I grown being a poor kid, I had to work hard to get a decent life. 4 years ago I get my first 3d Printer! Its was truly a tool that helps me to heal my inner child. Now I can print all the toys I ever wanted, Thats how I get to your channel, I am not into wargamming, but I learn a lot about painting and hobbie tools with you guys. Have a great holidays my friends!
I'll chime in.... I got a Bambu A1 this summer and it is every bit as good, easy and reliable as described in the video. If you're on the fence, and you're not looking to make 3D printing a hobby unto itself, but would like to print some scenery, this is the one to get.
@@AF-kj2zl Not really. If anything you'll catch a "sweet" smell every now and again but that is it with PLA. If you have kids, the hot parts and pinch points are more to worry about.
@@AF-kj2zl I put it on the kitchen table for the first two weeks, and there was no smell. Then I put it the guest bedroom and closed the door, and there was a bit of smell. Leaving the door open went back to no smell. I guess the take-away is .... give it room to breath to avoid smell. Also, I was using the Bambu Labs PLA Matte Filament. No experience with other "flavors" of filament.
I've had mine for about two weeks now with non-stop printing. It does an awesome job. If you stick with the Bambu filament, they come with a RFID tag inside of them, and the printer will auto adjust its setting for the filament type. This way you dont even have to worry about adjusting the nozzle temps or bed plate temps. It really is a Plug and Play printer.
I print 28mm and 32mm minis with A1 mini printer. I use 0.2mm nozzle, with 0.08 layer height, tree organic support, Top Z distance 0.2, branch space 3 mm, diameter 1.5. The supports come off easily with minimal marks.
I have an A1 sitting under the tree and I can't remember the last time being this excited for a gift. Any advice on removing trees cleanly? I'm afraid of marking up anything I do.
1:26 as someone born in 1975 and a dad to a teenager I giggled way to hard on the "do you think.." bit way to much. Especially because of the sudden cut. I applaud you sir. XD
I had a similar situation with my ender 3, I had given up on it but i managed to resurrect it by doing some maintenance on it. There are parts which wear out or just need an upgrade. Its a lot more reliable now.
I was an early adopter of FDM printing and agree. Between the failed prints, glue sticks, glass for the bed and painter's tape, it was too much and felt like a second job.
Same. I had an Ender 3v2 and had problems every few prints. I took this for inevitable until I got myself a resin printer. My Elegoo Mars 4 works like a pro. Last summer I replaced my Ender for the P1S and haven't had real issues since. That thing is amazing.
Same, I had a delta printer a decade ago. It was a pain in the ass to build from soldering electrical parts to installing a million screws. Having to calibrate that machine each time was not worth it that I gifted it to a friend who was up for a challenge. Last year I got an Elegoo Neptune 4 and wow, what a difference! From putting the machine together in an hour and ease of use! Glad that I got back into 3d printing!
I recently got the Bambu Lab A1 Mini, and it's an outstanding piece of equipment. The print quality is exceptional, and the machine is incredibly reliable. Their customer support is top-notch too-they guided me through fixing a clog with clear instructions and great patience.
This was very similar to my own experience with the A1, I completely agree with the review. Extra tip: put the printer on the floor instead of a table, unless the table is very sturdy. The back-and-forth moving of the printbed will make the table shake, which can mess up your print.
Tip: Get a waterproof rubbermaid type container to hold multiple spools of filament and get bulk dessicant and toss a pouch of that in there with the spools. Trick: If your spool of filament IS damp, grab one of those boxes a single filament role comes in and cut off biggest side (the lid?). You should now have a box cover you can place over the spool. Poke a bunch of holes in the other "Big" side. heat your bed up to 55, put the spool of "wet" filament on it, and place to modified box over it. Let it sit there for an hour. This is called "Baking" your filament and can help improve a "wet" roll.
Watching this video makes me feel way more comfortable after blindly buying this printer after watching your previous video. 😂 It seems exactly what I was looking for, something easy to use for printing terrain, I don't want to make 3D printing a hobby, just a faster way to get terrain. The tip about humidity will be helpful, I am sure.
I have a new Elegoo Neptune4 and have been enjoying it very much (I have had several older printers and this one just works). The Bambu printers look really nice too. They are all getting more user friendly and higher quality (thanks to the pressure that Bambu put on the market).
Yeah, I'm running a Neptune 3 Pro, and it's pretty great. I also enjoy 3D modelling, so being able to draft up ideas and test them almost immediately is a dream...
Best FDM printer. The .2 noozle is a must buy as it lets you print servicable miniatures. You gotta be careful with supports and figure out which mini are best to print on it, but so far it's been an amazing product
I bought an A1 earlier this year, probably around the same time as you did actually, and I absolutely love it. My .2 nozzle just arrived and I'm starting to print my Battlefront Valkyrie fleets this weekend, I can't wait. Best printer I've ever used, easiest to setup and calibrate and the app and maker world access are awesome as well, you cannot go wrong with this printer.
I started on a Creality, then moved to Prusa MK2, did a few upgrades, and then ran a fleet of 14 MK3S for my print farm. Been professionally printing for 8 years. I also have several different resin printers. I absolutely love my Bambu X1C with the AMS. It just always works, and the prints are always good. The AMS lets me run long print jobs without worrying about running out of filament. It also helps to keep the humidity away. Bambu just made FDM printing fun again for me.
I run a small print farm of Bambu P and X series of printers. I print mostly terrain for wargames and RPGs. I have had Creality, Anycubic and Elegoo printers before. I learned from the others that my hobby was NOT TINKERING with 3D printers. I can do it, but I like tools that just work, with regular upkeep. When we go to cons, people are very impressed that our painted terrain is not resin but FDM. I keep all my PLA filament stored in watertight storage bins with dessicants I get from the local pharmacy. They throw tons away so I asked if they would let me have them. I have buckets of them.
I used to use a Creality V2 Neo before I got into wargaming. Then I got an A1, the difference is night and day. No manual leveling, no z offset, no troubleshooting stringing, adhesion, warping, or artifacts, just pick a file and press print (and clean the bed every now and then). The quality makes it great for terrain and I also use it for electronics builds too. If you’re new to printing get an A1! (Also a dry box is useful to remove the moisture from filament, eSun make a good one) very funny that he calls PETG and ABS weird :)
Yeah, the Bambu printers really are amazing for poeple who don't want to make 3D printing their hobby, but want to use it to supplement another hobby. I'm absolutely loving mine, and plan to get a second, so I can do what you mentioned there - having one with the .4 and the other with the .2 nozzle. If you'd have told me 15 years ago that such technology would exist now, and be so generally reliable, i'd have laughed in your face. We really have come so far.
