I’m about to pull the trigger on a Bambu Labs A1 with the AMS. Before I do can someone tell me where I should keep my expectations as far as back lighting? I’d like to be able to print backlit buttons, panels with backlit lettering etc.
#Pulling the trigger on A1 printer
thorny dragon
What's the price point difference between the A1 and the P1S? The P2S is coming soon so I've seen some decent discounts on the P1S as they try to reduce stock. P1S does a pretty good job with things so long as things don't get SUPER tiny.
All the buttons in these 2 images were printed using my P1S
Hmm, actually now I'm doubting the radio panel buttons, that picture might be the engraved acrylic one. I'll see if I can find a pic of the printed ones.
Hey @sterile aspen, didn't you get an A1 printer?
sterile aspen
I’ve got an a1!
thorny dragon
Here we go, this was printed on P1S using 3 color
sterile aspen
I don’t have ams though. Want it
thorny dragon
How's your print quality? I have to assume since they're both Bambu printers they have to be pretty close in capability
thorny dragon
They backlight pretty darn good too. @hazy zenith I don't think you'll go wrong with an A1 or a P1S. Both great.
hazy zenith
Thanks for the info. There’s Black Friday sales on. A1 combo for $469 Canadian
thorny dragon
Go for it! You'll be happy to have it. Best of luck in your endeavors.
vital patrol
Seems like a very tempting offer $399 for P1S
thorny dragon
The full enclosure is nice but I think for pla and petg not as necessary as if you're printing with abs or other materials prone to warping. Once you add the AMS to the $399CAD, i don't know how much more invested into that vs the A1 combo.
To be transparent, I don't own an A1. I can't say how different those two models are in capability if they're even different at all. I bought my P1S combo around Christmas last year and I have been quite happy with it.
wild ore
Thanks for the info. There’s Black Friday sales on. A1 combo for $469 Canadia...
I would say go for it! 😃 If you are new to 3D printing, the Bambu A1 is really good bang for your buck. Even if you don't have AMS, for backlighting, just do as other old schoolers do. Print your panel in white with raised texts, then paint it with maybe 3 coats of automotive primer, and 2-3 coats of whatever color you want, then sand down the raised text until you see the white letters again. You can then backlight it with LED strips or COB LED strips.
sterile aspen
Oh man. AMS on sale for 179!
junior garnet
Announciators printed with black and transparent with 0.2 nozzle. Only thing I have to change is to switch the plate for better quality.
hazy zenith
Announciators printed with black and transparent with 0.2 nozzle. Only thing I h...
That looks great, well within what I’d call “acceptable” 🙂 that’s the a1?
hazy zenith
What's the price point difference between the A1 and the P1S? The P2S is coming ...
The P1S combo Black Friday sale has it at $699 ..little trickier to sneak it by ma blonde lol
junior garnet
That looks great, well within what I’d call “acceptable” 🙂 that’s the a1?
Yes, A1. But have a P1S too, and have similar or sometimes better quality.
hazy zenith
At this point I’m just contemplating the foot print it will take in my office… I suspect I won’t be using it all too often until a project comes up. Are you guys storing them when not in use? Covers?
junior garnet
If you have a P1/P2 or similar closed machine, then dust inside is not too regular.
I have mine in my room and the A1 has some dust on it, but the P1S is completly clear inside.
thorny dragon
Same experience for me with the P1S. It is pretty well sealed so when not being used it doesn't really get dust inside. I always give the build plate a wipe with some isopropyl before a print.
hazy zenith
How's your print quality? I have to assume since they're both Bambu printers the...
Which material was that ? About to order that A1 and want to get some filament. I have ZERO 3D printing experience so any advice on what else I should get with the initial purchase let me know
thorny dragon
Most everyone here uses PLA. PETG is also acceptable but may be priced higher because it's a little more UV resistant
Bambu labs filament is excellent but it's "brand name" so higher price. I've had very good luck with Elegoo and Sunlu filaments off Amazon. Advised to stick with plastic spools when being used in the AMS. Cardboard spools can produce paper dust that can gunk things up
hazy zenith
Ok. And those 3 colours on the buttons white, translucent and black ?
wild ore
I’ve had very good experience with Jayo PLA filaments. It is a sub brand of Sunlu, so very good quality. It comes in 1.1 Kg spools, so you get an extra 100 grams per spool and the price is comparable or even cheaper than mainstream ones. I have also experience with Elegoo and Anycubic filaments and they are very good but a little bit more expensive.
thorny dragon
Ok. And those 3 colours on the buttons white, translucent and black ?
