I don’t think you’ll have a bad experience based on my experience at least. And honestly, if you have an ender 3, you’re probably not that into 3-D printing anyways and you’re just a weekend user. So of course those guys are gonna have a lot of issues because they just don’t have the experience to handle even the smallest issues that arise whether it be the printers fault or their own. As long as the printer functions , issues like bed leveling, adhesion, filament jams , etc are all very simple issues that can be fixed in no time. And until you spend decent money on a machine you’ll be stuck with entry level machines that require a little love. Not saying you specifically. Talking to ender 3 complainers
Bambu made 3D printing about making things vs. making a 3D printer, and I love that. Also love the rant style video, keep doing you.
I have a BambuLab A1, X1C, Elegoo Neptune 4 Max as well as a Prusa XL. By far my favorite printer is my Prusa XL. I think the mindset of “it just works” or “I don’t need to tinker with the printer” sets more in to the ongoing issue of the lack of problem solving.
Just by setting up the Prusa XL up alone made me learn more about this printer than any other one I’ve touched.
Although I do appreciate technology moving forward and being able to advance in areas people may not have considered 10 years ago, I do want to encourage a consumer base society to keep problem solving and learning in a balance.
To me, sometimes user friendly items cause different problems than items that force you to think.
This is why is suggest for everyone to get a different print other then a bambu first, I had no clue what I was doing but after about a year I upgraded from a neptune printer to a bambu. It made the shift feel so much more relaxed and I find I had more confidence with printing and with using a more expensive machine.
I think it comes down to three companies who are actually innovating. Creality, Prusa, and Bambu. But the two faces of the entry level printers are def Creality and Bambu. And there’s this stigma like the old Ford vs Chevy debacle when it comes to those two lol. Which is why in doing a video on it. I interviewed the Creality team at CES last week and I don’t feel they are copying anyone. Can’t wait for you guys to see THAT video. I don’t think it’ll be as good as this one. But hopefully as interesting. We should do a podcast Frank!! 😅
Lots of valid points sir. Been doing this since 2019 when the Ender 3 was the printer of choice(because of cost) and Prusa was the Cadillac of all printers!(Now more like Rolls Royce with the price of the XL!) Thankfully the days of leveling & calibrating are long gone(still have to do it occasionally with 2 of my 6 machines, my still operable Ender 3 & Anycubic Chiron)but youre absolutely right in encouraging those new to printing to take the time ro learn their machine(s) becuase they WILL require maintenance to some degree and WILL occasionally have issues. Ive become well versed on Bambu's extruder because of $**t filament that I wanted to try & it bit me in the @**! & clogged the extruder. But it was a good learning lesson and I implore everyone to learn the hobby and their specific machines, its worth the time watching/reading tutorials for your printer and all the groups and online communities that support 3D printing. That time spent will pay off in dividends having gained the knowledge to not only know how to print anything you want but knowing the limits of your particular machine and how to maintain it and keep it printing for many years to come.
I've been printing now for a year. I was always fascinated by it but, didn't know it was affordable. So I took my time getting one. When I saw the Max, that was it for me. I've added a K1C, and working towards a K2 plus. I think printing is about to have a Cricut rush. People wanting to make a business. If you're not doing for fun, sorry you've wasted your money. I stumbled across your videos looking for insight into what I had purchased and how do I work it (lol). I have yet to tackle a helmet but, I sometimes ask my coworkers for projects to help me improve. As long as I keep it fun, it never gets boring.
You’ve been a big inspiration man! I actually just took a leap and started a full size Droideka build and started a RUclips Series on it.
I've been printing about 6 months. I just wanted to tell you I appreciate what you've put out there! You've helped me learn and make better prints over all. Keep on keeping on!!!!
I've been resin printing for a few years but finally decided to get an A1 during the holiday season. It's almost too much fun!
People asking the same questions is a small price to pay for the tech becoming more accessible. What I don't like about some companies is releasing products within a year of each other that keep leap frogging within the company itself! Like why buy a higher budget ender 3 when you can get a cheaper k1 printer? Don't get me wrong I love my K1 SE but if I got a newly released ender 3 v3 (or some variant) just for the K1 SE to come out shortly after I'd be upset. You can have a great product but how you get there and how you present it matters too!
Been here since May 2024, ty for all you do Frank! Saved me a lot of cash, time and have helped me profit as a result. Look forward to all your future videos! Much love from south Texas!
I got my Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra for Christmas as santa didn't check the naughty list :)
Son has had his small resin printer that he makes war hammer miniatures on for a couple of years and after watching him churn out and paint some figures I bite the bullet and boy is it addictive
I'm glad you're back, my friend,
So I’m actually still new to the hobby. I was given an Anycubic Kobra Neo as my first time printer over a month ago and it became officially mine over the holidays. When you mentioned using post-its to calibrate the z offset, I really felt that one! When I talk about the Neo vs something like a Bambu, I often say that the Bambu is like an automatic while the Neo is like driving a stick. I’m still enjoying it, though!
With everything from printers to slicers like orca who have stripped out all the nonsense and cut out all the stuff that isn't needed or doesn't work we have some to a beautiful spot where we get to truly just marvel at people's creativity. When I first start the models you could get were not nearly as numerous as they are now or as detailed. I think this advancement in printers has really pushed a lot of these modelers to really pack in as much detail as they can now knowing the printers can just do it no questions asked.
I envy and am so excited to all the younger generations of people who will be getting into this hobby!
I plugged my 3d printer back in after some failures and currently in the process of making an iron man helmet. Mine is an Anycubic Mega X. Which does not have any saved parameters on any modeling software, and is actually discontinued. It makes me frustrated sometimes, but when I see it working properly, it is so satisfying
Where have you been, so glad to see you back!
yes I'm loving them, I have a Wanhao i3 and CR10v2, I heavily modified them....I design terrain for tabletop gaming....my workflow just leaped forward when I got the X1C and now also have an A1. I focus 99% of my time designing and printing and my soldering iron is getting cold and have been cold for 6 months. The next time I fire up my soldering iron will be for LED lights for my terrain.
Whatcha don’t see a lot of in this community is people upping their skill level. And I understand why. You connect more with people when you’re using “household” items like spray paint. I’d like to see people using a little bit more advanced things like paint, sprayers and airbrushes. They’re quite affordable and I believe in the long run will save you a lot more money buying two stage paint than buying rattle cans that just go bad. Just my opinion.
when you shouted out the paper leveling I fell out of my chair
I think your point is valid for pretty much everything, and as general life advice, even. People coming in doing zero research and acting entitled to an answer is happening in almost every community I’m a part of, across different media. People don’t even Google for things anymore, they just go straight to Reddit and write a post. There is a general decline in the quality of help being asked, but also in the help being offered, and I think that’s just because the more knowledgeable people just stop responding because they can’t be bothered. Out of 10 posts requesting help in the Bambu Lab sub, 8 will be the same two questions, one will be someone clearly doing something wrong and not taking the help they’re being offered, and the other one will be a legitimate and specific problem where the first 10 comments will blindly say clean your build plate with soap and dry your filament.
I don't think I ever commented on your channel before, but a BIG THANK YOU for voicing your opinion as a _user_ and not as a _fan_. The community needs more USER feedback instead of FAN feedback (or anti-brand YT trolls, and everybody knows who I'm talking about, I'm sure).
Feels like one long bambulab commercial and several printers today can print directly out of the box ☺️
With that being said, Even bambu works TILL THEY DONT..
And exactly this moment i am very glad that i have 12+ years of experience with 3D printers..
I think its just to biased, you have alot of good points, but making bambulab sound like a "No clone or copy"
Yeah you know where im going with this 😆
Love your vids man, and you’re right about the influx of new users. I’m in a place of privilege to have designed a popular mod for the AMS that at over 50k downloads sees rapid upticks in downloads and boosts with each new wave: Black Friday and Christmas especially, and as more boosts come so do the questions, mean comments from 0/0/0/0 accounts, but also people who are kind and just looking for help after googling. Usually they think they’re asking other commenters or leaving a help review lol., and don’t realize that the designer sees the comments, but I always try to reset the convo and help them out, and I’m always pleasantly surprised by comments like “you’re the first person to thank me on here, have two boosts” my point being- we were ALL newbs at one point or multiple points, let’s have grace. Great vid!
Thank you for this video. It’s nice to see someone who I’ve learned a lot about 3D printing from over the years; basically validate what I’ve been thinking and observing for a while now.
The tinkering, tweaking, fiddling, fussing and well…gate keeping and chest beating about “this is the (only) way”; are now mostly pointless.
Good 3D printers have gotten to the “it’s a tool that you take out of the box and it just works” level.
I agree that the level of fit and finish that comes with the Bambu machines should now be the minimum base level for any new product. If not, you’re probably wasting your time and money.
Not at all saying that the hobby doesn’t have room for people who want to do all the tinkering and tweaking and extreme customization stuff. If that’s your jam, awesome! Just that nobody should dump on the people who didn’t come up through those ranks and who are happy to have a tool that for the most part, just works.
Great video. Definitely not a nothing burger to me.
My friend just gave me a 3d printer that he jerry-rigged together and I've got no idea where to even begin but I'm super excited.
Love that your example from boot camp included the "command/knife hand" 😂😂
My A1 mini was fantastic for the first 3 weeks, then started failing prints constantly. It eventually quit, but for absolutely no discernable reason. Had a ticket open with bambu (they had me change the sd card), and I tried new nozzle and plate, recalibration, factory reset, anything I could find. Reminds me of troubleshooting bluetooth connections; very few settings to look at, it's too locked down to get into any technical diagnosis, just reset, power cycle, retry.
I’ve been interested in the hobby for a while, finally got my bambu a1 for Christmas thanks to your videos, loving it so far!
I love your enthusiastic approach to all of this, I am so glad I did my research before purchasing my Bambu X1 carbon, the machine is phenomenal and the print quality is outstanding.
I just got my first X1C and I love the screen so much and the bed checks are amazing... Exactly as you say it's stupid easy these days lol .. my first printers never worked well lol my how the times change quickly. Love your stuff Frank keep up the great stuff.
The accessibility is great, but the double edged sword is that there is an overwhelming number of models available. Many are actually quite bad. Poor overall design and for not great for printing (either design, or materials).
When I started 3d printing around 12 or 14 years ago (the days of the Mendel and pieced together i3's when we 1.75mm filament started to gain popularity). At that point in time you could consider the printer WAS the hobby. It did support other hobbies but the printer was as much of a hobby. Finding a good kg of filament for $20-30 could be a challenge.
Now, 3d printers are a tool to support other hobbies. They are turn key, out of the box ready. I recently picked up an X1C and if I skipped the 15 minute calibration, I could have been printing in
Been 3d printing for about 3ish years now and finding your RUclips channel has helped me so much with many of my cosplay projects ive learned so much just from my own trial and error and watching your videos its been a great ride and hell even the shortish amount of time ive been doing the hobby the tech has gotten so much better im using the elegoo neptune 3 max currently it does the job but i definitely wanna try and get a k1 max sometime in the near future or something similar wish you the best frankly
You kids might not know this but back in my day you actually had to level the bed MANUALLY!
Get off my lawn!
Wiper Snappers!
3D printers have changed [improved] so much in the three years since I got my first one, a Sunlu S8 bed-slinger; they've become more of an appliance now.
I didn't get one for christmas. I bought one last week from my tax returns (went super fast this year). Checked around a bit for which are decent and just are consistent enough with nice bundles. I knew of Bambu but the prices were higher compared to what I ended up going for. A Creality Ender 3 V3 SE (what a name). But I read many good things about it and almost all reviews are very positively surprised since apparently they used to be a bit more hit and miss. I always loved the idea of being able to make my own spare parts for literally everything and anything and I finally decided to get into it. And just a few days ago a little plastic part of my Rode microphone broke which, weirdly, gets me more hyped because I immediately have a small starting point to aim for and get started. I think it is just great to have the ability to create your own stuff on demand when buying a similar piece somewhere would just stack up higher and higher along with all the spare parts you buy throughout your life.
Thank you this is one of the reasons why I keep in touch with your channel when to see the new videos pop up I didn't even know where that Best buy was selling 3D filament for bamboo and I am like adamant about that I've been trying to get that stuff locally for years😅
Qidi made a bigger Bambu X1C (the Plus 4) with a hotter nozzle and a heated chamber for less money. It was my first 3D printer, and it works amazingly well. The multi-filament system just isn't out yet. I do plan to get the H2D when it comes out though. Having dual heads on demand without any tool changes will be a game changer. I just hope to god it has a larger bed (hopefully 350mm cubed) and a chamber heater.
Slaps Sticky Note, "Is it level?" 🤣... Lots of great points in here! I learned a lot from you myself when I was first getting into the hobby, but made it more difficult on myself getting an Ender first. You learn though
So cool to learn that best buy sells bambu filament etc. I do agree about the note on people having patience. The Bambu facebook groups are riddled with toxicity and they all just need to step back and remember to be kind and helpful when possible. So many having never had to go through the early printing learning stages. I've also been around for 6 years printing and never knew the term tramming but right out of the box sometimes the bambu printer needs manually trammed. My X1E did but its not talked about.
Every person in the 3d printing world needs to watch this video every newbie and veterans. Excellent video
What's happening right now is very similar to what happened 6 years ago when the Ender 3 came out. While creality didn't create that design of printer and took it from the Prusa i3, it heavily popularized it and made it accessible, and for years, there weren't a lot of major hurdles in innovation. Everyone was just trying to copy the Ender 3 and make their own cheaper version of it, with very few improvements if any.
