Since Bambu introduced the new print queue, I’ve been thinking less about queuing itself and more about the overall printing workflow.
I’m currently building a small local print management dashboard for my own A1 Mini. The goal isn’t to replace Bambu Studio or Handy, but to simplify my own workflow by keeping everything in one place.
Right now it’s still an early development build and the UI is far from finished. At the moment I’m mainly focusing on functionality before spending time on polishing the interface.
This got me thinking…
How does your typical workflow look from the moment you find or create a model until the print is finished?
A few questions I’m really interested in:
Where do your print files usually come from? (MakerWorld, your own models, somewhere else?)
Do you normally print immediately after slicing, or do you prepare several jobs?
Do you mainly use Bambu Studio, Handy, or both?
What’s the most annoying part of your current workflow?
If you could improve one thing, what would it be?
I’m not trying to promote a product. I’m simply trying to understand how other people work before I continue developing my own local tool.
I print about 50/50 between my own stuff and stuff on MW, Printables, and some Patreon.
For my own stuff at least, I will usually make profiles then combine them into a “master” profile to print off of.
Studio and Handy go together well. In terms of sending prints, I almost never use Handy. But it is great for monitoring.
No annoyances.
Handy works well for what you are working on. And I find it to already be very simple and intuitive. In my opinion, I wouldn’t use an external tool unless I was running a large farm.
Keep in mind that most of the people who are active on the forum and post there are very CAD-focused, so the results might be biased. That said, here are my answers:
Most of them are my own models designed in Fusion 360. Except for miniatures - I buy those on Cults 3D, for example.
One plate: Slice and print immediately. Multiple plates: Slice them all, then print them later to get a feel for the time and filament required.
Exclusively Bambu Studio
When I receive a model from someone else that isn’t manifold and I have to fix it in Blender, Bambu Studio is extremely poor at this. Second drawback: Bambu lacks decent tools for measuring the object. Yes, there are some, but they’re no match for a virtual measuring ruler in CAD.
A smart manifold option in Bambu Studio (unrealistic). At the very least, there should be a numbered measuring grid on the virtual printing plate with customisable divisions. But this applies both to Bambu Studio - I don’t see any room for improvement in my workflow.
However, the real question is probably this: In what ways does your tool actually help to improve the workflow? For improvement to be necessary, there would have to be significant obstacles in the workflow.
The slicer probably offers the most room for improvement. CAD software could also offer more tools for 3D printing.
I’m a hobbyist and not commercial printer but maybe 10 or so jobs in a week if I’m working on a project. 1-3 if not. Those will generally be parts of a single model though.
MW, fusion (have designed a few small things), Cults
Immediately after slicing.
I started out using BS, but have moved to Orca after bypassing Bambu Cloud and setting up my own remote printing. Using Tailscale, Docker, and Bambuddy for monitoring.
Just making sure my home PC is on so I can print remotely.
I agree that Studio and Handy already cover the normal single-printer workflow very well, especially when prints are started directly after slicing.
My own use case is moving more toward unattended printing with prepared jobs and automatic plate changes, so it may naturally be closer to a small production setup than the typical hobby workflow.
When you say “large farm,” at roughly what point would you personally expect an external management tool to become useful — 3 printers, 5, 10, or mainly when someone is printing commercially?
I also think you’re right that the forum audience is probably more experienced than the average Bambu user, so that’s something I’ll definitely keep in mind when interpreting the responses.
You’re also asking exactly the question I’m trying to answer myself. At the moment I’m less interested in replacing Bambu Studio and more in understanding where the workflow starts to become cumbersome.
For example, preparing multiple jobs in advance, monitoring them remotely, or eventually managing unattended printing. If most people tell me their workflow is already smooth, that’s useful feedback too—it helps me understand who the tool is actually for.
It sounds like you’ve already built a pretty advanced local setup. The part about having to keep your home PC running for remote printing is exactly the kind of real-world workflow detail I was hoping to learn about.
Out of curiosity, if that dependency on your PC disappeared, would your current workflow feel complete, or do you think there are still things that could be simplified?
So even with around 10 print jobs in a busy week, they’re usually all part of the same project, which probably makes them easy to keep track of.
It sounds like the challenge isn’t the number of prints, but whether you’re managing multiple unrelated projects at the same time. Is that a fair assumption?
It sounds like the real challenge isn’t owning multiple printers, but managing repetitive production reliably and with as little manual work as possible.
I haven’t had the chance to try PrintFlow yet, but it’s definitely on my list now. Thanks for mentioning it! What do you like most about it?
Just to clarify, though. I think what he said was he needs to keep his PC on so he can remote desktop in order to similar to launch his jobs through Orca. If using Handy I don’t think the PC needs to be on to be able to launch prints on the printer using Handy but would need to be on to launch prints through Studio too.
Can’t speak for him but it sounded like that’s what he was saying - if that matters for your question.
Thanks for pointing me toward PrintFlow3D. I spent some time looking into it after your comment.
I actually think solutions like PrintFlow3D (and similar automatic plate-swapping systems) are a key part of where unattended printing is heading. If the printer can automatically continue with the next build plate, software suddenly becomes much more important because it has to manage what comes next.
That’s one of the ideas I’m exploring. I’m interested in the complete workflow around continuous production—not just starting prints, but managing jobs, monitoring progress and keeping everything running with as little manual intervention as possible.
I think you’re right—I probably interpreted his comment a bit too broadly. If he’s using remote desktop to access Orca, then the PC dependency comes from that setup rather than from the printer itself.
That’s still an interesting workflow for me, because I’m curious how many people rely on a dedicated PC versus a small always-on server for remote printing.
I don’t know that for certain. He’ll need to explain. But I am not aware of other ways to print remotely. Maybe there are? I think Handy is the only tool out there that lets people start prints like that in Bambu land but it’s always risky to say “only” or “can’t”.
Yeah, my home PC needs to be on because it’s currently hosting the Docker container for Bambuddy. I’m going to be buying a mini-PC or raspberry pi to move everything to.
When not at home, I use Orca to slice, save that gcode file, then import it into Bambuddy to send to the printer and monitor it.
So the PC dependency is mainly because Bambuddy is currently running there, not because Orca itself requires it.
Your workflow is interesting: slice remotely in Orca, save the G-code, import it into Bambuddy, then send and monitor the print. Moving Bambuddy to a mini PC or Raspberry Pi sounds like the logical next step.
Once you’ve moved it, do you think that setup will cover everything you need, or are there still parts of the workflow you’d like to automate further?
