I would love to have feedback about your printers

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21

My experience shadows 3dsurfr pretty close. I find the CF filaments to be aesthetically pleasing but the reduced layer adhesion suffers. In almost all cases normal non-CF filaments will produce minimally stronger prints with perhaps lower impact strength. Ironically I now reserve the CF filaments for figurines and stuff for the kids while I print all my functional parts in ASA.

I printed tons with an Ender 3 for 4yrs before I got the X1 Carbon + AMS and it was easily worth it to me. I don’t think the lidar is worth the price right now but they keep improving the software so maybe it will be useful in the future. I’d highly recommend something with an enclosure and ~300C nozzle temps so you won’t be limited in what filament you can print.

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22

I print now PA-CF and PAHT-CF on X1C with 0.04mm no problems , but it is a must to have Hardened still nozzle, every one recommends 0.06 but i have been using it on Prusa with 0.06 and is better for some prints and faster , but overall for my prints i prefer 0.04mm and pretty much reverted back to 0.04

I have Prusa mk3s+ done over 5000 hours and still use it almost every day in parallel to X1C well it has been updated with new extruder a few months ago . and there had been a big refresh over a year or two ago. So no such a thing that printers go out of date quickly, even our printer has all metal extruder and you can replace it if you want and a few upgrades
For X1C i do not think , that any major upgrade is needed apart from spare damaged parts any time soon , For P1S you need a hardened steel nozzle . But as it is closed system it will be more difficult to do updates with out Bambu

There are other options depending on the budget and requirements , if you do not intend to use AMS i would look at Prusa MK4, if you have a big budget i would look something like Utimaker S5/S7 Pro bundle. If you want AMS and CF and reasonable quality price X1C i would not go with P1S as a first Bambu printer , P1S with AMS for first only if really tighter budget

Note: that X1C and P1S are not faster for most materials than any other printer with high flow nozzle and good print speed . So the speed should not be a factor in your decision . My Prusa currently prints the same speed as the X1C for almost all materials apart from PLA , and that is not the Mk4 which is improved

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23

You are correct. PLA is Polylactic acid. CF are fibres constituted mainly by carbon.
However, I am almost sure that none of us print pure PLA.

All materials have advantages and weaknesses, and different methods can be employed to overcome the latter. One example of polymers is the use of additives and reinforcements.

All filaments entail additives (pigmentation, surface(mate, silk, gloss), viscosity, etc.), representing a residual part of the composition.

It is possible to achieve more significant improvements by combining two or more chemically distinguishable materials. The new material is a composite.
For example, the PLA-CF composite entails a PLA matrix reinforced with carbon fibres. Some advantages and disadvantages of using CF are increased strength and stiffness at the expense of abrasive behaviour and clog prone.
The process is not limited to CF… other reinforcements and fillers are wood, glass fibre, metal powders, etc… (note: it may also be classified as composite hybrids, but it is pointless for the user).

Besides the material type, you can achieve completely different properties and challenges by using distinct ratios of materials. A simple example, at an aesthetic level, is wood. A typical PLA with up to 20% wood prints as PLA and provides a good wood look. An authentic look, surface and smell of wood can be achieved with PLA filled with a wood content of 40%. However, your house will smell like a woodshop, and clogs are often a nightmare of hours.

Regarding the use of PLA-CF as the central filament.
BL PLA-CF is extremely impressive at an aesthetic level. BL has some beautiful colours, but still limited. The other advantages (stiffness, strength, etc.) are minor compared to the aesthetic. The only downside worth mentioning is the cost.
I am waiting for the PETG-CF, so I cannot comment.
I mentioned BL filament because I have no experience with PLA-CF from other brands.

I mostly print functional stuff and use CF and GF composites with engineering-grade filaments (PA, PET, PC), but not daily. Not that I wouldn’t like to, but it is only worth using if there is a need.
My daily filaments are ASA and PETG, with some intercalation with PC and TPU. And PLA for other uses.

I found and read (in diagonal) this one some time ago and found it simple but interesting, as it isn’t limited to polymers and filaments:
https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-materials-used-in-3d-printing

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24

Good point: for someone who wants to learn about and experiment with different filaments, not buying an AMS would be dumb. My prints alternate between a cheap filament to test size/fit/function (e.g. PETG), a normal filament for “real prints” (say ASA) and a CF filament when needed (e.g. ASA+CF). Leaves one slot for another color, etc. I almost never make two prints with the same filament in a row :laughing:

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25

But does working with materials with CF require more machine maintenance?

Thank you all

28

Yes. Printing with filaments filled with CF has higher O&M cost than non-filled ones.

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