Just purchased the X1-Carbon Combo 3D Printer, software

Bambu Lab X1 Series General discussions
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Hi all,

Finally pulled the plug and bought my first 3D printer as the amount of times I have had to use the services of someone else or similar I should of done this years ago.

I also bought 1kg PETG-CF and some PLA-Matte as the stock on Tough or Basic was more existent. Also got the Bambu Multi-Temperature Plate Combo. Anything else I am missing?

Im based in the UK and there was only one PLA-Tough colour in stock. I have read its best to use Bambu Filament with the AME unit so where else can I source PLA-Tough for it?

Secondly, I see Bambu has their own software called Studio. I was just wondering if it’s best to purchase a Autocad Fusion 360 if im going to be using this alot more?

Cheers

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First of all, welcome to the BL community and congrats for the new printer.

The X1C Combo comes pretty much usable as it is, there aren’t any “required” upgrades and the most common ones you already included, the build plates.

I would suggest to also buy another full hotend assembly, possibly a 0,6 hardened nozzle one as it has some print speed advantages and is better for abrasive filaments that have a tendency to clog a 0,4 nozzle sometimes. But it really depends on what you plan to print or not to print.

The AMS works well with normal PLA, PETG and ABS of many brands, so you can choose from quite a few sources. For some brands you might have to rewind the spools to other spools for the AMS to work, but the filament itself usually works well.

There is also a community, unofficial list of filaments that work. You can find it >>> here <<<

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Fusion 360 is for designing parts to be printed. Bambu Studio is for generating print paths of designs so the printer knows how to print them. So you really only need a CAD program if you’re going to be designing your own parts from scratch to load into Bambu Studio.

That being said, if you want to learn Fusion 360, you can get a 3 year personal license for free. As long as you aren’t generating more than $1k per year with the designs you create, you don’t have to purchase a commercial license (which starts at $70/mo or $545/yr).

Fusion 360 Personal/Hobbyist

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Hi and welcome!

as @Thrawn said, you’re pretty good.

The only things I would add are:

Many people like (including me) the PEI Textured plate. There is also a well spoken of PEI plate from WhamBam3D.com that you might consider instead. Just search on here for it, you’ll find discussions.

I’m not sure your intended use, but if it will be for business you might want to pick up some common spares. A Hotend Fan, a heater (you get three) and a thermistor (same) come to mind. I did and got a .6 nozzle so I used one set of parts to make a full ‘plug ready’ hotend. Makes it easier to swap between .4 and .6 setups - three plugs and two screws and you’re done.

For filament, I’m in the US so not sure how the distribution is there but Polymaker is a personal favorite. They have a wide range of choices (PLA, PETG, Engineering stuff), colors, and deliver in a hard vacuum, thick bag.

I find the consistency is excellent, and they have excellent documentation and charts to help you choose.

Finally - software. Bambu Studio (BS , LOL) is excellent. Many people find they prefer OrcaSlicer, which is a variation on BS. I wrote a (long) post on the subject so rather than repeat, I’ll link, it’s here:
https://forum.bambulab.com/t/psa-up-your-game-studio-softfever-orcaslicer-arachne/

Now - the big one, Fusion 360. If you intend to make parts for sale and plan on serious income then you must buy it. $$$

But - most of us have it for free under their Hobbyist / Student license plan.
In the US I believe it’s a $1700 / year limited income (from a design you do in it) to remain in terms for the free version. I have no idea how they monitor that :wink:, it’s not an issue for me.

There are a few very high end features not available but unless you plan to build moon rockets (real ones) you’re good.
Cheers back at ya!

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There @Matt , showing off while I write my novel. LOL!

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I only knew cause I just got my own personal license a couple weeks ago.

I have an employee who I pay for a license for (ugh, $$$) but got tired of asking him to make minor changes on dumb things I print for myself around the shop. So I finally decided it’s time for me to bite the bullet and try and learn it. I got a ways to go, but I’m getting there.

There’s also some cheaper alternatives that work well. We were using Shapr3D for a while. It is pretty good and was easy to learn for an idiot like me (and only $300 a year was appealing).

But Fusion 360 is a lot better and has so many additional features and add ons, it’s worth it if you’re actually designing and manufacturing stuff.

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I hear ya. I’ve been muddling along for a few years on it, but since it’s infrequent, I find myself re-learning stuff.

I just got a full copy of SolidWorks under a free VA / Active Military /Student license and wanted to try it.

O. M. G. It was a foreign language! Seems it uses a “Bottom Up” approach and Fusion 360 uses a “Top Down” approach so it was gibberish. Plus of course the terms are different for the same operation …

One thing I really like about F360 is it has McMaster - Carr insert as a free service. It lets you insert anything in their huge catalog of piping, electrical, whatever. They have 3D and 2D drawings and parts, so you can just drop in a standard faucet or valve or Circuit Breaker, whatever. All nicely drawn or the actual part.

Hey @InspectorGrow - you still with us! LOL! Sorry for swiping your post.
We’re here if ya need us!!

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Cheers, so I might as well cancel the hot and cold combo plates? I will order a 0.6 hardened nozzle also.

I didnt know about the unofficial list. Im after Hardened PLA so will take a look. Does PLA + mean toughed version? Im just looking for a good brand that is compatible with AMS and is the equivalent of PLA Tough?

Cheers @Thrawn

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Still here boss!

Trying to work out whats best regarding designing…I do intend on making item to sell in the future. I will sick of ordering printed parts that were shipping outside the UK/EU so I intend to fill the gap for the parts in my local.

I dont fancy paying £500 a year for Autocad Fusion 360…but then again I dont want to buy something else and have to learn it at a later date if you get me,

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I like the high temp plate as well as the textured PEI plate, but there are aftermarket plates like WhamBam that work as well if not better, but I have not used them yet.

PLA+ means a slightly different mixture of PLA that usually is a bit less hard and brittle as normal PLA, but somewhat tougher. It does not count as an abrasive filament yet, but all filaments are at least a bit abrasive, depending on the color. Filament with carbon, glass fibres, sparkle or glow in dark in them usually will wear down a non hardened nozzle rather quickly.

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Start with the free personal use edition and keep it until you hit the 1000$ mark that is still covered in the free license. That gives you ample time to learn while still having (almost) all the features of Fusion 360 at your hands.

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@Thrawn Cheers again fella!

I was just looking for the PLA Toughed versions really. What is the equivalent in none Bambu naming pleasE?

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Tough PLA, PLA+, Polymaker names it PolyMax PLA. I am sure there are other brand names around, but PLA+ or Tough PLA are the most common descriptions.

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I was looking at this: eSUN PLA+ Filament 1.75mm, Enhanced Toughness 3D Printer Filament PLA Plus

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That should be the similar to Bambu Tough PLA

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I use all of them, Cold / Engineering / High Temperature. Also got the textured plate (awesome for just-print-it doesn’t-have-to-be-pretty stuff). And I got the Wham Bam PEX plate.

Glue stick for the smooth Bambu Lab plates, no glue stick on the textured, no glue stick on the PEX plate except for PETG. And after I scuffed the PEX plate with some 0000 steel wool and alcohol, I have zero issues with first layer adhesion. Also, I ran a garden tool sharpener (basically a piece of rough steel) along the sharp edges of the PEX plate to keep it from tearing up the heated bed and my fingers.

Don’t run any -CF filaments through your AMS. No TPU or similar either. It might work, but probably won’t. Like Thrawn said, play with Fusion 360 and see if you even want to use it. Maybe Tinkercad (free) or FreeCAD will be enough. Or maybe you simply won’t find it worth the hassle. Just don’t buy it first and feel compelled to use it since you spent money on it. This is supposed to be fun. Browse Thingiverse and Printables first. I find a lot of stuff that I’m interested in has already been designed and tested by others.

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Don’t forget Thangs, which searches all of them at once.

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I used to have problems with -CF filaments which jammed my AMS. The solution is very easy: You need to dry them fro 10 - 12 hours. I have a dish warmer in my kitchen (Wärmeschublade in German) in which I can easily dry and setup the temp between 40 to 85 degrees celsius. Once you dry the -CF filaments, you can easily use them in the AMS. But be careful: Not all -CF filaments are supported by the AMS. Check the bambulab filaments description before you use them after drying.

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Wouldn’t say just purchased! Because I’ve owned this long enough to call the software an unmitigated piece of garbage! it’s constantly CHANGING setting from projects to previous projects either defaulting or NOT defaulting so you can’t be certain what its actually printing until after it’s started to waste materials AND this Printer is a master at Crapping out as well as wasting filament. NOT one of my previous Printers had a failure rate even HALF of this printers and that was when I was a total noob at printing. You want to print everything they have in the ‘We added these files with’ sure it prints them because they debugged every aspect of them, The volume of bed failures = ‘rafts’ = trashed bottom surfaces so artistic prints be damned unless they have some base to hide the mess. printing below 0.2 is a wasted of time unless you are doing single flat walled surfaces. Having tested the same print (Trophy cup) with a metalic filament to show up all the imperfections below 0.2 the machines variable speeds through overhangs changes the texture of the filament making metalic as well as normal filaments change gloss. You may think “So what?” if you make parts for a customer and it varies in luster at all the changes of angles or if you do lots of curved surfaces such as a vase luster changes in items not meant to be painted is a problem. Now before someone says I’ve printed curves meaning horizontal curves while this affects Vertical curves/overhangs where the machine varies speeds changing the flow and temperature of the extrusion. Oh did I mention the Software likes to Default back to settings? What’s worse the insistence that the software be online creates the majority of its problems. import a previous project you WILL have to review 100% of the settings because otherwise it will default to the last project AND some default setting completely ignoring the projects Original settings. You see where this is going for all the time you might Gain from a faster print head you lose to the software. The current failure rate of prints is OVER 50% there is no consistency it prints one plate perfectly and buggers the next plate of the exact same items (properly cleaned and re-glued plate between) Funny error the Machine trashed Bamboo’s own logo by including several layers of the buckets base color through it! Would I recommend this printer to Others? If you’re not printing large print bed surfaced can be rough finished pieces then NO this machine was hyped up by people who got free machines out of the deal. They obviously couched their words carefully to help sell them.
Edit: What I didn’t mention was the lack of Customer service The AMS sounded like it was one of those rock tumblers for smoothing glass the machine itself sounds like a step down from an electrical room is running in the background at Idle Seriously there are some fundamental issues with the machine itself have they addressed them? Nope they want a Video of the Gears (Wasn’t the issue being discussed) We’re talking an AUDIO issue they want a mechanical video. Having received a previous printer with a seized barring in the extruder When things sound loose or knocking around it needs addressing Bamboo just wasted the Time limit on their replacement policy delaying replies so Expect Support to do little for you!

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So you don’t like your X1C? Have you used PrusaSlicer before?