3D printing has become cheap, reliable, and seemingly user friendly - new A1 mini user

tres

tres

tres

Soldato
Joined
16 Oct 2007
Posts
7,482
Location
UK
I've been wanting to try 3D printing for years now, but was always put off with the horror stories of high failure rates, precise bed levelling and calibration etc.
I picked up a new Bambu Labs A1 mini for £120. I thought that was a price point I'd be happy to have a play over a weekend, and abandon if too difficult.
What an impressive little bit of kit. I have printed 70 things now, and not a single fail. The print quality is astoundingly good (for a noob with no experience and low expectations).
I now wish I went for the A1 with AMS!!
 
It's an easy and very addictive mistake to make, I kept my A1 about four weeks and then sold it to go up to a higher model.

As long as the print time isn't huge they don't go wrong often at all (bed lift/warping/creep all being annoying factors of a longer print).

I've had great success with a range of filament brands but I mostly buy Bambu stuff now, I'll pick up cheap white or black on Amazon though. :-)
 
I'm of the opinion that there's a point in time where having 3d printers at home will be a standard thing. No more going to the DIY store for something tiny and plastic (one I can think of is the hair trap in a sink drain). Just grab the stl and print your own....
 
I picked up my A1 combo few weeks ago and and it's been constantly printing. Definitely in the future there will be one in every home it's just so convenient and handy
 
Conan257 said:
I'm of the opinion that there's a point in time where having 3d printers at home will be a standard thing. No more going to the DIY store for something tiny and plastic (one I can think of is the hair trap in a sink drain). Just grab the stl and print your own....
Click to expand...
Exactly that - a clip on a blind broke in our lounge. A new one was £10 for a bit of plastic. I found one already made, printed it, used 7p of filament, perfect!
 
Samueltastic said:
I picked up my A1 combo few weeks ago and and it's been constantly printing. Definitely in the future there will be one in every home it's just so convenient and handy
Click to expand...
I wish I went for the AMS Lite now. I understand Bambu Labs have a sale starting in a couple of days. Tempted to get the A1 combo!
 
jaybee said:
Can you list the 70 things? EDIT: Or some of them.
Click to expand...
I started with some 'improvement' prints for the A1 mini - a waste basket so the poop doesn't fly everywhere, some clips to hold the tubes together, a handy storage unit that fits on top of the device to hold allen keys, grease etc.
I then printed the usual starter things - benchy, fidget toy, phone stand, wall mounted plant pot, cat hair tool
Then I moved to starting to sort out shed storage. I loved the Ikea Skadis board and attachments which we have in our utility room, so very happy to see I could print a copy. Of course I'm limited with the A1 mini bed size (185mm3) so I've printed 20x mini skadis boards which will be mounted together to make one big panel, and now have started to print storage bins for different screws etc etc.
My favourite things, I think, have been wall mountable mounts for my Ryobi tools. The print quality is astounding, they look great.
Here is the last couple of day's prints...

rzrMrp6.jpeg
 
Last edited:
tres said:
I wish I went for the AMS Lite now. I understand Bambu Labs have a sale starting in a couple of days. Tempted to get the A1 combo!
Click to expand...
Do it. It opens up a lot of extra possibilities regarding what you can print I believe they do do a black Friday sale but that's a way off obviously. Hope you find one on sale soon.
 
Conan257 said:
I'm of the opinion that there's a point in time where having 3d printers at home will be a standard thing. No more going to the DIY store for something tiny and plastic (one I can think of is the hair trap in a sink drain). Just grab the stl and print your own....
Click to expand...
I do not think it will happen anytime soon
 
I have a Neptune Pro 4 but really want a A1 with AMS...:rolleyes:

Guess I could sell my NP4 but seems hard to believe anyone would buy one used, although I suppose for the right price it would move. I hadn't looked recently but now I know there's a sale on, the thought is buzzing around in my head again!
 
Technically nothing but filament.
I picked up a couple of rolls when I bought mine to get the 15% or whatever it was discount, wanted to try PETG HF so I got one of those to test.
 
Last edited:
Bambu filament is expensive and in my (limited) experience it's no better than Jayo at half the price.

Did you buy your A1 mini privately? £120 is a hell of a deal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom