Hello All,
I just got my X1C and it looks awesome, however I only got it because I need to make ABS and PA-CF parts for my business.
One thing is not clear for me are the settings and tricks. For example, in the past I used to make my own glue with plastic and acetone and print on Teflon tape but I hope those days are behind me and they are the reason I quit printing for almost two years.
Well, Bambu got me excited again but how hard it is to print with PA-CF on a X1C?
has anyone put together a guide to print with PA-CF on X1C? Can Bambu team put one together?
I see some people in this forum that they aren’t successful printing with PA-CF, if that’s the case I will return the X1C because I really need to be able to print ABS and PA-CF.
Please shed some light!
I appreciate it!
Gil
If you search the forums, there are all kinds of threads on the topic.
but in simple terms:
- dry the filament
- calibrate Pressure advance and Flow Rate
- print
anything beyond those basics will be a “fine tune” exercise…and the basic settings work quite well straight out of the box.
If it’s a spool of Bambu PA-CF, the instructions for printing with it successfully are basically: Install in printer. Print.
First filament I tried with my X1C, part of the sample rolls it came with.
The hardest part was figuring out what I wanted to print.
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The X1C can and will print PA-CF, but it’s going to more effort and be more finicky than something with an actively heated chamber like the X1E. I don’t personally print with PA-CF, as I don’t really have a use case for it. Plus it’s entirely too expensive to print with to be worth it for my requirements. I’ve been around long enough to know some tips and tricks, but hopefully someone with actual experience can weigh in.
Let me say that PA-CF will arguably be the hardest filament to print with, as it has the most stringent environmental requirements and is prone to warping during a print without proper care. There is no magic bullet solution to being successful with printing the material, as everyone’s printing environment is different and you need to be comfortable with tweaking settings to meet your situation if needed. Would highly suggest getting familiar with printing with ABS/ASA before moving on to the more expensive and harder to print PA-CF since it’s also prone to warping. Or you can just jump right in and give it a shot, as I’ve seen people be successful with it out of the box. I’m just not that adventurous. 
Tips and Tricks
- Probably the most important tip … DRY YOUR FILAMENT. Nylon/PA is very hygroscopic and will soak up the moisture in the air rather quickly if left out. Wet filament equals poor print quality, reliability, and strength. Once dried, keep it in a sealed container, ideally with desiccant to keep moisture low. Even if it’s brand new, take the time to dry it out; Bambu Labs even recommends drying before using for the first time. **Note: You don’t need a dedicated filament dryer, you can dry filament inside your printer chamber.
- Don’t print with Nylon while leaving the spool out in the open air. You will want to print with the filament directly from a dry box or from your AMS if you have one, as long as you are using desiccant. Ideally you would print directly from a filament dryer as that apparently provides the best results.
- You can print on all the Bambu plates, except for the Cool Plate which is really only for PLA. I don’t really know which is the best option between the high temp/smooth PEI, textured PEI, or the engineering plate. Regardless which plate you use, they all require some kind of glue for the material. You shouldn’t need anything fancy, the glue stick that came with your printer should work just fine if applied appropriately.
- Since the printer doesn’t have an actively heated chamber, you’ll want to heat soak your chamber by turning on your bed to your max usable temperature of 110 or 120 depending on your input voltage. Turn on your Auxiliary fan to help evenly distribute the heat in the chamber. Let it set for at least 30 minutes or until the temperature plateaus. This will give you the most stable temperature environment to print in and increase your print reliability.
- The ideal chamber temperature will be around 50-60c, which you may not be able to reach via just a heat soak. You should be able to print at lower chamber temperatures, but print reliability increases with the chamber temperature. Smaller parts won’t matter as much, but larger parts are more prone to warping and so you’ll want the higher temperatures if it becomes an issue. The forums are littered with all kinds of steps you can take to increase the chamber temperature, but generally they focus around blocking cold air from entering the chamber and/or insulating the outside of the printer.
- Bambu Labs Wiki has a lot of great tips on printing with various materials. For printing with engineering materials such as PA-CF, check out Printing Tips for Engineering materials like ABS, ASA, PC, PA, PA-CF, PAHT-CF, PET-CF, PPA-CF, PPS-CF, etc. | Bambu Lab Wiki.
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I would like to thank you all for your words of encouragement. My first PA-CF print was a success pretty much using the standard settings found in the Generic PA-CF that Studio has and using the Engineering plate with glue. I used my intuition to lower the speeds of everything I saw because speed is the enemy of quality.
But I will tell you that I made a sort USB flash drive with M.2 NVMe enclosure so it is small print and not tall at all I would say 12 mm tall at the most. The closer you are to the bed the better, I believe things get ugly and you go sky high!
Therefore it is a great start and I am encouraged to continue but one of you mentioned about the X1E and maybe that’s the one I need for big stuff. I wish I knew about the X1E before buying the X1C !
Wish me luck and I will continue to update you all!
Cheers,
I’ve still got mine sealed for a year, I still don’t know what I want to print with it 
Your printer came with PA-CF? Mine came with PLA-CF which is still in its sealed bag, as it’s not something I’m all that interested in.
First ever print with my X1C with PA-CF.
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I’m not trying to change your mind, but why PA-CF? What about it do you find so compelling?
if you read about the properties of ABS and Nylon, I am making some automotive parts.
ABS suitable for printing mechanically stressed parts
Nylon excellent thermal and mechanical resistance