That is correct Sir.
junior garnet
PLA and PETG usually are in the same price at BambuLab and Sunlu.
PETG is better in both UV and heat resistance. And the newer materials have nearly 0 stringing if they are dry.
hazy zenith
Backlit buttons ok with PLA? Not sure how warm they’ll get
hazy zenith
Alright….its done. Bought the A1 combo with a bunch of accessories
sterile aspen
Wooo. The ams lite is very tempting on sale. But no monies with gov shutdown
hazy zenith
Printer came today. Quite the setup but it’s all done…. Just waiting for the filament to ship. Had a little heart attack when I first turned it on. Z axis homing kept failing and I thought I got a dud. Turns out it was that wire harness on the bottom just wasn’t seated properly. Oops.
junior garnet
Printer came today. Quite the setup but it’s all done…. Just waiting for the fi...
Bambu printers are easy to setup. Back in the days with Creality (and non Prusa) machines it was a pain. Hours of tweeking, levelling the bed, coreecting the bowden tube problems, setting up the profile in the slicer etc. For me it was about 1 year to make my CR-10 reliable but it was never perfect.
thorny dragon
Hardest thing for me is repeatedly getting errors when I swap out hotend assemblies. I hate those little connectors.
hazy zenith
That’s the nozzle ? (Excuse my ignorance)
I also picked up a .2 nozzle for eventual buttons
junior garnet
Hardest thing for me is repeatedly getting errors when I swap out hotend assembl...
Only problem on X1 and P1 series.
From the A1 series the nozzle swap is the easiest method for years. No need to mess with cables.
hazy zenith
This makes me happy. My first print (after the bench boat). Tested to see if it would actually fit 👍
hazy zenith
Noted thanks
thorny dragon
That’s the nozzle ? (Excuse my ignorance)
Yes, nozzle. I think the entire assembly which includes the fan, heat sink, and nozzle together is called the Hotend Assembly, so I was specifically referring to the whole thing.
hazy zenith
How's your print quality? I have to assume since they're both Bambu printers the...
Hey man. This button looks quite nice. Is it 12mm? And did you print it in 2 pieces ? The translucent first then snapped on the black piece ? Or was it with ams all in one go ? I’ve been reading about other projects making backlit and ChatGPT etc and what I’m hearing is the black is printed first with the letters cutout, then that piece fits on a trans print with raised letters ? Is that how it works ?
thorny dragon
No I printed all in one go using the AMS. I decided to give this a try after I read a post from another user on printing backlit panels. Very informative process. Let me see if I can find a link to it for you.
Also, I can send you the step file for that button if you'd like. I drew it in Autodesk Inventor and not in Fusion, otherwise I'd just send you the model files.
hazy zenith
thanks!
thorny dragon
I cannot for the life of me find that thread i mentioned. @viscid dune do you know where that is? It was a 3D printing thread that talked about thinking in terms of layer heights and printing backlit text with x layers of clear, 3 layers of black, and a layer of white? I found that exceedingly helpful.
viscid dune
I think it might have been @dim ice - I recall we discussed this a while back when their video was published
oh yes that one has a ton of info
thorny dragon
Yes! Exactly that one, thank you!
hazy zenith
Perfect thanks ! Just wish there was a button in discord to flash to the beginning of the post
viscid dune
heh yeah
viscid dune
Perfect thanks ! Just wish there was a button in discord to flash to the beginni...
[here you go](#1278230568341078027 message)
balmy thistle
Perfect thanks ! Just wish there was a button in discord to flash to the beginni...
You can get to original post with this arrow button
viscid dune
oh my god
how many times did I hit "Home" key repeatedly to go to the beginning
thanks
balmy thistle
LOL I didn't know HOME button 0will do the job
I believe they introduced arrow button first inmobile veraion and I wasn't aware of it in pc version until you talked about the first post
viscid dune
yeah, maybe it's only on the PC version of Discord
junior garnet
4 color printing. White for the parts with light, bambu's blue gray as the main color, sunlu's grey blue for the markings (corrected since so it is not letting light through) and 2 layer black to prevent any light going through the main color.
