Yeah mixed bag with stock. Still couldn't add anything at all to basket, in stock or not!
Additive-X didnt have any stock of the P1S when I ordered but received some the next day luckily.
Random 3D printing chatter
- Thread starter Cenedd
- Start date
Additive-X didnt have any stock of the P1S when I ordered but received some the next day luckily.
I've got to agree. I suspect (read "hope"!) that all the cloud hysteria will turn out to be just that....or at least be mitigatable using X1 Plus firmware (may not help you with a P1) or developer mode.
PETG you won't need an enclosure for...not that it hurts. You may need to open the glass lid for PLA though as annoyingly it can hurt that with a nozzle clog. Only had it with PLA-CF to be fair.
Thing with ABS is that it was the thing to aspire to being able to print when I couldn't. One of the things that influenced my choice of the X1C in fact. Now I can print it, I bought a spool...and it's still unopened. I did have a go with ASA but to be honest, that was only because a relative wanted the colour and that was the only spool. The main reason? I've just not found the reason to outdo the negatives of it. ASA is 'easier', doesn't warp as much etc....but was still a pain and (for this particular use) no better that PETG that would have been cheaper and easier.
I've got a spool of ABS-GF as Clough42 (YouTube) found it dimensionally stable and less warp'y....but I've not yet found cause to use my precious special spool - you'll either get that of think I'm nuts.... either is fine
Bambu's PETG-CF was good for strength and less of a pain than Eryone's (dribble and cardboard spool - not good for AMS). Still needed to be set slower for first top layer to make it stick rather than slide off the infill.
Bambu's PET-CF (no G for Glycol) was good for temperature tolerance....if you need that for a part.
Some of the PPS-CF sounds interesting but you'd need the requirement to justify the outlay.
PETG you won't need an enclosure for...not that it hurts. You may need to open the glass lid for PLA though as annoyingly it can hurt that with a nozzle clog. Only had it with PLA-CF to be fair.
Thing with ABS is that it was the thing to aspire to being able to print when I couldn't. One of the things that influenced my choice of the X1C in fact. Now I can print it, I bought a spool...and it's still unopened. I did have a go with ASA but to be honest, that was only because a relative wanted the colour and that was the only spool. The main reason? I've just not found the reason to outdo the negatives of it. ASA is 'easier', doesn't warp as much etc....but was still a pain and (for this particular use) no better that PETG that would have been cheaper and easier.
I've got a spool of ABS-GF as Clough42 (YouTube) found it dimensionally stable and less warp'y....but I've not yet found cause to use my precious special spool - you'll either get that of think I'm nuts.... either is fine
Bambu's PETG-CF was good for strength and less of a pain than Eryone's (dribble and cardboard spool - not good for AMS). Still needed to be set slower for first top layer to make it stick rather than slide off the infill.
Bambu's PET-CF (no G for Glycol) was good for temperature tolerance....if you need that for a part.
Some of the PPS-CF sounds interesting but you'd need the requirement to justify the outlay.
I got a small selection. Some PLA, PETG and ABS. Will mess about and see whats what!
Totally; never let someone tell you that you can't/shouldn't try something*.... there's a good chance they're wrong...or that the rules have changed since they were an authority on the subject. 
*Within reason, obviously
*Within reason, obviously
Last edited:
On the off-chance this helps someone avoid some sanity-loss!
I bought a Supertack plate for my A1 Mini as I wanted something smoother. Good for PETG and PLA - great as it's mostly PETG I print. Gave it a go....and it just slid right off and spaghetti'd on me. Cleaned it as suggested with soapy water and....spaghetti. Went back to the textured PEI and no problem.
Tried PLA today and....it printed but the corners curled up and it warped. Never had that happen with PLA!
Anyway, having discovered that Bambu had lowered the default plate temp (for my high-temp G10 plate) on my X1C by 20°C and that it caused insta-spaghetti, I raised the temp of the Supertack plate by 10°C for PLA and it's perfect. So I did the same for PETG and.....stuck so hard the first layer got left behind! Least I know I'm heading in the right direction! Will drop it by 5° and see what happens next time
I bought a Supertack plate for my A1 Mini as I wanted something smoother. Good for PETG and PLA - great as it's mostly PETG I print. Gave it a go....and it just slid right off and spaghetti'd on me. Cleaned it as suggested with soapy water and....spaghetti. Went back to the textured PEI and no problem.
Tried PLA today and....it printed but the corners curled up and it warped. Never had that happen with PLA!