It has become stupid easy and I love it, because I was always a person that actually liked printing and hated the tinkering but back starting on my first CR10, you had to learn to tinker in order to print, I don't miss that though
Hi Frank! I am one of the noobs here! Got my X1C just after thanksgiving. I held off for a long time because as you said, I expected a use learning curve. My brother has had one for years (electrical engineer), and finally told me to get one and try it out. I probably would have been fine with the P1S but I figured if I am going to bite the bullet, might as well and get all the bells and whistles just in case I need it.
Well now I am learning fusion 360 and just finished printing my first Deadpool helmet! Your videos have been perfect for a noob like me to learn from and pay attention to the things that are important (sizing, cutting, etc). Thank you for your content!
As a lot of people here i also want to thank you soooo much its been nearly 2 and a half tears now since i found you and got my first printer. Thank you very much for this great journey and i wish you an incredible 2025 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Great video Frank, agree 100%, we have come a long way. Still amazes me how i don’t have to go through all the setup as before and the slicers had a huge upgrade as well. Kudos! 👏🏼👏🏼💯
I think this is like the first video I have seen from you channel, just ordered my own bambu printer (havent even received it yet, used one a few times for uni), but I have been looking around the creators related to 3d printing.
Honestly as someone who is in tech (3d modelling / programming / photogrammetry / etc) for a long time I know how satisfying it is to start in a field that has very little 'userfriendly' features yet built into it (whether that may be hardware or software), so when I see some comments like they will never know what it was like I understand where they are coming from.
But at the same time, always learning something new, you realize at some point that you are glad that these features exist, because at some point you do just become less and less willing to try new thinks as such slow starts end up just becomming bigger and bigger barriers of entry as your unable to spend less time on hobbies you already have.
So although im looking forward to delving into and learning how I can combine 3D printing with all my other hobbies, I certainly am thankful that Bambu has made it so easy to get into it.
Something I certainly didnt consider to do 5 or so years ago, whereit seemed like such a more daunting task of having to not only learn how to use, but likely tinker/upgrade/fix many aspects of owning a 3D printer.
Well, while we all started from "0", when we were starting, we were looking things up, read what was said before. No one has problem with new people, but also, those new people should invest some time into trying to find out what is happening. When you have to copy/paste for 30th time same thing on the question "it doesn't print" without even knowing what type of filament and temperatures they are printing on. Heck. I still use hair spray instead of glue for higher temperature plastics (hair spray works 10x better and thinner layers). I have had a lot of printers from a lot of companies, and there is a place for every one of them, but as with everything in life, it is so much easier when you know what you are looking at when something breaks. Just invest time into learning about your printer.
I like helping beginners on facebook and where ever else but honestly it seems like most of these people don't even look at the slicer when they load the model in. or most of them wonder why the top or bottom of a print isn't perfect like the sides. like they have absolutely zero research done on printing before getting into it. Then you get the people that tell them that variable layer height will fix 100% of their problems or literally any printing issue can be solved by switching to gyroid infill. There's people with printing experience that send these newcomers down a rabbit hole trying to get perfect 3D prints when it's just never going to happen.
that all being said I'm actually grateful I started with an Ender 3 and had to problem solve a lot of stuff. Now that I'm on my X1C it's mostly a cake walk.
Good video but just want to share my experience. I am one of theses guys that decided to get into 3D printing for Christmas. I bought myself a Bambu Labs A1 Mini for Christmas. I have not enjoyed my experience so far. It was faulty out of the box. I tried to open a support ticket but could not submit without the logs. I could not get the logs because they are on a Micro SD card plugged into the Printer. Why those logs are not accessible over the network or why they do not include the required SD Card reader seems like poor design and service to me. I ordered an SD Card reader and waited a week for it to arrive. When I finally got the logs and submitted the support ticket they told me they were sending a replacement Sensor and gave me a link to instructions on how to disassemble my brand new Printer and install the new Sensor. Once installed, by me, not a qualified Printer Tech the Printer started to print but was not pulling the filament. The Printer thought it was printing, went through all the steps and threw no errors but just printed nothing. I tried again and got the original error again. Told Bambu Labs I wanted a new Printer or a full refund and now they want me to send them my Printer before they will dispatch a replacement or I can pay again and get the replacement first. So here I am on the 15th of January having opened my Bambu Labs A1 mini on Christmas day waiting on return postage labels to send back the Printer. It will no doubt take at least a month for my replacement to arrive. I am sure there are lots of people with good experiences but I am very unimpressed with 3D printing so far. The product was DOA and the Support is poor.
I like your channel frank because it's more about props than 3D printing, the only 3D printing channels I follow are makers muse and zach freedman.