Had an A1 mini with the AMS since Easter and it's been running 24/7 nonstop. Brilliant bit of kit. Only issue is humidity with the Filiment but that's kinda fixed with dryer box. Best thing I have purchased since my ninja air fryer (that changed cooking for me also). Honestly it's so easy to use and maintain and the 0 2 nozzle gives almost as good quality as resin, but with no toxic clean up and messing around. I can control it and monitor it from my phone and my family can also. I have backed the Kickstarter that makes multiple plate printing a possibility and I cannot wait to try it. Oh and with the AMS lite (a must buy) you can print in up to 4 colours at one time. And the Filiment is refillable meaning that 1kg of Filiment is £15 for PLA compared to £25-75 for half decent resin. And no need for IPA. Also, literally 1000s of models to print for free from your phone, but if you want to tweek them then the sllicer software just works seemlessly and links to your account. Best slicer out there, all 3d printing should be this easy. I'm just waiting for Bambu to do an A1 Fatty for large scale prints and I hope they do a resin printer at some point because, based on this it will be the most fun and easy to use. If you can use a desktop document printer then you can use this. My friends son is 4 (my god son) and has used the app to print toys for himself when they visit, it's brilliant to see him get so exited and amazed. Priceless.
I love my automated glue guns. I've a Neptune 4 plus for bigger terrain pieces and a Bambu A1 Mini for small pieces and minis. There both great. I came from an Ender 3 which finally broke after being used almost 24/7 for 2 years (breakdowns/ holidays/ not at home excluded). They've transformed my terrain, getting rid of my diy terrain which becomes unstable after years of use. The other positive is that I've made functional prints to store paints and minis, gate latches, kitchen tidys, door stops, cupboard shelf pins, can dispensers, aquarium filters, tea caddies, the list goes on and on. PLA, PETG, TPU/TPE and PETG-CF all been used successfully. Best hobby purchase I've ever made.
Being a nerdy engineer type, I have really enjoyed getting a broken Ender 3 Pro working again (a gift from a friend who could get it to work after their cats chewed some wiring) and then printing a ton of stuff, terrain, large models, all sorts. I plan to upgrade to a 0.2mm nozzle and give more detailed models a go. I am so happy to hear you are planning a side by side with Resin, I've had many "discussions" with resin fans about the utility of FDM. My argument basically comes down to that at my age, and with my limited painting skills, at arms length on the table, FDM is "Good enough", so I look forward to someone who actually can paint well showing the difference. You don't have to spend big money to get reasonable results, and if it takes twice as long to print, but still takes less time in days to print them it does to paint, your all good! Would I like to spend the money and get something new and shiny, sure, but I dont NEED to.... and thats the key for me!
Thank you, uncle Atom for reviewing this product! I've had my eye on bamboo labs for the past few months and have been a little apprehensive about FDM printing. I eagerly await your next video comparing the prints👍
I also got my first 3d printer this autumn and have enjoyed it a bunch. I actually posted a few times about my cyberpunk city project with the led street lamps etc. on r/printed Warhammer. The whole city has been printed with Bambulabs A1 and the only software used for altering STL files has been their Studio. It is surprisingly versatile once you get acquainted with it. Highly recommended!
I just went through the setup process last weekend when my brother came by with my christmas present early, set up the A1 mini and... OMG. Everything you said, I agree with 1000 times. It's completely revitalized some of my projects abandoned due to fiddlyness of previous FDM printers, and this thing is beyond convenient. I set it up in a closet and it's been spamming 40k and cyberpunk terrain pretty much ever since. I wake up to a print complete alert, pop it off the bed, and kick off another one from my desktop! I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the ease of use and consistency so far. After seeing your valkyrie video I picked up the 0.2mm nozzle and Fat Dragon profiles, holy moly. I had sworn off FDM and was printing resin exclusively, now I'm doing something I never imagined - slicing large building pieces into smaller ones to print in PLA and glue together, because the quality is THAT good and it's THAT easy. It may also be worth mentioning how incredibly easy Bambu Studio makes cutting STLs into smaller pieces and adding pegs to align them is.
I had some issues getting the initial bluetooth connection to get the P1S to my Wlan, but other than that, I totally agree. The setup by bluetooth connection an unnecessary workaround, if you ask me though...
@@tabletopminions I haven't tried the dove tail joints yet, but they look interesting! Still, cutting them up is not a difficult process at all. One RUclips tutorial and you'll be off and running, you pick a peg location on one part and it automatically puts the slot on the matching piece, really slick.
I love mine. Got it about the same time as Uncle Atom. I learned the basic of OnShape in a weekend and was designing and printing hex Battletech terrain that week. It’s awesome. Also, my unpainted terrain backlog has…grown. He’s not lying about how easy it is to print.
I'm now obtaining my 4th Bambu P1S printer. The amount of Terrain, army cases, token holders, paint racks, painting handles i've printed. My mini print farm has been great. Current project is printing all the terrain/board tiles for Blackstone fortress :D
Yeah I can totally speak to my experience with my A1 mini. The 0.2 mm nozzle was part of my initial order specifically because I planned on printing minis. The set up was extremely straight forward, and the printer just works. The software was pretty easy to get going and toy around with a bit to get some specifics done. Some pitfalls. I started printing in October and some particularly cold nights the printer would stop adhering filament to the layers as it was cooling too fast from the nozzle to the layer. My printer was in my basement which has one wall to the outside, so I just turned on my mini split to 70 degrees and I've had no issues with that since. I've sometimes run into build plate adhesion issues, which usually is solved by washing the plate under soap and water and/or making sure the nozzle is very clean. More specifically I ran into some issues where my printer kept turning itself off just as I was trying to print. Support was broadly helpful if a little slow to respond, all the replacement parts they offered were free to get and ship, although I was out of warranty (only about a month for full printer replacement) for a new printer if the parts didn't fix my issue. Eventually it turned out to be a power supply issue, there was a spot that was singed on the supply board that I couldn't really see unless I took the supply out and took the shroud off. Overall: support is helpful if a little slow. Printer is sometimes a little finicky but overall a workhorse. Everything is very easy to set up, customize, and it mostly just works. I'll either link a reddit post I made to some of my mini prints or make an imgur album link for those who are interested in seeing what some painted minis look like on the A1/A1 mini. The difference between the two mostly just being build plate size.
I have not touched any of my other filament printers since getting a Bambu. I honestly didn't think I could be happier.... And then they released the Supertac cold plate. It is by a HUGE margin the best build surface I have ever used on a printer for PLA. I haven't had a single case of small bits breaking off the plate or corners pulling up and wrapping since making the switch, it's absolutely amazing and I've fallen in love all over again
lol, i literally just got an A1 Mini from their black friday sale, and i'm having a blast with how simple it is compared to previous 3d printers i've used years ago.
I like the Sunlu S2 filament dryer, it really helps prevent moisture problems. I keep all my spools in a big tub which has a foam seal for the lid but when I am doing those 15 hour prints the dryer comes in handy because I can drop the spool in the dryer and print directly from there.
I tried 3D-printing for the first time in July when I taught at a summer school and started a miniature painting initiative as an evening activity for the students. I got all the minis and terrain from Thingiverse, and while I still found a meaningful difference in detail compared to regular plastic miniatures, it was still a huge hit and a lot of fun for all involved! The Bambu Lab X1 was easy to use, but I did have some misprints here and there.
