Today was a sad day but a happy day at the same time. I just sold my Prusa MK3S+. I can't tell you what a workhorse that printer has been for me, and I've learned so much with it. It is going to a great new owner just getting into the hobby, and he is super excited about it.

Bottom line, however, is I'm now committed 100% to the Bambu. I truly hope it will live up to expectations, but up to this point I don't see any reason why it will not.

This is the dude's shop:

https://www.toymakr3d.com/product/65-atomic-dragon

Might be able to find the model elsewhere cheaper. Theres a bunch of shops out there that resell people's work at a fraction of the price, but you dont support the original designer. This figure is gonna end up being 14" tall.

But yeah, stuff like this really helps shine a good printer. If you do get it, I do recommend using the tree supports with at least the support filament. It helps keep some of those areas clean for fittings.

Support W stands for White. It's NOT water soluble.
They have a support G as well. Stands for green. It's for the other type of filaments. It is also NOT water soluble. Pic included is directly from Bambu's filament site.

I think if I was going for PVA I would get this one due its temp range being more in line with Bambu's 220 stock setting for PLA.
https://polymaker.com/product/polydissolve-s1/#
r/
Mike
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Gotcha. Missed that item description in their store and got mixed data in different places. Well the breakaway part as is is fantastic. Temp doesn't seem to be an issue at least with the Bambu brand. Software knows what kind of filament it is and adjusts accordingly it seems. Not having to print the whole support structure in that material also helps from having to make so many back and forth changes

Thanks for this! There are a bunch of free models on there as well, think I’ll start there and see how it goes.

I’ve been messing around with the tree supports, pretty neat looking all on their own.

I’ll have to try out the 2 layers of interface with the support filament that it sounds like you’ve had success with. I’ve shied away from using my support filament since it results in a billion material changes which then greatly increase the waste created and the print time.

I’ve used the support W and PLA as support and both work great though W is a bit cleaner if useng for functional or interfacing parts.

I’m really hoping that the next Bambu Lab machine is an IDEX or greater (3,4) to help speed up multi-color, multi-material models. Not that I print many multi-color models but decreased time and waste for common parts would be fantastic. Also the option to have one slot loaded with support material would be great. I’ll take a 350x350 print surface as well for the off times I need it.

Working on a Grand Lizard topper for a friend. Looks promising

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Yeah, thats whats great about the interface support option. You set the "Support base" to match the roll of what you're printing and it'll reduce all those swaps, along with not using the more expensive support filament. Like in this photo, you'll see just that little bit of white at the top of the supports. if it doesnt cleanly come off with the rest of the tree, its been coming off easily with a knife and flicking the edges of it.

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I think I've spent more time tweaking supports in Cura than anything else. Not because they don't work, more in regards to adjusting parameters for the best options (easiest to remove, negligible impact on print quality), depending on the print.

Kind of fun actually, lots of parameters to tinker with.

FYI - No supported needed for that model at all. I built one at 150% a couple months ago with my X1C

Good to know. Saw some of those joint overhangs and got over cautious. Will test out that one piece without supports and see how it fits. Thanks!

Need to make a mecha-zilla mod similar to this… add some lights, some moving hands…
Fun times

Got my bambu P1P. My ONLY complaint I have is that the manual is super small, had to use my phone/zoom to see it. Other than that, pretty straight forward. Install the very sturdy spool holder in back, move Z-axis up a little, remove packaging, install bowden tube, remove 3 screws, connect it to wifi so it can do a firmware update, heat up nozzle, feed filament in, start a job.

I have never seen a printer lay down such a clean and detailed first layer, this thing rivals the $120k Stratasys printer at my previous job. It is seriously game over for any printer above $700. The ease of use is unlike anything I've ever seen.
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That Dinosaur puzzle model is butter. Looks like it was injection molded when finished. So incredible clean. Really shows what it’s capable of.

Here's mine

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I am very happy with the p1p.
Going to print the enclosure for it

Now that my test print is done, printing the auxiliary fan and light mount (got the free gift pack which includes the fan, light, and camera). Love the wireless printing which includes stats. I know a lot of people have been using octoprint, but I've never gotten around to setting that up.

Oh man, if anyone isn’t using it I highly recommend if your printer doesn’t have a native wireless printing capability built in.

I’d hate to go back to physically plugging in a card to print things, it’s so convenient to just send straight from my slicer.

