Looks like the a1 forum is getting 1 post per day now. I wonder if an xl printer would be getting more hype.
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Pre-orders don’t start till the 16th, no one has one yet to talk about the good or the bad. It will change very soon!
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Or it’s the calm before the storm…
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Just basing it on the fact that the xl idea gets more attention still. And isnt even being produced until gen 2
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We are here with people who have already bought an X1 / P1. So we are not the customer base for the A1, only as a secondary printer or so.
But even for us: We have not gotten it yet! So what should you write about it? Just speculate?
just like the xl. My only question was if an xl forum would be more active than this a1 forum. I like the a1, but I bet an xl would do better. especially if an xl makes 10x the profit. A large scale x1c would only cost a fraction more to produce in material costs but bring in another $300-$500. The buyer pays the shipping so that doesnt matter. An xl would profit more than an a1 combo costs.
The XL gets more attention because the people who are talking about it already own a Bambu and are looking for a newer product. I’m willing to bet the A series board is going to be flooded with posts eventually because there are going to be so many new Bambu users.
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I hope so. It will be interesting to see so many noobs with wet filament issues lol. Ill be ordering one for the kid. Already have an enclosure designed that hangs the ams lite upside down and above the printer. That and a qidi are on my shopping list. If they had made an xl bambu, that would on the list instead.
Lets all hope bambu has the service side of things figured out in the next couple weeks.
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While the actual material cost would be fractionally more, if Bambu’s current model line is any indication, the tool cost of the XL will be a big chunk of cash. They don’t seem to use off the self parts and their parts are well and intricately designed. It makes sense from a tooling perspective to add the xl at the second generation release as it allows for more cross over tooling.
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A current xl would just be an x1c with larger bed, enclosure, and rails. Super profitable since they already have the r&d paid for. I guarantee the $300 a1 took more tooling. The $150 ams lite probably cost more tondesign than a current xl would. If an x1c is $1,200, they could probably ask $2,000 for a 350x350. They dont use off the shelf parts but nearly all their printers are parts bin printers. Even the x1e (if its real) is just one more addition of a chamber heater + x1c parts bin parts.
The only thing that scales up easily is the rails as they can be cut longer. Everything else they have to start from scratch tooling wise. Take for instance the plastic part that supports the bed, the injection mold for that can’t be “stretched”. Neither can the base or any other plastic part that have to grow. The individual sheet metal parts of the skeleton can be lengthened but all of the jig tooling to assemble them has to be made from scratch.
Things would be easier if the XL was a X1C with solely a larger build height. Growing the printer in X and Y is an order of magnitude more difficult.
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The one site said the price would be $6k.
D
I am always shocked to see how little people understand this. They would have all the initial tooling costs. That will be a 6 digit sum. Here in Germany, we paid 5k€ just´for a very small injection molding form out of aluminum. And that part is less than 4cmx5cmx1cm.
Steel would have been 3x the costs.
And here we have all the laser welding, several injection molds, etc.
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But why buy all those tools if they werent worth it? Thats right, profit. You guys are funny. Sometimes i wonder if youre just bambu employees.
No where did I say it wasn’t worth it. I just don’t agree with your idea that it is cheap and easy to build a bigger X1C.
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Whoever says it is just a matter of scaling up the parts that exist and it won’t cost more to develop doesn’t understand manufacturing and regulatory compliance.
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Instead of flaming, explain. Exactly what makes it so difficult. And which regulations come into effect? Which parts that need scaling, are difficult to scale? And why?
Also, what makes a gen 2 xl easier or cheaper than a gen 1?
Do you think making an xl before all the prusa xl’s ship would be smart? While preorders can still be canceled. Or smart to wait until after?
After that, explain how they managed to build the a1/ams combo and sell it for $450 if you guys are right?
I work for one of the most profitable manufacturing companies in the world. My whole career has been around manufacturing and automation.
Arent you the guy that said the last release wasnt going to be a printer? The guy that only seems to pop in and reply to me.
I am not sure there are many good reasons to continue this discussion. I think you have a point, Bambu could have worked on XL instead of the A1. They chose not to. It’s their decision and their call. We are customers, we are not board members or investors where we can influence their choices to a meaningful degree. As for the reason, Dr Tao, the CEO explained, in my opinion eloquently, why they did not release an XL.
I am eagerly awaiting X2, with the expectation that it will be XL sized or has an XL option, and together with that, new techs that I did not even know I wanted. And that was what Dr. Tao promised.
First batch of pre-orders sold out within a few hours of being released on Sept.20. Second batch of pre-orders will open from on Oct.16 on the Bambu Lab website. ETA of first pre-order batch will arrive at the local Bambu Lab Warehouse before Oct. 16. Since shipping takes about 2-3 days from the warehouse, I am expecting mine to arrive either just before Oct. 16 or a few days after. Hoping we receive our A1 by the end of next week!
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We have tried it. I think you do not want to understand. But ok, I will try one last time.
For the Bambulab printers, you will have an immense upfront cost. You have several, large, injection mold parts. You have a laser welded frame. Those things will have a 6 digit upfront cost, if that will even be enough, but they have the huge advantage that they have low individual costs per part.
So it is a huge capital investment, if you just want to make the printer 10cm bigger in X and Y.
If the printer only offers the bigger build volume, it will not be that interesting for most people. You can bet, that demand for an X1C with 350x350x350 build volume will be only a small portion of the normal X1C’s demand.
So given lower demand and high upfront cost, the price for an X1C XL would be substantially higher and thus lowering the demand even further. Add the much higher freight costs - you will get fewer printers in a container, higher warehouse costs, higher courier cost - and you will again lower demand.
It is not like a Voron. Where you only have to cut some extrusions a bit longer, add a larger bed, and you are good to go. It would require completely new tooling!
Well, it is exactly because we are right. They expect to ship a ton of these. The market for a $450 printer is a lot larger than for a P1 or even X1. And as they are using all the methods, the cost per unit is low, after you have made back the initial investment.
Heck, the A1 is actually quite brilliant in its design. It is a custom Aluminium extrusion, some small injection molds, much fewer PCBs.
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