I have an ender 3 for 7 years now. I never had a spaghetti print; some nozzle clogging yes, but everytime I had a misprint, it was essentially my fault. Yes, new printers have a lot of fancy tools to calibrate, things you had to do manually to get good prints. And yes the technology has made tremendous progress since I bought my ender 3, at a point where I'm asking myself if I should by a new printer. But! Even 7 years ago, my ender 3 was less than 200 $, so I'm not ready yet to say good bye to it :) I'm happy for you that you found a printer that fits you!
I've been using the A1 Mini for about six months now, and have been printing a mixture of minis. You aren't kidding when you say it's easy to make a huge backlog of painting 😅
When I was a teacher I had the og marker bot in my classroom and it's why I swore off filament printers. Now with my growing legion community in my town I think this is needed! Thanks for another great video
I use a P1S mostly because me and my wife are especially sensitive to the fumes. But also the closed AMS is a fantastic feature, since I can just leave my filament there and don't have to worry about moisture. It's a great printer and makes fantastic terrain, tabletop ready miniatures and a ton of war-gaming tools in multiple colors.
Oh and a big advantage of the AMS is it will seamlessly switch to another spool of the same colour when one runs out if you have two or more loaded, great for longer prints and also when you are getting towards the end of a spool.
As someone who has gone through a few ender 3s, and got a Bambu a1 and a1 mini, the quality bump between the ender and a1 are like night and day. My bambus were basically printing right out of the box and it prints really well even with the default settings.
I've been printing for about 4 years now, started with cosplay. There are dedicated filament dryer machines you can get as well that will dry a spool in around 8 hours- very handy when you need it, and you can get one for under $40.
I got an Ender 3 for Christmas last year and have never been about to get the quality prints I wanted. I bought an A1 about a month ago, and I love it. I have been using it none stop.
another thing with bamboo, is you can get any piece of the printer shipped to you within a week for repairs. Ive been printing a giant wall for horus heresy, and had my A1 Mini get incredibly clogged up. had to replace the hotend attachement. had the signle piece i needed on their website for 10 bucks. got in in a week and was back printing. Bambu is amazing.
I've been wanting to get into 3d printing for a bit now. I like the idea of not having to fight a device to get it tuned correctly so I can print my hobby. This video may be my sign to invest in a Bamboo. Thanks man!
Subscribing for two reasons: this was an amazing, helpful video and I want to learn more. And because you sound like the "How It's Made" narrator! Very soothing and knowledgeable.
The A1 is a great printer, would recommend to anyone who wants to dabble in 3d prinring and not wanting to deal with the mess that resin printing can cause
Like many in the early days, I was more frustrated than impressed with the bed slingers. So, I saved and got my first P1P and never looked back. Since then, I bought three more and have used them for way more than just hobby stuff.
I print on a Prusa Mk4s, which is basically Prusa's competitor to the Bamboo X1 Carbon. A lot of similar features and a similarly trouble-free experience using it. Machine selection is (I think) really key to getting in to 3D printing. Cheap machines are abundant, but they trade up-front cost for maintenance issues. I'm excited to see where the industry is headed though, as high quality is getting cheaper to achieve. This Christmas I've been printing up a storm and many of my gifts will be ones I printed out.
Regarding "Wet" filament, I've had plenty of luck leaving my filament on the printer between prints, but there's definitely a limit past which a spool needs to be resuscitated. I store all my inactive spools in their bags (they usually come in bags with desiccant packets) and that's been more than enough to keep things under control. I've left spools on my printer for weeks without a problem. Then again, I have a dehumidifier in my basement which keeps humidity at around 50%. YMMV if you're dealing with a more humid environment.
I picked one up a few months back to complement my GK2 resin printer. The printer is amazing imo and so much easier to use than my previous ender 6 ever was.
Got the P1S a couple of weeks ago and it has changed my life. Purchased primarily for terrain printing, but with the ease of use and huge catalogue of free to print home decor, tools, kids toys, I went out and ordered the AMS system with another 10kg of filaments of varying colours. Such great value for money.
Thank you for the introduction to that product and drying fillament advice! 😊 I think that solves a problem a already had bevor. 😅 Best wishes and merry Christmas! ❤
It’s funny you ran into the moisture problem. I actually bought the P1S series explicitly because the AMS for that model is an enclosed box and it would let me leave the filament in the printer without concern for the moisture.
Hi, I run a P1S. Dream machine. I start a print usually before work and check on it through the app every few hours, and makes coming home to a finished print so satisfying. My tip is to use lightning infill for pieces that don't need a lot of structural integrity, like model vehicles or large terrain. The walls are usually sufficient to keep them in one piece, and lightning infill cuts down on print times as a bonus. Might help with those small spaceships with the 0.2 nozzle.
The A1 and A1 mini are great printers. Get yourself a .2 nozzle and you can get great minis. Get yourself a resin slicer, slice a mini you think is too detailed for a FDM printer (the Bambu), slice, save, and upload it to the Bambu slicer. Print. Done. Mostly. Sometimes it doesn’t work but I’ve had a lot of success.
Congratulations on a great video. You havent come across as an expert here, instead you have come across as someone who is new, did some research, had a go and are sharing your experiences with the world. As a result this video feels so much more believeable. Thank you for this. I already have a printer but based on your video it looks like when Im in the market for another the Bambu A1 will be one of the first that I look at
I picked up an A1 on Black Friday. I've been beyond impressed with the ease of use. I too have been printing non stop. The phone app and slicer are great for finding files folks have uploaded. Thank you for sharing the info about the filament. Moisture wasn't something I'd been aware of as a potential issue. I'll be on the look out!
I had an Ender 3. It was great when it worked. The problem was I would get two or three good prints, and then I would have to spend hours / days recalibrating it and cleaning it.
Off topic: My Dad was the most practical parent and person. I never even asked for the USS Flagg, but he got it for my brother and me. We were by no means well off, but my dad wanted to get it. We had fun as a family putting it together and playing with it. I guess he wanted us to have some Christmas magic. We’ll never forget it.
I really like my P1S, got it before the A1 was available. Coming from an old Anet A8 where I spent more time calibrating, fiddling, solving problems with the printer and trying to get a good first layer then actual printing and going to the P1 is really nice. I do enjoy building terrain by hand but with limited time the 3d-printer is a prefect tool to get things to the table.
FDM printers are basically plug and play now. My newer anycubic. The kobra 2 Neo was add some screws and print. I’ve not even changed the nozzle in 9 months. My old anycubic mega s was replacing nozzles every month and leveling could be a pain.
I just got one a few days ago! Same experience, quick and easy to set up and great quality prints. I haven't even tried the .2mm nozzle yet, it's been so good with the stock one. It's been a pleasure to use and I highly recommend it.
