Bambu 3D Printer Arrives - Nerd Alert

[Brian..]

Glad to see the Bambu Carbon X1 arrive, mainly because it was something of a gamble. A new printer by a completely new company. Not the best credentials but if you have been following 3D printing over the past few years you may be interested. It's a really innovative machine and I was hoping that it would be at least half as good as the hype. Most modern printers are just endless clones of the Prusa. Nothing new, just a reworking of the old reliable design. This printer has taken all the cutting edge features developed by hobbyists and put them in to a user friendly package. 

 

Well, it's better than anticipated. It prints like an absolute beast with everything shaking like a banshee. Parts seem to emerge as you watch unlike regular machines that don't seem to make any progress unless you go away for an hour.

 

Of course speed is useless without quality and I was keen to run a comparison. I print many Houdini Iron Terror Robots for the magician community and the body part shown here usually takes well over six hours. The result on my trusty Prusa machines is shown on the right. You can make out the horizontal pattern of lines characteristic of plastic (not resin) prints.

 

On the left is the same part printed in just two hours on the Bambu. Up close it is actually better than the Prusa print and it has layer lines that are less obvious. Instead there's a very interesting texture to the surface - hard to explain but a pleasant surprise that no one seems to have mentioned in reviews of the machine.  On the down side the plastic is extruded at a higher temperature and the result is a less glossy, more matt finish - but since I paint most models that's not an issue. I think a coat of paint may actually improve the surface finish.  There's also less "ghosting" or "ringing", a surface flaw caused by vibration. You see the difference on the left hand border of the parts. Dimensionally it's also more accurate - we're only talking fractions of a millimeter, but it's the difference between a snug and a loose fit. 

 

 

I was warned that it is a noisy beast capable of drowning out the sound of my wife complaining about another bloody machine. Actually it isn't at all noisy and I can still hear her clearly.

 

The machine has other advantages. I can print straight from my computer, monitor progress remotely on my phone, print a wide range of exotic plastics, abort the print if faults develop and can print multi colour parts with ease. My first Prusa took two days of building and configuring to print.

 It took another week to iron out problems. This printer was up and printing perfectly in ten minutes.

 

 

[Martian Gil]

1 minute ago, Brian.. said:

Actually it isn't at all noisy and I can still hear her clearly.

If that's a detriment, while printing, maybe toss a sock full of coins in the clothes dryer during the process 

Super results, Brian - you have to love the time savings alone    It's fantastic that the results are even better than you had planned.  

With the higher printing temps, do you have difficulties with the printing nozzle - post printing?

[6Stelab9]

5 minutes ago, Brian.. said:

I was warned that it is a noisy beast capable of drowning out the sound of my wife complaining about another bloody machine. Actually it isn't at all noisy and I can still hear her clearly.

A wife is a quite useful accessory to test 3D printer performance

[Brian..]

No issues at all with the nozzle, but it's early days yet. 

 

I think I may be able to print even faster using a bigger nozzle alongside new software. I've already done this on the Prusas and the results are encouraging. 

 

[Martian Gil]

5 minutes ago, Brian.. said:

I think I may be able to print even faster using a bigger nozzle alongside new software. I've already done this on the Prusas and the results are encouraging. 

I for one am looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve!
Cheers!

[Golddalek]

Is this a good intro 3D printer for us new users?

Been looking at 3D printers over 3 years now, still can't decide on one.  This looks like it comes assembled already?

That would be good for new users.

 

Video on youtube---Still Worth It? Two Month X1 Carbon 3d Printer Updates

Mod bot reviewed this machine and 2 months later he is still impressed with it.

[Brian..]

I discovered that I got one of the first two machines to reach the UK. 

 

At $1200 without the colour-change unit it's a relatively expensive printer and there are much cheaper ways to dip your toes into the hobby. You might, for example, look at one of the small Ender machines for a fifth of the price. They produce very good results and you're not selling the farm to get one.  

 

Is it easy to set up? Yes, it took barely 15 minutes to start my first print and finished it 30 minutes later. Is the quality good? Yes, better than my Prusas and well over twice as fast. Is it noisy? Not really, any it certainly doesn't bother me. Is it good value? Yes, Am I happy with this machine?  Yes, I think I'll sell off my three existing Prusas and buy another. 

 

One caveat though: the machine has not been out for long enough to be sure that it is reliable and that it can easily be repaired. All 3D printers need constant tinkering, they are not like regular printers. If this goes wrong once it's out of warranty I have to buy parts from the manufacturer. If an Ender goes wrong you simply buy cheap spares off Ebay. 

 

I've been revisiting previous projects with the Bambu. Here's a raw Diamond Planet fresh off the machine, redesigned to make it easier to assemble. It needs plenty of tidying up and painting. Those lines on the chest are the result of printing a surface at an angle. I think I can eliminate them by reslicing the chest panel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Brian..]

Here's a favourite, the Roboter 700. Again, I'm altering the build with easier assembly in mind. 

 

 

 

[Brian..]

Here's a tip. Print all the little components on a raft. It uses extra plastic but you can keep all the little buggers together until you need them, and you don't have to jump back and forward to the printer.

 

Here you can see leg struts, leg tops, neck pins, wheels, pawls, motor cams, arm spacers, ears and mouth. The parts simply break off with minimal effort. It's like a plastic kit.

 

[Martian Gil]

6 hours ago, Brian.. said:

Here you can see leg struts, leg tops, neck pins, wheels, pawls, motor cams, arm spacers, ears and mouth. The parts simply break off with minimal effort. It's like a plastic kit.

What a great sprue!

Brian, I have been holding off on completing a couple of Bandai Tet 28 re-issues in case I ever saw something like this.
perhaps some life for all of those "static" anniversary kit releases...

[6Stelab9]

11 hours ago, Golddalek said:

Is this a good intro 3D printer for us new users?

Been looking at 3D printers over 3 years now, still can't decide on one.  This looks like it comes assembled already?

That would be good for new users.

 

Video on youtube---Still Worth It? Two Month X1 Carbon 3d Printer Updates

Mod bot reviewed this machine and 2 months later he is still impressed with it.

The results and the performances look great. I'm still happy with my Ender as I am a very little 3D printer  user. So It takes time to print but i'm please with the results. I think it's a good way to start but obviously if you plan to build an industrial plant to produce robots like Brian does, you probably need more powerful and speed tools.

[robothut]

So glad the gamble paid off Brian. The speed and quality make it a fantastic new tool for you.