I had a friend give me an Octoprint as a gift for my Prusa MK3S+ about a year ago. Feeling obligated, I gave it an honest effort for about 3 months before I ripped it off my machine. For me, it made the 3D printing workflow more cumbersome overall, and just wasn't worth the added "benefits". BTW, with my Prusa I used a Toshiba Air SD card which allowed me to map a drive to in on my computer over WiFi, which eliminated all of the SD card back and forth. With that stated, the Bambu built in "octoprint" functionality is great. I like how they have integrated the functionality into the slicer as well as in an app (I do wish they would develop a iPad/tablet version of the app instead of just having to run the iPhone formatted version). Monitoring prints is incredibly simple, and the timelapse functionality is very clean and easily accessible.

Every time I look into moving my files via wireless, I just go back to doing it manually. I just wish there was a BT USB stick or something so I didn't have to look for my USB to USB-C adapter that I use for my Mac.

A few things I've learned regarding Bambu:

- Got tired of glue residue on models from cool plate since many of my models' top surface is the first layer, so I switched to High Temp plate. BTW, I was not putting glue on every time, but probably around every 10 prints or so as parts became harder to release from plate. Regardless, residue still remained which made the surface finish inconsistent and introduced some ghosting from previously printed models. The High Temp plate works perfectly with PLA and no glue stick required, thus a consistent finish with no ghosting is achieved. I've printed a variety of pieces thus far on the High Temp plate, and they have come out perfect every time with no lifting, and part release is quite easy as the plate cools.

- With High Temp plate the cabinet fan cranks up to 100%, and it is LOUD! I created a custom filament type "PLA - Low Fan" (see attached) where under the Advanced section I set the cabinet fan to 50% in the start G-code ("M106 P3 S130" - S255 is full blast). The cabinet temp stays plenty cool/consistent for PLA, and their is no noticeable increase in noise levels when running the fan at this speed (there is at 60% which is why I backed down to 50%). Now, I just pick this PLA type to the AMS slots when printing to the High Temp plate

- I have one spool of Prusament PLA that keeps getting stuck in the AMS (i.e. it will not retract - even when I pull on it as hard as I can). This particular spool is the first time I tried a Prusament refill spool, and it is a little wider than normal (pretty much the max the AMS can handle). After fighting with it a few times and cancelling prints, it turns out that by removing the filament guide tube from the black coupling at the back of the printer the filament is freed and when rerunning a unload routine on the AMS, the filament is retracted. Seems weird to me that the filament is getting caught there somehow, but after several frustrating efforts I finally figured out how to easily/quickly resolve the issue without having to cancel a multi-color print.

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Interesting. I have it set up on my Mk3 with a Pi, I slice on my Mac and send to my printer right from Prusa Slicer. It heats up and prints and that’s that.

No extra steps, no fuss. It makes everything faster and easier for me.

I've been printing at least 5 years using SD cards. I probably never switched to octoprint for 2 reasons:
1. I always wanted to make the first layer looked good (I do use PEI sheets)
2. Most of my parts are small, and have multiple colors so I'm typically running a batch, then switching colors

I suppose with Bambu, I'll likely no longer have to worry about bed adhesion or bed leveling. Not going to be doing multi-color prints, but if I buy the 4-spool accessory perhaps I can load 4 colors and then it's just a matter of choosing which spool to print from in the slicer.

Same. I don't think I can get by without octoprint now ,especially since my printer is on another floor and it's a pain to walk up and down over and over.

Also love the webcam option so I can catch a failed print before it goes too far.

You can even set up a telegram bot that lets you interact with the print from outside your local network if that's something that seems valuable.

I'm in the same room with my printer, it's easy to monitor it, and not hard to do the SD card shuffle, but Octoprint is just convenient and easy. Setup was simple, I printed a case for the RPi to attach to my Mk3 and flashed the image onto it.

Whatever works for you is cool with me, but I'm surprised anyone would find it cumbersome, because I love it.

Octoprint (resized).png

My routine was pretty simple:
- In slicer, generate gcode and save to folder structure for later use since I do a lot of repeat models.
- drag-and-drop whatever gcode files I was going to print from my PC via mapped drive (Z in my case) to WiFi SD card in my MK3.
- At printer, load desired filament, select proper print plate calibration (I used 3 different surfaces on a regular basis, so I had calibrations saved for PLA & PETG for all 3), then start print.