I bought the A1 Mini last week for 199€. With a 0,2 nozel and filament it was a really good deal. Everything is plug and play and they have tutorials, calibration etc with QR codes even on the box already. Just perfect for a absolute beginner like me
Oh man, I can’t believe I found this by a fluke but was also there. Yes, that bot was seriously massive. I was shocked someone brought something like that just for a game! And I never knew (or would have guessed) that it was 3D printed.
I just bought myself an Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus for terrain and such and I'm setting it up, my first FDM printer. I'm already well versed with resin printing just upgraded my Elegoo Mars Pro to an Elegoo Saturn 3 with Elegoo wash and curer station. I can't wait as I'm getting into Herohammer / retro hammer (fantasy) given that I've got into Warhammer The Old World. Years of hobby and fun.
The desiccant packs don't really do much to dry your already wet filament, they're just good for sucking moisture out of the container so it doesn't get absorbed further. What you need to do is put your spool of filament into an oven (or buy a dedicated filament "dry box" that comes with a heater), set it at about 40-60 C for a few hours and your filament should be dry enough to print with by then. Probably better to buy something like a cheap toaster oven type thing you can keep in your printing room to avoid any potential cross pollination of plastics in your food as well.
I got a Bambu A1 a few months ago specifically to print miniatures. The 0.2mm nozzle works great for that. I realized that you can get a Bambu A1 for the price of a single Warhammer 40k army, or less, so it practically sold itself. I've been running it constantly since I got it. The most important tip I've found, however, is to scrub the build plate with soap and hot water between prints, and don't touch it. The oil from your skin just wrecks the build plate adhesion.
I was very close to pulling the trigger and buying an Anycubic Kobra 2 during the black friday sales a month or so ago as I had heard equally good things about it and for under $300 bucks it seemed like an insanely good way and time to get into 3d printing. I thought twice about the purchase, and didn't go through with it, but the technology is pretty solid these days, probably only a matter of time before I buy one.
Always recommend getting a cheap enclosure like a grow tent. Keeps temperatures nice and stable, avoids drafts, and can throw a dehumidifier in there to avoid the water problem. Bonus reduces dust getting into the parts.
Humidity can be a problem, I've been using Sunlu pla+ and had no issues, its been sitting on the printer for weeks and its been raining a lot and it still works fine.
The A1 is my 3rd Melty Noodle printer and it is pant wettingly good! you will not be dissapointed it really does work and takes a load of hassle out of so many things mentioned in this video, I have not checked on prints for a long time now with this printer it just does the job and does it really well!
Yesterday I started packing up my used and unused older printer stuff to post for sale locally, because they are too fiddly. Excited about the direction the new stuff is taking!
I have a Bambu Lab P1P, and I print both terrain and miniatures on it. They're not always flawless and don't really compare to resin, but for my purposes they work a treat!
Got one in the Black Friday sale and it's been going ever since. My print room is too cold for resin in the winter, but I can keep going with the A1 regardless of how cold it gets it seems. Humidity could be an issue, but I just unpack each spool and print with it until it's finished so it doesn't get a chance to absorb moisture. No messing with vacuum bags or filament dryers or any of that, just print until you've used it all up !
I love my A1! I have it plugged into a UPS. Even so, we had a power outage while I was printing. The battery in the UPS died and, of course, the printer just stopped. When the power came back on, the printer came back to life and recognized it ended abruptly. I touched the button on the screen, and the printer continued where it was with no evidence of a problem. One important thing to note: the Bambu Lab PLA filament is pretty good and well priced. The spools are reusable, so you can buy PLA for around $18/kg, but you can get refills for $14/kg, with lower prices during sales and buying in bulk. You can also print a new spindle, which I did in PLA and it works great.
I am new to printing. But I went for the p1p. I recently printed a large nurglentype demon with the 0.2 nozzle and it came out amazing. I am still getting used to the support and speed settings as I did have a few failures trying this print. Printing buildings and more simple things is a press print and forget I have not had a single failure with those. The bambu app is great and there are loads or free files to get going even dnd and warhammer things.
I have both resin and FDM and I can tell you FDMs have vastly improved. I'm currently running a creality harlot-lite and a K1 max. Both are fantastic for Terrain and figures. They are fantastic for gift for Christmas. Last year I made a dice tower in resin and I just finished a faux D&D book this year.
I went P1P, this was back when they were just announcing the A1 series. I too only do PLA, and the P1P is probably the biggest you'll ever need to go for that. It has lots of great features on it, and prints like a dream (as all Bambu printers do!) I agree with your assessment though that if you're just doing minis, the A1 series is perfectly fine for it. Great quality, great price!
@Tabletop Minions welcome to the fun! You want to be aware that PLA really doesn't tolerate heat well. Things like sitting in sunlight in the window or being stored in a hot car can make things droop and warp. PETG is a bit more heat resistant and can also be printed without the enclosure. Enjoy the printer!
Oh and btw, 0.2 and 0.15 nozzles prints wonderful minis. However, using those nozzles make the calibration of the printer really hard (at least on my ender 3) because the filament cools too fast. I had to completely disable the cooling fan to be able the layers to stick together. At some point it was too much hassle, and I choosed to invest in a resin printer :)
I grown being a poor kid, I had to work hard to get a decent life. 4 years ago I get my first 3d Printer!
Its was truly a tool that helps me to heal my inner child. Now I can print all the toys I ever wanted, Thats how I get to your channel, I am not into wargamming, but I learn a lot about painting and hobbie tools with you guys.
Have a great holidays my friends!
I'll chime in.... I got a Bambu A1 this summer and it is every bit as good, easy and reliable as described in the video. If you're on the fence, and you're not looking to make 3D printing a hobby unto itself, but would like to print some scenery, this is the one to get.
I bought a Bambulabs X1Carbon last year... I soon ran out of filament because it just effing works.
I have to ask, does it smell. I have kids. I want to print terrain.
@@AF-kj2zl Not really. If anything you'll catch a "sweet" smell every now and again but that is it with PLA. If you have kids, the hot parts and pinch points are more to worry about.
How is it for printing minis I wanna be able to print minis atleast semi decently even if it's not like best on the market or anything
@@AF-kj2zl I put it on the kitchen table for the first two weeks, and there was no smell. Then I put it the guest bedroom and closed the door, and there was a bit of smell. Leaving the door open went back to no smell. I guess the take-away is .... give it room to breath to avoid smell. Also, I was using the Bambu Labs PLA Matte Filament. No experience with other "flavors" of filament.
This is the first 3d printer I've been tempted to buy from watching your videos.
I've had mine for about two weeks now with non-stop printing. It does an awesome job. If you stick with the Bambu filament, they come with a RFID tag inside of them, and the printer will auto adjust its setting for the filament type. This way you dont even have to worry about adjusting the nozzle temps or bed plate temps. It really is a Plug and Play printer.
I print 28mm and 32mm minis with A1 mini printer. I use 0.2mm nozzle, with 0.08 layer height, tree organic support, Top Z distance 0.2, branch space 3 mm, diameter 1.5. The supports come off easily with minimal marks.