Anyway, having discovered that Bambu had lowered the default plate temp (for my high-temp G10 plate) on my X1C by 20°C and that it caused insta-spaghetti, I raised the temp of the Supertack plate by 10°C for PLA and it's perfect. So I did the same for PETG and.....stuck so hard the first layer got left behind! Least I know I'm heading in the right direction! Will drop it by 5° and see what happens next time
What a difference a letter makes! Printed the main load-bearing parts for an AMS Flipper (what a genius solution!) and printed them out of PETG-CF for strength. Well, so I thought. I then found the canister containing PETG-CF near my storage shelf and had to work out what happened. I think I must have taken it down ready, got distracted and then taken it off the shelf again...only I got PET-CF instead. What's the difference? Well, one's £30/kg and the other's £80/kg. Oops. Ah well, it's strong...and it's not going to melt while it's being exposed to ambient air
Pleasantly surprised it extruded properly given that the PET-CF isn't AMS compatible and the nozzle temp was the lowest it was spec'd for.
Pleasantly surprised it extruded properly given that the PET-CF isn't AMS compatible and the nozzle temp was the lowest it was spec'd for.
Riser is next on my list. I've already got light but it's a square panel on top of the glass. Very effective....as long as you don't want to look in. Would also like the PTFE tube to not be dragging against the inside of the glass. Just need a spool of TPU to print all the softer parts first.
I built a wooden thing like a sort of table over the printer. Very nicely built (biased ) but took up too much space and was a bit of a pain if it had to be moved. Should be much better self-contained as it were.
I built a wooden thing like a sort of table over the printer. Very nicely built (biased
) but took up too much space and was a bit of a pain if it had to be moved. Should be much better self-contained as it were.
Last edited:
Finally got around to swapping out the 8bit board in my Ender 3 pro to Creality's 4.2.7. Also installed a CR Touch.
So much quieter now and the ABL is lovely
Printed a Satsana fan duct and upgraded me endoscopic camera from the 480p to 1080p.
So far, so good
So much quieter now and the ABL is lovely
Printed a Satsana fan duct and upgraded me endoscopic camera from the 480p to 1080p.
So far, so good
Nice. I had all the upgrade parts for an Ender 5 Pro....and then bought an X1C. Guess I was just impatient
Been printing some Tinmorry PETG-GF. That's Glass Fibre reinforced rather than Carbon Fibre. Prints beautifully at 280°C with an 80°C bed. Far easier than PETG-CF and has a nice slightly rippled surface like PETG-CF but glossier. A tiny bit sharp at a sharp edge but doesn't actually cut and easily sorted either by adding a chamfer or just running a knife/file/deburring tool across the edge.
Made some lovely modular bottle stackers that dovetail together with a really satisfying fit
Been printing some Tinmorry PETG-GF. That's Glass Fibre reinforced rather than Carbon Fibre. Prints beautifully at 280°C with an 80°C bed. Far easier than PETG-CF and has a nice slightly rippled surface like PETG-CF but glossier. A tiny bit sharp at a sharp edge but doesn't actually cut and easily sorted either by adding a chamfer or just running a knife/file/deburring tool across the edge.
Made some lovely modular bottle stackers that dovetail together with a really satisfying fit
Finally got around to swapping out the 8bit board in my Ender 3 pro to Creality's 4.2.7. Also installed a CR Touch.
So much quieter now and the ABL is lovely
Printed a Satsana fan duct and upgraded me endoscopic camera from the 480p to 1080p.
So far, so good
Look at the Minimus if yo don't get on with the Satsuna..
Will do, thanks.
Only made a couple of simple prints so far. Want to see if the new fan duct will help improve overhangs.
Good morning.
As I'm turning 40 imminently my mother is being super generous and insistent that I get something I want; so I have a bare-bones Bambu A1 on its way to me.
Are there any essentials I should pick up aside from some filament? I've seen the "Essential Consumables Kit". Is that something that can wait until you might need it or worth having in storage ready to go?
Also, it's annoying that some of their basic PLA colours don't come with the spool which bumps up the price vs your basic colours.
As I'm turning 40 imminently my mother is being super generous and insistent that I get something I want; so I have a bare-bones Bambu A1 on its way to me.
Are there any essentials I should pick up aside from some filament? I've seen the "Essential Consumables Kit". Is that something that can wait until you might need it or worth having in storage ready to go?
Also, it's annoying that some of their basic PLA colours don't come with the spool which bumps up the price vs your basic colours.
Last edited:
Tweezers are good for cleaning the nozzle of PETG residue but less vital for an A1 that has reasonable nozzle cleaning.
IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) is good for cleaning your print bed but so is Fairy liquid and the latter will get off some contaminants that IPA won't.
You can run other brand filaments quite happily. Sunlu PETG works well for me but I've also just got into Tin Morry's PETG-GF as it's excellent.
You might want different nozzles is the main thing. I find a 0.6mm nozzle is useless if you're after speed - it makes no difference - but can be useful if you have a troublesome filament that keeps clogging. A 0.2mm nozzle is great if you want to inlay small text or just want higher detail (at slower speed). Definitely you need a hardened 0.4mm nozzle in place of the standard stainless one - assuming, that is, you want to print anything abrasive: wood, anything carbon fibre, glass fibre, glitter, basically anything that has particles/fibres in it.
