My thoughts on the Bambu Lab A1!

 

It happened! I now officially own my own Bambu Lab A1 3D printer!

I'm so glad I made the choice to get her. There's so many fun and cool things I want to say and I'll try and say as much as I can but there's just so much that I'm bound to forget something. 

Right out of the box were many good first impressions. Some assembly was required but I love assembling things so this was no issue. The assembly was a breeze and anyone could do the setup just fine.

As soon as I got her working, she impressed me with her first Benchy!

She works FAST!!!

Comparing my old printer's Benchy with my new printer's Benchy is absolutely astonishing. The difference in quality is visible! Both printers use the same filament, the same nozzle size, printing the same model.

After Benchy was successful, it was time for me to experiment with (as I call my A1 now:) Ayuna.

Naturally, getting a new printer means that I'm gonna go on a printing spree and frenzy and already test Ayuna to her limits.

First thing's first, I HAD to try a "Print-In-Place" model... and IT WORKED!! Because of course it did, this printer's awesome. I first printed this flexi-cat:

I also printed a little seal and I'm gonna be printing a bunch more little flexi-toys now that I have a printer that prints them right. 

Another thing I tried out was one of those Vortex Spiral thingies that click together. I found this cool lightbulb model and printed it, only for it to actually fail on me. Luckily I had a timelapse set up on it so I could see what went wrong... turns out that maybe I should've just used supports:

Even with a new and good printer, failure is a natural part of the 3D Printing process so this didn't diminish any hope. I still have a lot of faith in Ayuna.

There could be more than just the model toppling over because it didn't have supports. I attempted to print another spiral thingie. One that was more traditional that would actually work because the lightbulb was actually just a Put-Togther model that could only be assembled once. Oops.. At least the screw on it works just fine. 

Anyway, the other more traditional spiral thingie failed on me as well. But the print finished, the only problem was that it wasn't smooth enough for the two pieces to work together. That's because I set a timelapse to capture this print. Yes, I am saying that the timelapse did it. If you've ever seen a 3D Printing timelapse video, then you may have noticed how the printer head stays in one place. That's because when the printer is printing with a timelapse, the printer will move away from the model after a layer is done in order to take a picture of the model. Sometimes this can drag the filament away from the model, and wherever the printer head is going. This can create bumps and ridges. Another issue was that I printed the model too small since it was just a test print. I image it would work seamlessly if printed without a timelapse, and at a normal scale. 

But it's okay, I'll try it again another time. Here's a chair. 

The last model I'll show in this post is one I'm super happy about. Ayuna came with the components to build a clock. It gives you the clock workings and a QR code to download the files for the clock's face. 

The model was originally themed for MakerWorld. (A hub of STL files to download and print.) But of course me being me, I had to remix the model myself and make it more... well... "ME"

So here's an official M-T Creations clock:

The model also came with a little space to hold pens and other tools that the face attaches to. It's pretty neat and I'm super happy with it. It's a fully functional clock and I'm certainly going to use it in the back of my 3D print timelapses. 

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with my Bambu Lab A1. Or as I call her: Ayuna!

She does the job better than my DaVinci Jr. 1.0 did and I can't wait to expand my horizons and get more creative with my 3D Prints! I've opened a door and everything feels limited only to my imagination. 

Things are so much more convenient as well with the ability to setup and print remotely. Before I could only start a print through my PC. Now I can do it on my Macbook, and my phone! And if I download the Bambu Lab app on my tablet, I'm sure I can do it there too!

I love having the security that my prints will now have more reliable quality so I can print better, smoother, and functional models and elements. 

All the conveniences and cool things about Ayuna that I've listed in my previous post about wanting the printer all live up to the hype.

- The printer is not as quiet as I thought it would be but I'm already used to a loud printer so that isn't a problem.

- The magnetic print bed is SO much better than the previous 4 strips of masking tape that I would always use and replace every other print.

- The way I can watch the print process from my phone from anywhere is amazingly convenient

    - Although it doesn't work that well when it's doing a timelapse but that's okay because I won't use the          timelapse feature that much

- Ayuna can sing and I've figured out how to make her play some tunes! I'll make some videos about it sometime.

- And much more that I just cannot think at the top of my head right now, If I think of anything else, I'll edit this post

I'll make sure to keep everyone updated on my on-going journey with Ayuna as time goes on!

OUT WITH THE OLD

IN WITH THE BETTER

man I'm a lunatic lol I thanked DaVinci for his 5 long years of work for me and kinda got emotional about it.