Thanks for the setting details! I'll give it a shot :)
I have an A1 sitting under the tree and I can't remember the last time being this excited for a gift. Any advice on removing trees cleanly? I'm afraid of marking up anything I do.
brilliant, i got an a1 mini last week but haven't unboxed it yet
NERD!
j/k I'm about to order one of these and I wrote all that down lol
The hard cut after the GI Joe bit was great 😂
1:26 as someone born in 1975 and a dad to a teenager I giggled way to hard on the "do you think.." bit way to much. Especially because of the sudden cut. I applaud you sir. XD
You and me both, friend. :)
You can HEAR the unresolved trauma, then again that's a trauma for that whole generation
The uss flagg, man, good times.
Same.
I spent more time fixing and setup my Creality than actually printing. After a while I gave up. I'm impressed with how printers have come along.
I had a similar situation with my ender 3, I had given up on it but i managed to resurrect it by doing some maintenance on it. There are parts which wear out or just need an upgrade. Its a lot more reliable now.
I was an early adopter of FDM printing and agree. Between the failed prints, glue sticks, glass for the bed and painter's tape, it was too much and felt like a second job.
Same. I had an Ender 3v2 and had problems every few prints. I took this for inevitable until I got myself a resin printer. My Elegoo Mars 4 works like a pro. Last summer I replaced my Ender for the P1S and haven't had real issues since. That thing is amazing.
Same, I had a delta printer a decade ago. It was a pain in the ass to build from soldering electrical parts to installing a million screws. Having to calibrate that machine each time was not worth it that I gifted it to a friend who was up for a challenge. Last year I got an Elegoo Neptune 4 and wow, what a difference! From putting the machine together in an hour and ease of use! Glad that I got back into 3d printing!
@@JasonRobards2is resin as messy and tedious as people say? It's something that I want to get into but I'm lazy and hate doing extra work.
I recently got the Bambu Lab A1 Mini, and it's an outstanding piece of equipment. The print quality is exceptional, and the machine is incredibly reliable. Their customer support is top-notch too-they guided me through fixing a clog with clear instructions and great patience.
This was very similar to my own experience with the A1, I completely agree with the review.
Extra tip: put the printer on the floor instead of a table, unless the table is very sturdy. The back-and-forth moving of the printbed will make the table shake, which can mess up your print.
Tip: Get a waterproof rubbermaid type container to hold multiple spools of filament and get bulk dessicant and toss a pouch of that in there with the spools.
Trick: If your spool of filament IS damp, grab one of those boxes a single filament role comes in and cut off biggest side (the lid?). You should now have a box cover you can place over the spool. Poke a bunch of holes in the other "Big" side. heat your bed up to 55, put the spool of "wet" filament on it, and place to modified box over it. Let it sit there for an hour. This is called "Baking" your filament and can help improve a "wet" roll.
Those are both great tips. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for watching!
Watching this video makes me feel way more comfortable after blindly buying this printer after watching your previous video. 😂
It seems exactly what I was looking for, something easy to use for printing terrain, I don't want to make 3D printing a hobby, just a faster way to get terrain.
The tip about humidity will be helpful, I am sure.
I have a new Elegoo Neptune4 and have been enjoying it very much (I have had several older printers and this one just works). The Bambu printers look really nice too. They are all getting more user friendly and higher quality (thanks to the pressure that Bambu put on the market).
Yeah, I'm running a Neptune 3 Pro, and it's pretty great. I also enjoy 3D modelling, so being able to draft up ideas and test them almost immediately is a dream...
Welcome to the new age bro ! I’ve been rocking an A1 for a few years and love it.
Best FDM printer. The .2 noozle is a must buy as it lets you print servicable miniatures. You gotta be careful with supports and figure out which mini are best to print on it, but so far it's been an amazing product
I bought an A1 earlier this year, probably around the same time as you did actually, and I absolutely love it. My .2 nozzle just arrived and I'm starting to print my Battlefront Valkyrie fleets this weekend, I can't wait. Best printer I've ever used, easiest to setup and calibrate and the app and maker world access are awesome as well, you cannot go wrong with this printer.
I started on a Creality, then moved to Prusa MK2, did a few upgrades, and then ran a fleet of 14 MK3S for my print farm. Been professionally printing for 8 years. I also have several different resin printers. I absolutely love my Bambu X1C with the AMS. It just always works, and the prints are always good. The AMS lets me run long print jobs without worrying about running out of filament. It also helps to keep the humidity away. Bambu just made FDM printing fun again for me.
I run a small print farm of Bambu P and X series of printers. I print mostly terrain for wargames and RPGs. I have had Creality, Anycubic and Elegoo printers before. I learned from the others that my hobby was NOT TINKERING with 3D printers. I can do it, but I like tools that just work, with regular upkeep. When we go to cons, people are very impressed that our painted terrain is not resin but FDM. I keep all my PLA filament stored in watertight storage bins with dessicants I get from the local pharmacy. They throw tons away so I asked if they would let me have them. I have buckets of them.
I used to use a Creality V2 Neo before I got into wargaming. Then I got an A1, the difference is night and day. No manual leveling, no z offset, no troubleshooting stringing, adhesion, warping, or artifacts, just pick a file and press print (and clean the bed every now and then). The quality makes it great for terrain and I also use it for electronics builds too. If you’re new to printing get an A1! (Also a dry box is useful to remove the moisture from filament, eSun make a good one) very funny that he calls PETG and ABS weird :)
Yeah, the Bambu printers really are amazing for poeple who don't want to make 3D printing their hobby, but want to use it to supplement another hobby. I'm absolutely loving mine, and plan to get a second, so I can do what you mentioned there - having one with the .4 and the other with the .2 nozzle.
If you'd have told me 15 years ago that such technology would exist now, and be so generally reliable, i'd have laughed in your face. We really have come so far.
Had an A1 mini with the AMS since Easter and it's been running 24/7 nonstop. Brilliant bit of kit. Only issue is humidity with the Filiment but that's kinda fixed with dryer box. Best thing I have purchased since my ninja air fryer (that changed cooking for me also). Honestly it's so easy to use and maintain and the 0 2 nozzle gives almost as good quality as resin, but with no toxic clean up and messing around. I can control it and monitor it from my phone and my family can also. I have backed the Kickstarter that makes multiple plate printing a possibility and I cannot wait to try it. Oh and with the AMS lite (a must buy) you can print in up to 4 colours at one time. And the Filiment is refillable meaning that 1kg of Filiment is £15 for PLA compared to £25-75 for half decent resin. And no need for IPA. Also, literally 1000s of models to print for free from your phone, but if you want to tweek them then the sllicer software just works seemlessly and links to your account. Best slicer out there, all 3d printing should be this easy. I'm just waiting for Bambu to do an A1 Fatty for large scale prints and I hope they do a resin printer at some point because, based on this it will be the most fun and easy to use. If you can use a desktop document printer then you can use this. My friends son is 4 (my god son) and has used the app to print toys for himself when they visit, it's brilliant to see him get so exited and amazed. Priceless.