My printer sits about 4 feet behind me, and I what I found is that is was just easier/quicker to initiate the prints from the printer interface instead of having to prep the printer and then from my computer initiate the print via Octoprint. It was especially easier when I was doing several back to back short jobs that required filament changes.

I know that a lot of people swear by Octoprint, and I don't discount their experiences or workflows at all, but it just wasn't the best/most efficient option for me.

I don't understand this point. First layer quality (at least on MK3) is determined by your first layer calibration which is permanent once set unless you have hardware changes and/or use different plates (then all you have to do is calibrate for each scenario and switch at the printer).

I have to say that while I had my Prusa's first layer dialed in to perfection, I think the Bambu first layer actually looks better.

I print mostly multi-color prints, and up until now I always did so in color layers. I purchased the MMU kit for MK3 recently from a seller here in the forum, but once I took the time to read about it, I just didn't have the work area to set it up. With the Bambu individual layer multicolor prints (up to 4 colors) are a breeze, and I save all of the time before where the printer would pause and I would have to perform a manual filament change.

As a sub point, I'm seriously considering added a second AMS unit to have 8 colors online at a time. The only thing holding me back is Bambu is currently out of stock of the hub that is required when using multiple AMS units.

This certainly makes sense, but just wasn't my setup.

The Octoprint webcam was novel for a few days for me, but I soon got over it. With my MK3, I bet I had a failed print once in every couple of hundred times. Additionally, the time lapse on Octoprint was clunky and added significant print time to a model since it would reposition the head between every layer to take the photo. With the Bambu's integrated camera, there are no pauses between layers. However, you do have the print head in various position in the frame (see example below), and of course the camera angle is non-adjustable.

Bambu.gif

I'm on ender 5's. For the most part I rarely have to re-level the bed, but lately I've been fighting hotend clogs lately (part of the reason I wanted to try bambu). Two of them are on creality spider all metal hotends. Should have just gone with a micro-swiss but I've read about it having leakage issues. Seems like every printer (except prusa, at least in this price range) make printers that print just ok and pretty much force you to upgrade parts. Bambu is the first printer I've experienced where you take it out of the box, and are blown away by the performance.

I never print multi-color, I don't switch build plates or filament around, my needs are simple. I can understand if you're constantly changing things up at the printer why it would feel better to simply do all the controls from it too. I'd probably feel the same way in that case.

3D printing for me is mostly structural, practical. I don't use it for display purposes for the most part. So my needs are relatively simple. Heat up, print some PETG or PLA in black, move on.

That's part of what I enjoy about this hobby. I print and sell pinball related items, I design and print utilitarian items to fix things around the house and office, and I do artistic/display pieces on occassion. Just a great tool to exercise your engineering and artistic skills.

Same.. I do a bunch of designing and printing for Lermods, sparky and a few of my own mods.. but printers come in handy with projects around the house (and sometimes I make artsy stuff). I really want to get into 3d printing stained glass (3d print perimeter, then use colored epoxy to fill).

Modified a scrap bin to fit in my area and also modified a tool caddy to what I needed. Using the same plate holder I had made for my Prusa.

IMG_8605 (resized).JPG

My X1-C was delivered yesterday, got it up and running and testing some stuff in the afternoon. I'm coming from a Prusa Mk3S+ with Octoprint running on an onboard Octopi setup.

I had my Prusa dialed in really nice, so I'm not seeing really big differences in print quality between the Mk3S+ and the X1-C so far. That said, it's hard to compare as the Bambu prints SO much faster. So fast that at times I'm sure it's going to produce total shit and the print quality is there. There was some speed headroom on the Prusa, but the X1-C is magnitudes faster. I'm currently running a set of dessicant holders that slip into the Bambu AMS unit, running in Sport mode (124% of normal speed) and it's going to finish in a little over 5 hours. On standard speed, the X1-C would print this in just under 7 hours including supports. The same multi-part print, mocked up in Prusa Slicer at the same resolution is a 12.5 hour print.

I printed mostly PLA on my Prusa, and the prusa satin / smooth sheet was super easy to use. Wipe with alcohol and every once in a while, wash it with soap and water. The Bambu Cool Plate (equivalent) is a bit annoying as the recommendation is to use glue stick. I have been using Windex instead and parts have been adhering very well but arguably possibly a touch too well, although I don't have any corner lifting that I sometimes saw with my Prusa. I may try the glue stick thing, or just swap to the textured plate as it's supposed to be here today. I don't wanna deal with glue stick.

