Bambu Lab X1 Carbon Combo 3d Printer....about to buy one

WobblyHand said:
Why? Seems like a blanket rejection, so I'm asking what is the issue? If legit, I'm ok with that. Everything can be improved, including commercial CAD packages, nothing is perfect. All tools have their pluses and minuses.

I use FreeCAD. It works ok. It's free, and not so hard to learn. You can also do FEM with it, I have. Also CFD. Ran CFD on a high speed rocket like projectile. There's a CAM module, but I don't have a way to take advantage of that now. The point is that the tool is capable.
View attachment 494638
Shock waves on the nose and edges of the fins. Partial vacuum at the tail. Atmospheric pressure is 100KPa. (100,000 Pa)

Less esoteric is a box I modeled and printed for my ELS controller that I designed. Designed the PCB using KiCAD. Both open source tools.
View attachment 494639
D-shape for connectors in the rear. Left side has pockets for magnets to retain the unit on the head stock of the lathe. PCB is held down by screws. Box (housing) designed in FreeCAD. With lid and everything transparent.
View attachment 494640
Shoehorning the real thing into the box.
View attachment 494641
Running on the lathe. Cut an 11 TPI thread, because I could. The ELS bits and brackets were all modeled using FreeCAD. Heck the ER-40 set true back plate was modeled on FreeCAD as well. Machined that from a raw slice of cast iron. Motor mount NEMA24 designed in FreeCAD.
View attachment 494642View attachment 494643
View attachment 494644View attachment 494645
I modeled part of the lathe to understand how to set up things, check out alignment and work out what I needed to machine.

To bring it back to 3D printers, here's a quicky snap together model I did to make a holder for an SSD, an RPI4, and a cooling fan to run OctoPi.
View attachment 494646
I've completed many other machining and 3d projects using FreeCAD. Dunno, FreeCAD seems capable enough, at least for me. It's done everything I've asked of it.
Click to expand...
I tried FreeCad after they released version 19 I think. Even though the UI was supposed to be much improved I found it to be cumbersome to say the least. Actually, if I am honest, it was just terrible. Then again, I am used to Solidworks.
If I remember correctly there was a major issue with how you set up the original coordinate system. I'm too lazy to go back and look at it again for arguments sake. I should point out that Fusion has a built in post processor, which used to be HSM. The post processor works very well (but not for 3D printing, where a dedicated slicer is magnitudes better).
A lot of people use FreeCad from what I gather, but I have never seen it used outside of a hobbyist role.
 
7milesup said:
I tried FreeCad after they released version 19 I think. Even though the UI was supposed to be much improved I found it to be cumbersome to say the least. Actually, if I am honest, it was just terrible. Then again, I am used to Solidworks.
If I remember correctly there was a major issue with how you set up the original coordinate system. I'm too lazy to go back and look at it again for arguments sake. I should point out that Fusion has a built in post processor, which used to be HSM. The post processor works very well (but not for 3D printing, where a dedicated slicer is magnitudes better).
A lot of people use FreeCad from what I gather, but I have never seen it used outside of a hobbyist role.
Click to expand...
I'm merely a hobbyist. For my use, it's a lot more capable than I am. If my livelihood depended on it, and I could write the expenses off, then my choice might be different. But as a chea pass retired person, it has my vote. Is it the most polished, I'd say no. But it gets the job done. It's darn good for what you pay! Actually, with a well crafted question on their forums you can get a heck of a lot of help, which was faster and better than what I experienced with professional software.

On the professional side, using a software package, I was challenged why did I needed to do something "that way". I responded, because that's the problem I need to solve. If it was easy, I'd be done by now. They promised a solution by the next SW release. That was in a year, about 11 months after I needed to be done. So not all professional SW is great, nor is their support. Our company paid serious money for those licenses, and that was the level of support we got. I eventually abandoned their software and went to open source for better support.
 
I bought an X1-C 4 or 5 weeks ago, I have a lot of exposure to 3D printing at work, but haven't owned one till now.

I'm super happy with it. No jams, no failed prints, no problems. It just works. And there's a bunch of little things that make life easy - RFID tag in the filament spool so the machine know what you're printing with, for one. It'll ship with a 2 or 3 partial spools, and you can buy "refills" (no included spool) for $3 or $4 less. You probably don't want 20 plastic spools at home.

I'm going all in on Gridfinity, trying to organize toolboxes. I'm having fun.

For people asking about CAD - I use Fusion (the CAD software formerly known as Fusion 360). I've struggled with it for years, but have limited access to digital fabrication tools. This week I found this YT tutorial, and think it's by far the best. https://www.youtube.com/@ProductDesignOnline "Fusion in 30 days" is a pretty good series. Unlike a lot of CAD tutorials, I think this guy understands teaching, and not just CAD.
 
The X1 is a very good machine. Quite accurate, and very reliable. The AMS can give some issues, but it's mostly just learning to deal with it. Every swapping system has some issues. Even that said, it's like 95%. I have run TPU without issue, but only a couple kinds. They also say it doesn't work in the AMS, which makes sense as it's pushing the filament through the tube to get it to the extruder. Running it from an external holder (a filament drier) it works great.

It also runs nylon and filled filaments like CF, GF, and other abrasives without issues.

For drying filament, particularly if you live in a humid area, the Sunlu S4 is a worthy purchase. Being able to dry 4 at a time is really nice for loading up the AMS. You can get a decent deal if you check the 3dprintingdeals reddit if you want to. They give out Amazon codes that can get it to you for under $100. The fan is a bit loud, but you can always stuff it in a side room or something, it's not crazy loud and is quieter than the X1 can be if it needs to run the fans much.

For the best prints, do dry it. I know it comes in vacuum sealed bags, but many of them use water cooling in the process. Most of the time, you can get away with skipping it, but being able to do it can make a big difference if it's really wet. I'm not aware of any filament maker the guarantees dry delivery. Some of them sure charge enough that they should. lol.
 
FWIW: Visionminer.com 3D Bed Adhesive is the absolute bomb! Zero fooling around removing prints. Lasts a very long time. Get a "No Clogger" that will push broken filament out of the tube "after" you get the tubes loose. There is a Thingverse set of tube tools for the X1 to say pop the tube out of the back where the release is behind a small panel. You will want to do this if filament breaks inside the AMS just to make it easier to work on off the top of the printer.

There is very limited editing that can be done in the Bambu app on a PC. For those of us challenged by CAD it's possible to remove and add small features. Example. I took a cross slide clamp, cut it down to just the bed profile then extended it. Printed out two for use as a chuck protector Still need to connect them with a board. Too many projects.:rolleyes:

Ron
 
Thanks for the tip on the "No Clogger" - never heard of that before.

I've tried a few magic bed goops, magic beds, and and they all work great - but so does Aqua Net (hairspray) which is cheaper and available locally. It's all I use anymore. And of course anything is better than the old standbys of glue stick and kapton or painters tape...

GsT
 
I got the textured plate with my X1C and don't need anything to release the part cleanly. Let it cool, pop it off. Every single time. I'm only priniting PLA at the moment, and I assume I'll need some bed assistance with some of the high temp plastics.

I wash it in hot water and dish soap (assuming to get rid of oil from my hands). I do my best to not touch the plate, other than the edges. I just ordered plastic razor blades for scraping. The test strings don't pop off as easily as a print.
 
Ops, one more. Getting the plate aligned can sometimes be a PIA. There are files for printing out guides that fit at the back. Not perfect, but well worth the effort to install IMHO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top