I love my automated glue guns. I've a Neptune 4 plus for bigger terrain pieces and a Bambu A1 Mini for small pieces and minis. There both great. I came from an Ender 3 which finally broke after being used almost 24/7 for 2 years (breakdowns/ holidays/ not at home excluded). They've transformed my terrain, getting rid of my diy terrain which becomes unstable after years of use.
The other positive is that I've made functional prints to store paints and minis, gate latches, kitchen tidys, door stops, cupboard shelf pins, can dispensers, aquarium filters, tea caddies, the list goes on and on. PLA, PETG, TPU/TPE and PETG-CF all been used successfully.
Best hobby purchase I've ever made.
Being a nerdy engineer type, I have really enjoyed getting a broken Ender 3 Pro working again (a gift from a friend who could get it to work after their cats chewed some wiring) and then printing a ton of stuff, terrain, large models, all sorts.
I plan to upgrade to a 0.2mm nozzle and give more detailed models a go.
I am so happy to hear you are planning a side by side with Resin, I've had many "discussions" with resin fans about the utility of FDM.
My argument basically comes down to that at my age, and with my limited painting skills, at arms length on the table, FDM is "Good enough", so I look forward to someone who actually can paint well showing the difference.
You don't have to spend big money to get reasonable results, and if it takes twice as long to print, but still takes less time in days to print them it does to paint, your all good!
Would I like to spend the money and get something new and shiny, sure, but I dont NEED to.... and thats the key for me!
I was just thinking about buying a printer, but wasn't sure which one. This video solved that. Thanks uncle.
Thank you, uncle Atom for reviewing this product! I've had my eye on bamboo labs for the past few months and have been a little apprehensive about FDM printing. I eagerly await your next video comparing the prints👍
I also got my first 3d printer this autumn and have enjoyed it a bunch. I actually posted a few times about my cyberpunk city project with the led street lamps etc. on r/printed Warhammer. The whole city has been printed with Bambulabs A1 and the only software used for altering STL files has been their Studio. It is surprisingly versatile once you get acquainted with it. Highly recommended!
I just went through the setup process last weekend when my brother came by with my christmas present early, set up the A1 mini and... OMG. Everything you said, I agree with 1000 times. It's completely revitalized some of my projects abandoned due to fiddlyness of previous FDM printers, and this thing is beyond convenient. I set it up in a closet and it's been spamming 40k and cyberpunk terrain pretty much ever since. I wake up to a print complete alert, pop it off the bed, and kick off another one from my desktop! I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the ease of use and consistency so far. After seeing your valkyrie video I picked up the 0.2mm nozzle and Fat Dragon profiles, holy moly. I had sworn off FDM and was printing resin exclusively, now I'm doing something I never imagined - slicing large building pieces into smaller ones to print in PLA and glue together, because the quality is THAT good and it's THAT easy.
It may also be worth mentioning how incredibly easy Bambu Studio makes cutting STLs into smaller pieces and adding pegs to align them is.
I had some issues getting the initial bluetooth connection to get the P1S to my Wlan, but other than that, I totally agree. The setup by bluetooth connection an unnecessary workaround, if you ask me though...
I was wondering about the mini A1, thanks for the review.
I haven’t messed with splitting STLs yet, but it’s good to hear that it’s easy in the Studio app. I’ll do some research. Thanks for watching!
@@tabletopminions I haven't tried the dove tail joints yet, but they look interesting! Still, cutting them up is not a difficult process at all. One RUclips tutorial and you'll be off and running, you pick a peg location on one part and it automatically puts the slot on the matching piece, really slick.
I love mine. Got it about the same time as Uncle Atom. I learned the basic of OnShape in a weekend and was designing and printing hex Battletech terrain that week. It’s awesome. Also, my unpainted terrain backlog has…grown. He’s not lying about how easy it is to print.
I'm now obtaining my 4th Bambu P1S printer. The amount of Terrain, army cases, token holders, paint racks, painting handles i've printed. My mini print farm has been great.
Current project is printing all the terrain/board tiles for Blackstone fortress :D
Yeah I can totally speak to my experience with my A1 mini. The 0.2 mm nozzle was part of my initial order specifically because I planned on printing minis. The set up was extremely straight forward, and the printer just works. The software was pretty easy to get going and toy around with a bit to get some specifics done.
Some pitfalls. I started printing in October and some particularly cold nights the printer would stop adhering filament to the layers as it was cooling too fast from the nozzle to the layer. My printer was in my basement which has one wall to the outside, so I just turned on my mini split to 70 degrees and I've had no issues with that since. I've sometimes run into build plate adhesion issues, which usually is solved by washing the plate under soap and water and/or making sure the nozzle is very clean.
More specifically I ran into some issues where my printer kept turning itself off just as I was trying to print. Support was broadly helpful if a little slow to respond, all the replacement parts they offered were free to get and ship, although I was out of warranty (only about a month for full printer replacement) for a new printer if the parts didn't fix my issue. Eventually it turned out to be a power supply issue, there was a spot that was singed on the supply board that I couldn't really see unless I took the supply out and took the shroud off.
Overall: support is helpful if a little slow. Printer is sometimes a little finicky but overall a workhorse. Everything is very easy to set up, customize, and it mostly just works.
I'll either link a reddit post I made to some of my mini prints or make an imgur album link for those who are interested in seeing what some painted minis look like on the A1/A1 mini. The difference between the two mostly just being build plate size.
I have not touched any of my other filament printers since getting a Bambu. I honestly didn't think I could be happier.... And then they released the Supertac cold plate. It is by a HUGE margin the best build surface I have ever used on a printer for PLA. I haven't had a single case of small bits breaking off the plate or corners pulling up and wrapping since making the switch, it's absolutely amazing and I've fallen in love all over again
lol, i literally just got an A1 Mini from their black friday sale, and i'm having a blast with how simple it is compared to previous 3d printers i've used years ago.
I got a A1 a few months ago and love it. I have printed my 40K vehicles at a fraction of the cost.
Yeah did the same. Also ran off some free STLs space marines for my 7r olds (twins) and created a 'Poorhammer' army for them.
I like the Sunlu S2 filament dryer, it really helps prevent moisture problems. I keep all my spools in a big tub which has a foam seal for the lid but when I am doing those 15 hour prints the dryer comes in handy because I can drop the spool in the dryer and print directly from there.
I tried 3D-printing for the first time in July when I taught at a summer school and started a miniature painting initiative as an evening activity for the students. I got all the minis and terrain from Thingiverse, and while I still found a meaningful difference in detail compared to regular plastic miniatures, it was still a huge hit and a lot of fun for all involved! The Bambu Lab X1 was easy to use, but I did have some misprints here and there.
