Bambu Lab A1 3D Printer

I am looking to add a better, more reliable printer to my work area. I have been looking at Prusa MK4 but the price is up over 1K and that's without the full kit they offer. 1.099 price tag.




I was also looking at the Bambu A1 399.00 price tag.



My reasoning for the upgrade is RELIABILITY. I can get my Kobra 2 to preform most task that I feed into it with reasonable results, but the Kobra has a tendency to break down - often. Some folks say a bed slinger is a bed slinger, but there has to be better made printers than the Kobra 2, at a reasonable price. The Bambu at 399.00 looks like a real contender for my upgrade.

 

Curious, are you printing commercially as a business and print daily? In what ways is the Kobra breaking down? How many spools have you run through it?

Sumner

 

Sumner, my Kobra 2 has been nothing but a headache since first purchase. The PowerSource has blown twice, the extruder has had issues, the unit will clog if you are not set dead perfect. I have posted YouTube footage of some of the repairs I had to do. This all occurred in the first 6 moths of owning the printer. Many Youtubers are experiencing the same issues. I would never have known this if I didn't start posting my own videos.

I am not commercial printing, so the hours are not extreme. This machine has had less than 3 spools ran through her. She is unreliable, but when she is running, I can get some decent prints.


This was my latest issue / second time in 6 moths

 

I picked up this info while searching the Bambu A1 : Bambu Lab has its own custom slicer, which is a fork of PrusaSlicer. You’ll need to use Bambu Slicer or the open source OrcaSlicer with any Bambu printer because it can’t read plain gcode – it uses 3mf instead. The slicer is also the primary means of transferring files via Cloud service or local LAN to the printer. Of course, you can also place files right on the SD card and walk them to your printer.

 

I've seen good reviews of the new Ender 2 Pro, and it's not very expensive. The reviews suggest it's far more reliable than the various Ender 3 models. Another to consider is the SliceWorx versions of the Kingroon KP3S. The Kingroon printer is a good model, and SliceWorx being in the US means buyers in North America have good support. Their models aren't too pricey, either.

 

The 2 has a smaller build area and I'd really question if it is that much more reliable. Looks like about the same parts are used.

I've got 2 Ender 3 Pro's and I feel they have been reliable. Have more that 3 spools through them and very little problems. I did replace the main board in one for $40 or so but think that replacement came as an error on my part. I've printed hundreds of parts and feel they do a good job with detail for a filament printer for my N Scale prints.........lots more with links to the print files ( HERE )...






I helped a nephew that was having problems with one of the newer Ender 3 Neo with the 'auto-level' feature and wouldn't want that feature myself. I wouldn't use it if I had it. So easy to manually level the bed in a minute or two and then the bed really is level and the head and software aren't trying to compensate for one that isn't.

If I was commercial and had the printer or multiple printers running day in and day out I'd then explore other options.

Sumner

 

Yes, I use a few of your clamps Sumner. The round type truly are handy. Thanks for those files.

I will never be commercial printing. I use my printer for hobby purposes only. If I need an item it's nice to know I can most likely print it. I also print stuff for my grandchildren, they are always asking for dragons, dogs, and all kinds of things. Having said that, I am of the mindset that I should not have to fix my printer monthly, nor do I want to fix my printer monthly. I would much rather be making parts than breaking down the printer to fix a new problem. So, a more reliable printer is needed. Sad to say, but I will not go back to Anycubic for anything at this point. I am not upset about the quality of the print just the reliability of the printer.


The kinds of things I have been printing are things such as this for my oldest granddaughter.


or just stuff that is useful to me for the hobby.




and stuff that I can add to my layout such as this yard light

 

My kid futzed with an Ender 3 Pro for about a year (IIRC, wanted extra features, tried the Marlin firmware, I helped somewhat, a lot of work), then put it aside and bought a Bambu X1 Carbon. It just prints and prints... If I want FDM prints, I just send him the .stl files. I bought a reel of filament for him to use for my prints. He's keeping the Ender to try a laser head.

 

Wow, looked at a review of that printer. Very impressive but out of my price range by a lot for what I need to print. Again if I was printing everyday I'd probably take a look at it. I doubt any of the under $500-$600 are going to stack up against it for speed and probably reliability if you are printing that much.

Sumner

 

I am surprised Prusa didn't release a similar model to challenge Bambu. It looks like this printer may do everything better than any Prusa printer. I simply cannot justify the purchase of a 1500.00 printers to do what I am doing. I have looked at this printer several times now, I just do not see myself pulling the trigger on this. It will be interesting to see what competitors do in the near future,

 

Me too; grateful for a son who has no such compunction...

 

A1 IS ON RECALL!
It appears some of the units were shipped with faulty cables causing hot-bed issues.