It's probably a comfort and familiarity thing since it's only been a day so far, but I really preferred Prusa Slicer. I'm getting the hang of Bambu studio pretty quickly, but it's a different workflow than what I'm used to so I'm sure I'll come around to it. With Octoprint running on a Pi piggybacked to my Prusa, it was super easy. Prusa Slicer window on the left, browser open on the right to the Octoprint page for my Prusa. Slice the file, drag-and-drop the G-Code to the Octoprint page, and load it to the Pi over wireless. Then I could go to the machine, clean the bed, make sure I have the right filament ready and then launch the print from OctoPod on my phone. I'm not seeing a way to be able to do this same kind of thing with Bambu Slicer? I don't need the in-between step I guess of making the G-code file and moving it to the printer, but it sure would be handy. Any of you more experienced Bambu guys know of a way to load your print file and then launch from the printer or from your phone when the machine is ready to rock?

Speaking of the phone app, I hope Bambu adds some additional notification options. I really liked the functionality of OctoPod and being able to set partial completion notifications, etc. My notifications for print completion have been pretty spotty so far, but I saw something this morning suggesting to go delete and reload the app, so hopefully that clears up. Better notifications and the ability to launch a print from your phone would be great options.

Other than app/slicer preferences, the one print quality thing I've seen so far is that the X1-C doesn't seem to be on part with the Mk3S+ when it comes to bridging. My Prusa was a champ at cleanly executing some amazingly long bridges. The X1-C bridges kinda suck by comparison, based on a couple prints and a bridging test. The 50mm bridging spiral I ran after noticing this is what I'd consider "fair" quality on the X1-C, printing at the standard speed. It's super clean on the Prusa. I have "thick bridges" enabled in Bambu Studio and may have to just experiment with the bridging speeds to see if I can dial it in a bit.

Super open to any tips and tricks, the X1-C is a keeper in spite of my notes above. I think if they add some notification functionality, add app support for launching prints, and I can sort some bridging tweaks for cleaner output, it's money well spent for the X1-C. For the moment, the speed and equivalent print quality is enough but looking forward to more improvements and options for the end user. My son is coming over this weekend to grab my Prusa and put it to work at his place, so he's stoked.

I love 3D printing for mod stuff, everything I'm currently doing uses it, but not as the main front-facing component. It's the armature for my Metallica hammer, and I print the feet for my Tron topper.

Both those are a marriage of 3D printing and laser cutting, which is my current sweet spot.

You can send direct to Octoprint from Prusa slicer, no need for the Octoprint page:

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I understand the hesitation to set up Octoprint, but once that’s out of the way I would never go back. One of the things I liked most about Cura was the ability to print directly. Once I ditched the horrendous Ender 3 and moved to the Prusa, I felt like it was a step backwards not to be able to print directly from the slicer.

Octoprint solved that, PLUS the print failure detection plugin, PLUS ironing, PLUS the webcam, PLUS all the other software upgrades, it’s only been a positive experience.

The only thing Octoprnt can’t address is the print speed, and that seems like where Bambu has things cornered. What’s the story with that I wonder? Are they just using super robust motors which can withstand all the torque and still keep a high level of precision?

That's exactly what I use it for and like it for this feature alone. 4 rolls loaded and kept with desiccant in a ready made dry box. My stuff is utility mostly anyway. j hooks for my hockey helmets, paper towel holders, brackets, pill boxes for my dog, washers, shims, etc...
I like the wifi thingy and the video on my phone. I can hang with my dog on the couch in another room and glance at the print on my phone. Mint! Slice and print!
r/
Mike

It's the nature of the Core-xy design versus cartesian

But one more thing that separates Bambu is the vibration compensation so it can accelerate even faster without sacrificing quality.

Interesting. Weight is certainly a huge factor. I’m interested in these other possibilities - the Delta and Polar designs too. All seem to have their pros and cons

Oh, NOW you tell me! In the end, I'm not sure it would save me time/steps as I also always have my file/folder window open as well and save off a copy of most gcode files I print so whether drag-and-drop or send directly to printer, I think it would be about the same for me personally. I end up using the Octoprint page to start the warmup before I head to the machine anyway so I've just always had it open.

This is why I'm now using the High Temp plate. Working perfectly with no glue - PLA & PETG stick great, and release nicely just after a few seconds of cool down.

BTW, I believe the glue stick is a release agent in this case, not used for adhering to the bed.

Speaking of Octoprint, I've been trying to figure out what to use my recovered Raspberry Pi for. Any creative/useful ideas from the group?

Yes, for sure as a release agent, didn't intend to suggest otherwise. It just grinds my gears for some reason, so I've been using Windex instead as I always have some handy anyway downstairs.

I repurposed a spare RPi to do Home Automation duty, running Homebridge. This gets all of my non Apple HomeKit friendly smarthome stuff online for HomeKit, so we can control stuff via Siri or Alexa. I prefer HomeKit so all of the automation portion resides there and we can voice-control lights, blinds, garage door, smartlock, music, etc. all using Alexa via our Sonos speaker stuff anywhere in the house.

Not sure how you are doing it or if this addresses your workflow, but here is what I do:
- Slice file in Bambu
- Top right change "Print Plate" to "Send All" then click "Send All" button to bring up dialog to transfer gcode file to SD card in printer via WiFi
- Now you can go to the printer, touch the folder icon on the screen (select SD card if not already), and you will see all of your files. Cool thing from here is that you can now designate which filament(s) to use in the AMS by clicking on screen even if the colors you sliced with are different than what you have in the AMS to print with.

As an alternate step, once you slice you can File > Export > g-code and save file locally for later reference.

BTW, I too am coming from using Prusu Slicer exclusively for the last few years (I started when it was Slic3r). After spending a week on the Bambu, I'm now extremely comfortable with it, and all of the same settings are there and more from what I can tell (some settings are in different locations).

For your bridging, try comparing the bride settings to that of Prusa and make corresponding adjustments. I've done prints with 80mm bridges and they come out equally to my Prusa quality. I also cloned the support settings I used in Prusa Slicer, and things seem to be working better on that front now.

Ahh, good call! Exactly the kind of tip I was hoping for on the ability to launch the print from the machine. I didn't even see the Send and Send All in that pulldown. Thanks!

Yeah, that's where I was on bridging too. Probably have to do a little math but will take a swing at the Prusa settings in Bambu Studio and see how that goes. Prusa just worked for me with bridging settings as-is so it could also be the filament I'm using as well. Will try the Bambu with the same filament I used back when I tested bridging and see if it has the same reduced performance.

I had been using support settings from "bobstro" on the Prusa forum in Prusa Slicer and they were excellent. Great quality and very little effort to remove. Will have to see if I can put his support numbers into a saved setting in Bambu as well.

You can track planes using ADS-B for FlightAware and/or FlightRadar24 using a Pi. Cheap $20 USB receiver, a short piece of wire (~6") for an antenna - and you're in business.
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What are you all using for filament storage? Seems like some Rubbermaid totes with jars of orange dessicant is the right answer, anybody have a tote part number or suggested size handy? Getting tired of jacking around with vacuum bags, etc. Bambu AMS makes it nice for the stuff you're currently using but I'd like to have a smarter, ideally stackable storage option for open rolls of filament. Seems like the stuff just piles up over time.

I have a tote similar to this (needs a seal)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-54-Quart-Clear-Gasket-Box-with-Blue-Latches-Gasket/39922428?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=2325&adid=2222222227739922428_117755028669_12420145346&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-294505072980&wl5=9033515&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=39922428&wl13=2325&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=Cj0KCQiAi8KfBhCuARIsADp-A57cug-decMKXRsOuUStiMktIY-BVBsDYp_EO9AjJZCYcWZMyFZA-_UaAqS8EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Then I use this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFCS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

It has colored desiccant inside that changes color when it gets moist. When it does, you plug it in the wall for 6 hours (has built in heater), removes all the moisture. You can use it over and over.

PLA is in a draw, not bagged.

Open PLA spools in a closed cabinet (not airtight), and I keep one of these in their with all the PLA, copy paper, and other supplies: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000H0XFCS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

Oops, just noticed toyotaboy posted the same device.

BTW, for the first year or two I was into 3D printing I stored everything in sealed bags religiously with an desiccant bag in each one. I stopped doing it a couple of years ago because of the hassle, and have not notice any change whatsoever. I still store my PETG and ABS in bags, however, for the simple fact that I use them so rarely spools will last me well over a year or multiple years.