Just got an A1 mini on Black Friday weekend. Haven't set it up yet, but this video serves to amp up my anticipation of getting started 😁
I have an ender 3 for 7 years now. I never had a spaghetti print; some nozzle clogging yes, but everytime I had a misprint, it was essentially my fault. Yes, new printers have a lot of fancy tools to calibrate, things you had to do manually to get good prints. And yes the technology has made tremendous progress since I bought my ender 3, at a point where I'm asking myself if I should by a new printer. But! Even 7 years ago, my ender 3 was less than 200 $, so I'm not ready yet to say good bye to it :) I'm happy for you that you found a printer that fits you!
I've been using the A1 Mini for about six months now, and have been printing a mixture of minis. You aren't kidding when you say it's easy to make a huge backlog of painting 😅
When I was a teacher I had the og marker bot in my classroom and it's why I swore off filament printers. Now with my growing legion community in my town I think this is needed! Thanks for another great video
I use a P1S mostly because me and my wife are especially sensitive to the fumes. But also the closed AMS is a fantastic feature, since I can just leave my filament there and don't have to worry about moisture.
It's a great printer and makes fantastic terrain, tabletop ready miniatures and a ton of war-gaming tools in multiple colors.
I’ve recently got an A1 and it’s great, the quality with .2 nozzle is superb. The AMS lite for multi-colour prints is also worth a look.
Oh and a big advantage of the AMS is it will seamlessly switch to another spool of the same colour when one runs out if you have two or more loaded, great for longer prints and also when you are getting towards the end of a spool.
As someone who has gone through a few ender 3s, and got a Bambu a1 and a1 mini, the quality bump between the ender and a1 are like night and day. My bambus were basically printing right out of the box and it prints really well even with the default settings.
LOVE my A1. I have owned a handful of fdm and resin printers in the past and none have been as easy to use.
I've been printing for about 4 years now, started with cosplay. There are dedicated filament dryer machines you can get as well that will dry a spool in around 8 hours- very handy when you need it, and you can get one for under $40.
I got an Ender 3 for Christmas last year and have never been about to get the quality prints I wanted. I bought an A1 about a month ago, and I love it. I have been using it none stop.
another thing with bamboo, is you can get any piece of the printer shipped to you within a week for repairs. Ive been printing a giant wall for horus heresy, and had my A1 Mini get incredibly clogged up. had to replace the hotend attachement. had the signle piece i needed on their website for 10 bucks. got in in a week and was back printing. Bambu is amazing.
I love digitally painting the terrain and printing with the AMS. Terrainb can look really great with just 4 colors!
I've been wanting to get into 3d printing for a bit now. I like the idea of not having to fight a device to get it tuned correctly so I can print my hobby. This video may be my sign to invest in a Bamboo. Thanks man!
Absolutely! Good to see you, Jeff. I’ve been seeing your YT Shorts. Thanks for watching!
Subscribing for two reasons: this was an amazing, helpful video and I want to learn more. And because you sound like the "How It's Made" narrator! Very soothing and knowledgeable.
The A1 is a great printer, would recommend to anyone who wants to dabble in 3d prinring and not wanting to deal with the mess that resin printing can cause
Like many in the early days, I was more frustrated than impressed with the bed slingers. So, I saved and got my first P1P and never looked back. Since then, I bought three more and have used them for way more than just hobby stuff.
Thank you for the user review. These are always more important to me than someone that has been sent the printer for free.
I print on a Prusa Mk4s, which is basically Prusa's competitor to the Bamboo X1 Carbon. A lot of similar features and a similarly trouble-free experience using it. Machine selection is (I think) really key to getting in to 3D printing. Cheap machines are abundant, but they trade up-front cost for maintenance issues. I'm excited to see where the industry is headed though, as high quality is getting cheaper to achieve. This Christmas I've been printing up a storm and many of my gifts will be ones I printed out.
Regarding "Wet" filament, I've had plenty of luck leaving my filament on the printer between prints, but there's definitely a limit past which a spool needs to be resuscitated. I store all my inactive spools in their bags (they usually come in bags with desiccant packets) and that's been more than enough to keep things under control. I've left spools on my printer for weeks without a problem. Then again, I have a dehumidifier in my basement which keeps humidity at around 50%. YMMV if you're dealing with a more humid environment.
I picked one up a few months back to complement my GK2 resin printer. The printer is amazing imo and so much easier to use than my previous ender 6 ever was.
My two Bambu P1Ps run CONSTANTLY. I love them. Best hobby 3DPs in the business.
Got the P1S a couple of weeks ago and it has changed my life. Purchased primarily for terrain printing, but with the ease of use and huge catalogue of free to print home decor, tools, kids toys, I went out and ordered the AMS system with another 10kg of filaments of varying colours. Such great value for money.
Thank you for the introduction to that product and drying fillament advice! 😊
I think that solves a problem a already had bevor. 😅
Best wishes and merry Christmas! ❤
PETG works perfectly well on the Bambu A1. I use it regularly on mine.
The terrain model pieces came out smoothly from the Bambu Lab A1 printer. It prints miniatures fast, amazing hardware.
It’s funny you ran into the moisture problem. I actually bought the P1S series explicitly because the AMS for that model is an enclosed box and it would let me leave the filament in the printer without concern for the moisture.
Hi, I run a P1S. Dream machine. I start a print usually before work and check on it through the app every few hours, and makes coming home to a finished print so satisfying. My tip is to use lightning infill for pieces that don't need a lot of structural integrity, like model vehicles or large terrain. The walls are usually sufficient to keep them in one piece, and lightning infill cuts down on print times as a bonus. Might help with those small spaceships with the 0.2 nozzle.
The A1 and A1 mini are great printers. Get yourself a .2 nozzle and you can get great minis.
Get yourself a resin slicer, slice a mini you think is too detailed for a FDM printer (the Bambu), slice, save, and upload it to the Bambu slicer.
Print. Done.
Mostly.
Sometimes it doesn’t work but I’ve had a lot of success.
Congratulations on a great video. You havent come across as an expert here, instead you have come across as someone who is new, did some research, had a go and are sharing your experiences with the world. As a result this video feels so much more believeable. Thank you for this. I already have a printer but based on your video it looks like when Im in the market for another the Bambu A1 will be one of the first that I look at
I picked up an A1 on Black Friday. I've been beyond impressed with the ease of use. I too have been printing non stop. The phone app and slicer are great for finding files folks have uploaded. Thank you for sharing the info about the filament. Moisture wasn't something I'd been aware of as a potential issue. I'll be on the look out!
Glad to see the WHY I LIKE IT segment back 👍🏻
They are addictive. A1 is a great start. All of them are much easier to use than my Ender 3 was.
I had an Ender 3. It was great when it worked. The problem was I would get two or three good prints, and then I would have to spend hours / days recalibrating it and cleaning it.
I have an A1 mini and I've had great results printing ork bodies to use up my spare bits absolutely love it
Had a CR-10, now I use a Flashforge Adventurer 5m. Works great and fast.
Got one too this summer, really really like it!
Off topic: My Dad was the most practical parent and person. I never even asked for the USS Flagg, but he got it for my brother and me. We were by no means well off, but my dad wanted to get it. We had fun as a family putting it together and playing with it. I guess he wanted us to have some Christmas magic. We’ll never forget it.
