Random 3D printing chatter

Cenedd said:
You've got a few options that probably will depend on where you want to end up (personal use, business use etc).
I personally use Fusion 360 as there is a free for hobby/personal use version if you jump through the right hoops in the right order and renew it each year AFTER it has expired - you can't do it before.
OnShape is another that's all web-based and seems to be quite popular too.
Solidworks is also well thought of but I don't think there's a free version so it's probably more applicable if you're going to be usiyit professionally and the field you're looking at prefer it.
There's also things like Tinker CAD but - and I may be doing it a disservice - I think it's more aimed at STLs and tweaking stuff than a full featured package.
Irritatingly, I'm not sure you'll find SketchUp a lot of help - it's the path I started down but doesn't seem to have kept up and other things are different enough that it doesn't help a lot.

As for where to learn, YouTube is probably your most accessible. There are paid for online courses too, depends on your learning style/pace.
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@Cenedd Exactly what I needed, I've got Fusion 360 installing as we speak and I'll start there much appreciated.

I've got no business use but a few projects I'm planning to do which currently don't have a solution and I'm probably not the only one thinking it.

Any recommendation on specific YT guides to take a look at?
 
Not specifically as a series for starting from scratch to be honest. I went at it rather piece-meal and just used it to model things I needed and hit YT when I got stuck. Slowly brought it together enough that I can make good use of it but wouldn't call myself a whizz.
Fusion 360 School have some good 'how do I do this specific thing' type videos but I don't think it's a start from zero series. Plenty of those but I've not watched them so can't comment on how good/bad they are.
 
I'll also put a recommendation behind Onshape, I used to use Fusion 360 but since most of my machines are linux, something web based or cross-platform was necessary and Onshape is good so long as you are happy with sharing documents by default (and therefore getting the service for free). I would also second the 'just give it a go' technique with whatever tool you pick; if you think of it as a series of sketches on a plane and then extruding out, doing most of the basic stuff isn't too difficult and then you can search for specific techniques / approaches when you hit a snag!
 
Cenedd said:
You may find that the noise isn't a Bambu thing. Any high speed printer is going to make noise when whatever moves, moves fast. Motor noise cancellation does help a bit but it mainly makes the character of the noise less irritating. Bursts of high-speed fan are also annoying - as I'm sure you know - and it's often not at a fixed speed, it will ramp up for a short section and then down again so it doesn't fade into the background so much. The hot cupboard probably isn't so much of a problem as you think as for some prints, a warm breeze-free environment help (mainly ASA and ABS). The humidity is fairly easy to deal with too - just get either a dry box or one of the cereal containers (see post 1467 above), screw in a pneumatic fitting, slide in a bit of bowden tube and you're good to go. A good dose of desicant in the bottom and external humidity isn't a problem.
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I went for the P1S in the end, think I’ll just have to deal with the noise or move it to the cupboard.
 
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Last week I printed an articulated shark for my daughter, unbeknown to me she took it to school.
She proudly came home and said she'd set up a shop.
I've just finished printing 9 various colours as she came home with orders from all her friends who have bought them at a £1 each from her, her plan is to reinvest it back into the shop to buy some more colours :D:cry:
 
King Damager said:
Well true, and I’m broadly ok with some maintenance. But everything does suggest they’re more plug and play, and I probably spend more time maintaining the Ender at the moment than I do printing…
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Put it this way. I've got an Ender 5 Pro and the upgrade parts for it (new controller, new hotend extruder combo) and I bought an X1C because the reason I wasn't getting on with doing the upgrade was clearly just because I knew I'd need to print parts to complete the upgrade once I'd taken apart the printer. Ender is still sitting there and I bought an A1 Mini as well. Turns out, I just want to get on with printing stuff and seeing how badly I've got the 3D design wrong :D
 
Cenedd said:
Put it this way. I've got an Ender 5 Pro and the upgrade parts for it (new controller, new hotend extruder combo) and I bought an X1C because the reason I wasn't getting on with doing the upgrade was clearly just because I knew I'd need to print parts to complete the upgrade once I'd taken apart the printer. Ender is still sitting there and I bought an A1 Mini as well. Turns out, I just want to get on with printing stuff and seeing how badly I've got the 3D design wrong :D
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How is the A1 mini? Much easier than the Ender? I’ve thought about the x1 if I was going to go Bambu, but the cost is unappealing … I’ve got upgrade parts on the 3v2, including auto levelling, but it’s still a pain and takes ages…
 
A1 Mini is good so far. Smaller print volume 180x180x180 vs 256x256x256 (minus exclusion area) but I've got the X1 for that. Mainly use it for prototyping stuff while I've got the X1 running longer jobs or multi-colour. That's why I didn't go for the AMS Lite - small and quiet was the aim....that and cheap :D The nozzle wiper is a definite improvement over the X1....in that it actually works. Dead easy assembly: remove from box, undo lock screws, tighten bed screws and that's about it
A1 (non-mini) could be a better fit for larger build volume - really depends what you want to print. Significantly quieter than X1 as well.
 
Cenedd said:
Yeah, I've had to grease the leadscrews at least twice, the workload is terrible! :p
I'll give you that a lot of it is luck, mind. I have had a couple of clogs that were a pain, although at least one of those was bad filament.
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Well I changed my brass nut that rides along the screw to POM.. No more grease. No more issues.
 
I've been contemplating a 3d printer for a while now, Mainly I want it to be able to print small brackets and things like that for the occasional repair, and I'd also like to print some gridfinity grids and organisers to try get some of my house a bit more organised and tidy. What are peoples thoughts on the Bambu Labs A1 Mini as a starter printer? I'm after something which will largely just work, rather than something that will require loads of tinkering with etc as I really want it as a tool rather than a hobby if that makes sense?
 
I like it; works nicely. Is it the best choice? Well, that depends (sorry!) on what you want to print. The Mini is...well, mini'er than the A1 so you get 180x180x180mm rather than 256x256x256. Is that a problem? Depends how big the brackets are that you want/need to print. The one thing I would say is when you order it, add the 0.4mm hardened steel nozzle to the order as you'll need it as soon as you want to print carbon-fibre reinforced filament (or anything abrasive) which you might want to do if we're talking brackets that hold any amount of weight. My filament shelf brackets (see previous posts) are PETG-CF and holding about 15kg quite happily.
 
I'm mainly thinking of things like tool holders to organise my workshop, maybe some gridfinity grid and pots etc to organised drawers, that kind of stuff, nothing that will need to take much in the way of weight.
 
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For the sake of £11, I'd add one anyway - at worst it's a spare. Your potential issue with Gridfinity is printing the actual grids. How big do you need them to be? You can get around it by dovetailing some chunks of grid together as long as either that's done for you in the design (I haven't looked for a while) or you can edit them yourself. Other than that, how long do you need the modules to be? Just looking at my 6" calipers and a module for those wouldn't fit on a Mini but would on an A1, P1 or X1. You can sometimes eke out a little extra length by rotating the part so it's diagonal but the width of the part dictates how well that works. I'm not trying to say a Mini is no good, just that it's something to check first.
The default bed on the Mini (and I would think the A1 as well) is textured. Have a think if that presents a problem for your prints (can't see it would but worth mentioning) and if so, order a smooth one.
 
I've had a look at it seems you can print a 4x4 grid, and I've seen a couple of files where people have stacked two grids to print at the same time, with a sort of clip so they can be separated after printing and then clip together. The majority of things I want to organise will either be smaller items or I would want to use a system called NeoGrid, which is compatible with gridfinity but is designed (by Katie from this forum) for organising larger items. Texture wouldn't be problem I don't think.
 
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