The default bed works very nicely. If you want something that leaves a flat bottom, you might want to order elsewhere or take recommendations here. I tried the Cool plate Supertack and found it hopeless. You can get PLA to stick if you knock it up 10°C from their recommendation but PETG is a hopeless mess and tends to just fall off. Personally I want to avoid having to use glue as it seems impossible to get a nice even layer so it doesn't leave imprints in the bottom surface....and it's a pain.
In my opinion, G10 (aka Garolite) is excellent as a bed since it sticks well and releases to pretty much everything without needing glue...and it's flat. I did get one from Lightyear3D and it was great but the next time I ordered nothing arrived and I got no response - had to get a chargeback done to recover the money. Worth trying if you can find one.
Hope that's of some help.
IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) is good for cleaning your print bed but so is Fairy liquid and the latter will get off some contaminants that IPA won't.
You can run other brand filaments quite happily. Sunlu PETG works well for me but I've also just got into Tin Morry's PETG-GF as it's excellent.
You might want different nozzles is the main thing. I find a 0.6mm nozzle is useless if you're after speed - it makes no difference - but can be useful if you have a troublesome filament that keeps clogging. A 0.2mm nozzle is great if you want to inlay small text or just want higher detail (at slower speed). Definitely you need a hardened 0.4mm nozzle in place of the standard stainless one - assuming, that is, you want to print anything abrasive: wood, anything carbon fibre, glass fibre, glitter, basically anything that has particles/fibres in it.
The default bed works very nicely. If you want something that leaves a flat bottom, you might want to order elsewhere or take recommendations here. I tried the Cool plate Supertack and found it hopeless. You can get PLA to stick if you knock it up 10°C from their recommendation but PETG is a hopeless mess and tends to just fall off. Personally I want to avoid having to use glue as it seems impossible to get a nice even layer so it doesn't leave imprints in the bottom surface....and it's a pain.
In my opinion, G10 (aka Garolite) is excellent as a bed since it sticks well and releases to pretty much everything without needing glue...and it's flat. I did get one from Lightyear3D and it was great but the next time I ordered nothing arrived and I got no response - had to get a chargeback done to recover the money. Worth trying if you can find one.
Hope that's of some help.
Last edited:
Thanks guys that's really useful info! I'll add the gloves, IPA and the nozzles to my list. I've already got some tweezers and also have some digital callipers on the way as I will doing a bit of designing and the eyeballs aren't that accurate
At the risk of sounding disparaging, if they're cheap digital calipers, there are two things you should be aware of:
1. Remove the battery when you're not using them....or have a stack of spares on hand. You will have to reset zero after replacing the battery but that's just a couple of seconds work.
2. Check for sanity when you measure and for important measurements return to zero and confirm it reads zero before re-measuring. Cheap import calipers can mis-track ( eg 5,6,7,24,13mm as you open). If you're lucky it's obviously wrong but it can look about right and be wrong enough to wreck a print. This problem gets worse as the battery depletes....see point 1
If you do get gloves, you can just use kitchen roll or blue roll (bulk buy from Costco). Don't doubt the gloves work better...but know I'd lose them or someone would find some other use for them.
1. Remove the battery when you're not using them....or have a stack of spares on hand. You will have to reset zero after replacing the battery but that's just a couple of seconds work.
2. Check for sanity when you measure and for important measurements return to zero and confirm it reads zero before re-measuring. Cheap import calipers can mis-track ( eg 5,6,7,24,13mm as you open). If you're lucky it's obviously wrong but it can look about right and be wrong enough to wreck a print. This problem gets worse as the battery depletes....see point 1
If you do get gloves, you can just use kitchen roll or blue roll (bulk buy from Costco). Don't doubt the gloves work better...but know I'd lose them or someone would find some other use for them.
Replying to my own post, I did purchase a BLTouch but never did get the Ender 3 back out.
I have now actually got it out and gave it a clean and checked it’s all square. Got some new PLA and going to attempt to print the BLTouch bracket.
I’ve watched a few BLTouch install videos and need the extension cables etc.
My main board is v1.1.3. Is there a go-to, decent guide on firmware updating? Is it still essential to use an Arduino with this older board?
If I don’t have a suitable Arduino am I better off putting my money toward a newer mainboard? If so which one and how much?
I'm no authority on it as I bought the upgrades like you...and then bought a Bambu Labs X1C and left the Ender to gather dust. One thing you might want to look at is I believe the factory controller is only 8-bit so I think you'll be limited on the smoothness of curves. I bought a Bigtree Tech controller board and the stepper drivers....but then, like I said, things went in a cupboard so I can't tell you how well it went from there. If you're going to end up buying a new extruder (Ender's was awful) and a new hotend and a new controller and new stepper drivers.....it might be worth comparing the cost to something like a Bambu A1.