I really like my P1S, got it before the A1 was available. Coming from an old Anet A8 where I spent more time calibrating, fiddling, solving problems with the printer and trying to get a good first layer then actual printing and going to the P1 is really nice. I do enjoy building terrain by hand but with limited time the 3d-printer is a prefect tool to get things to the table.
FDM printers are basically plug and play now. My newer anycubic. The kobra 2 Neo was add some screws and print. I’ve not even changed the nozzle in 9 months. My old anycubic mega s was replacing nozzles every month and leveling could be a pain.
I just got one a few days ago! Same experience, quick and easy to set up and great quality prints. I haven't even tried the .2mm nozzle yet, it's been so good with the stock one. It's been a pleasure to use and I highly recommend it.
I've been thinking about getting a 3D printer and I've heard nothing but good stuff about Bambu products. I respect your opinion a lot so I'm sold.
I bought the A1 Mini last week for 199€. With a 0,2 nozel and filament it was a really good deal. Everything is plug and play and they have tutorials, calibration etc with QR codes even on the box already. Just perfect for a absolute beginner like me
Oh man, I can’t believe I found this by a fluke but was also there. Yes, that bot was seriously massive. I was shocked someone brought something like that just for a game! And I never knew (or would have guessed) that it was 3D printed.
The new cool plates are a game changer. Bambu supertack or Biqu Cryogrip, or Sliceworx. They are all excellent
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Uncle Atom!
I just bought myself an Elegoo Neptune 4 Plus for terrain and such and I'm setting it up, my first FDM printer. I'm already well versed with resin printing just upgraded my Elegoo Mars Pro to an Elegoo Saturn 3 with Elegoo wash and curer station. I can't wait as I'm getting into Herohammer / retro hammer (fantasy) given that I've got into Warhammer The Old World.
Years of hobby and fun.
The desiccant packs don't really do much to dry your already wet filament, they're just good for sucking moisture out of the container so it doesn't get absorbed further. What you need to do is put your spool of filament into an oven (or buy a dedicated filament "dry box" that comes with a heater), set it at about 40-60 C for a few hours and your filament should be dry enough to print with by then. Probably better to buy something like a cheap toaster oven type thing you can keep in your printing room to avoid any potential cross pollination of plastics in your food as well.
YES... There is something magical about seeing a 2D concept become 3D object. Bambu Lab made leap into 3d-printing amazing.
I got a Bambu A1 a few months ago specifically to print miniatures. The 0.2mm nozzle works great for that. I realized that you can get a Bambu A1 for the price of a single Warhammer 40k army, or less, so it practically sold itself. I've been running it constantly since I got it. The most important tip I've found, however, is to scrub the build plate with soap and hot water between prints, and don't touch it. The oil from your skin just wrecks the build plate adhesion.
I just ordered an A1 last night for myself for Christmas. I really agonized over which one to order. So excited for it!
I was very close to pulling the trigger and buying an Anycubic Kobra 2 during the black friday sales a month or so ago as I had heard equally good things about it and for under $300 bucks it seemed like an insanely good way and time to get into 3d printing. I thought twice about the purchase, and didn't go through with it, but the technology is pretty solid these days, probably only a matter of time before I buy one.
Always recommend getting a cheap enclosure like a grow tent. Keeps temperatures nice and stable, avoids drafts, and can throw a dehumidifier in there to avoid the water problem. Bonus reduces dust getting into the parts.
Humidity can be a problem, I've been using Sunlu pla+ and had no issues, its been sitting on the printer for weeks and its been raining a lot and it still works fine.
The A1 is my 3rd Melty Noodle printer and it is pant wettingly good! you will not be dissapointed it really does work and takes a load of hassle out of so many things mentioned in this video, I have not checked on prints for a long time now with this printer it just does the job and does it really well!
Welcome to the A1 club. I’m still a creality fan boy but the A1 is rock solid
Got mine a week ago and was blown away on how good terrain etc looks on it, it been printing nonstop for a week now :)
Yesterday I started packing up my used and unused older printer stuff to post for sale locally, because they are too fiddly. Excited about the direction the new stuff is taking!
I have a Bambu Lab P1P, and I print both terrain and miniatures on it. They're not always flawless and don't really compare to resin, but for my purposes they work a treat!
Thanks for the review! I was looking for a Christmas present for myself and now one is on order!
Got one in the Black Friday sale and it's been going ever since. My print room is too cold for resin in the winter, but I can keep going with the A1 regardless of how cold it gets it seems. Humidity could be an issue, but I just unpack each spool and print with it until it's finished so it doesn't get a chance to absorb moisture. No messing with vacuum bags or filament dryers or any of that, just print until you've used it all up !
I love my A1! I have it plugged into a UPS. Even so, we had a power outage while I was printing. The battery in the UPS died and, of course, the printer just stopped. When the power came back on, the printer came back to life and recognized it ended abruptly. I touched the button on the screen, and the printer continued where it was with no evidence of a problem. One important thing to note: the Bambu Lab PLA filament is pretty good and well priced. The spools are reusable, so you can buy PLA for around $18/kg, but you can get refills for $14/kg, with lower prices during sales and buying in bulk. You can also print a new spindle, which I did in PLA and it works great.
I am new to printing. But I went for the p1p. I recently printed a large nurglentype demon with the 0.2 nozzle and it came out amazing. I am still getting used to the support and speed settings as I did have a few failures trying this print. Printing buildings and more simple things is a press print and forget I have not had a single failure with those. The bambu app is great and there are loads or free files to get going even dnd and warhammer things.
I have both resin and FDM and I can tell you FDMs have vastly improved. I'm currently running a creality harlot-lite and a K1 max. Both are fantastic for Terrain and figures. They are fantastic for gift for Christmas. Last year I made a dice tower in resin and I just finished a faux D&D book this year.
I went P1P, this was back when they were just announcing the A1 series. I too only do PLA, and the P1P is probably the biggest you'll ever need to go for that. It has lots of great features on it, and prints like a dream (as all Bambu printers do!)
I agree with your assessment though that if you're just doing minis, the A1 series is perfectly fine for it. Great quality, great price!
@Tabletop Minions welcome to the fun! You want to be aware that PLA really doesn't tolerate heat well. Things like sitting in sunlight in the window or being stored in a hot car can make things droop and warp. PETG is a bit more heat resistant and can also be printed without the enclosure.
Enjoy the printer!
I've never felt more vindicated than right now I got my Bambu lab A1 a few weeks ago. I'm loving it.
Thank you for this! I've been considering one of these specifically for mini printing.
Oh and btw, 0.2 and 0.15 nozzles prints wonderful minis. However, using those nozzles make the calibration of the printer really hard (at least on my ender 3) because the filament cools too fast. I had to completely disable the cooling fan to be able the layers to stick together. At some point it was too much hassle, and I choosed to invest in a resin printer :)
I've had my A1 for a week now. Plus I'm a noob to 3d printing. So far I'm very happy with my purchase ❤