I really like my new A1, but aligning the magnetic build plate is more difficult than on my P1S which has nice thick corners at the rear of the bed. I know there are some user-made files on MakerWorld but it seems they have problems. I can’t imagine why BBL didn’t just use the same corners used on the P1. Does anyone know if those (P1 corners) are available and would they fit my A1? I don’t see them in the spare parts listings.
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i printed one of the corner guides and the hotend kept hitting it, just have to keep fiddling
I’m playing around with a removable guide, but I doubt anyone would bother to use it. It’s just not that big a deal to center it up by eyeball.
Those models have been popular. If you come up with something, share it.
I came up the other way around.
- A1 mini
- A1 (recalled)
- P1S (multiple)
The A1 mini was easy to align, it basically does it for you, the A1 was annoyingly difficult.
The P1S is somewhere in between, closer to the A1 mini for ease though.
Given the P and X series were around long before the A1 (full size) and use identical build-plates, you would think this major oversight wouldn’t exist, yet it does.
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That’s one thing my flashforge adventurer 5m Pro has over on my P1S. The flashforge has nice rear corner plate pockets, perfect alignment every time. The P1S can be fiddly in low light, and not so great aging eyes.
Or if you suffer from tremors, funny yes (for others to watch), helpful no!
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“… you would think this major oversight wouldn’t exist…”
I thought the same thing at first, but then it occurred to me that the BBL engineers might just be a little smarter than me. So there had to be a reason. I suspect the reason my P1 has the nice corners and my A1 doesn’t is… wait for it … the A1 is a bed slinger. As such, their may not be enough clearance on the bottom side of the bed to accommodate the corner guides.
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You realise BL designed both?
If a lack of clearance was the reason, they could have increased the clearance.
Bed-slingers have been around for a couple of decades and I had no such issues with any other non-BL bed-slinger.
Also, remember this?
A BL designed bed-slinger.
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Right on CRracer! I commented a while back that the tinted glass is cool but impedes visibility. If I could swap out my tinted doors for clear (even swap with BBL), I’d do it. Otherwise I have to raise the hood to see what I’m doing. I’m sure it’s not a problem for young eyes.
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Right on Malc! But… they are different machines. Maybe the heating elements for the mini allow room for the corners while the A1 doesn’t. I’m just guessing of course.
I had to stop and try to remember how I aligned the plates on my Ender 3s. I remember now: they were glass, no magnets to wrestle with, and I simply used my fingers to make sure they were even all around and clamped them down.
By the way, I liked your ice cream cone GIF. But it would’ve been easier to appreciate what was going on without the rubber gloves.
I haven’t really looked at the A1, I understand the ease of having it utilize the same plate as the other models (P/X).
The little notch out in the mini is nice(newest model of all the BL printers I believe)
The A1 was launched after the A1 mini.
Much to the annoyance of of many who didn’t know just a few weeks later a full-size bed-slinger was coming for a £100 cost difference.
Nope.
I am extremely disabled, my hands have severe tremors and my hands have visual issues. The black gloves are to avoid any negatives that comes from them being in the shots. Including potential abuse.
It is extremely hard to capture the videos that turn into animated gifs as I can’t stand without aids and trying to find frame with the least amount of tremors is difficult. It is also difficult to manipulate the models (magneto fidgets, passthroughs, and fidget gyros & spinners using the gloves, with tremors and trying to balance whimsy bending over the camera desperately trying not to fall over, which is common.
For those reasons I do not enjoy creating them.
I have just reviewed the animated GIFs and I can’t see how bare skin vs latex gloves would have provided any additional view or angles, the gloves “fit like a glove!”.
Can you help me understand why you think black tight-fitting gloves make it harder to view the model?
You’re right. It wouldn’t have made any difference in understanding how the model works. I guess it would be more correct to say that the gloves were sort of distracting, leaving the viewer to wonder if there was some kind of protection needed to fidget with it. But that’s just me. I’m weird.
I printed and used two guides (one left, one right) for the A1 for a while. IMHO more hassle with falling off constantly than a help.
For me, it now comes down to the right method, and I have no more problems. Set the plate down near the end of the bed at an angle of 30…45° (so the magnets do not tug on it yet), slide it towards the back until it hits BOTH noses, while using the hothead cleaning area as a guide for centering.
Now, and this is very important, only hold the plate with two fingers at the front applying very light pressure towards the back, and then let it just fall by removing your hand, no force whatsoever on anything. 95% of the time you get perfect alignment
Things to check: right edge of bed and plate are in line, and both noses on the back are still visible / feelable and snug to the plate (else you have a misaligned plate).
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I have the A1 and find if you tilt the plate so that the back point touches the 2 magnetic pins fully and equally, then lay the plate down slowly, this makes putting on the plate the easiest. It helps to firmly press against that back point as you are laying it down to make sure it does not shift.
This was posted this morning.