As per the title of this post I’m hoping you can give me some advice. I’ve downloaded Autodesk Fusion for personal use and know absolutely nothing about it but I’m hoping to use YT to find some tutorials.
My A1 mini is coming the middle of January and will be using it for household repairs and making small stuff for my bicycle so from what I’ve read Fusion is what I should be using for non-organic shapes.
Between now and then what can I do to prepare so I’m not overwhelmed when this thing arrives. I’ve looked briefly on Udemy for courses on the A1 mini but nothing caught my eye. Can anyone suggest some resources please?
I’m hoping to eventually make a housing for a camera which will be mounted on my cycle helmet so would need to be waterproof or if not then easily made so. Also brackets for the bicycle so would need to be robust enough to withstand a British winter. I’ve not ordered any filament yet but from what I’ve read PETG would be best for what I’m going to print. Also will I need to dry the filament out before printing (this was a shock to me when I found out about this ) and if so do I need to get a heater?
If there is anything else you can think of a complete beginner might need to do then please let me know. Thank you
PS I’ve just noticed Bambu have started an academy to get new users aquainted with their new 3D printers and they’ve kicked off with the A1 mini. Amazing!
Welcome to the rabbit hole that is personal 3D printing!
Assuming you created an account with BambuLab when you ordered the A1 mini, you can go through the BambuLab Academy to get to grips with the basics. It’s one thing to go through the coursework, it’s another to actually have the device in front of you to refer to. We learn by doing. You also get points towards your account which you can trade in for items or even store credit.
You say you want to make bike brackets that can withstand a British winter. Don’t use PLA for that. It is more brittle than PETG and warps under constant pressure. PETG has some flex and maintains its shape better. If you’re after some added strength then you might want to consider a carbon-fibre infused filament, but you need to use a hardened nozzle for that as it is abrasive.
Something that would be good for you is to learn about the differences between the most common filaments, PLA and PETG, and how to treat them. For example PLA’s heat deflection temperature (where it starts to warp) is around 45-50C. For PETG it is more like 62C. Yes, PETG really needs to be dried before use in a humid environment like ours so I would point you towards the Sunlu S2 dryer which is currently £45 on Amazon. It gets up to 70C which dries PETG very effectively overnight.
My last piece of advice would be to buy a spool of light grey PLA. The colour is an almost perfect match for the A1 series of printers if you want to print colour matching accessories like poop buckets, scrapers and covers.
Welcome
Read, Read, Read, also there are some good u-tube videos. Don’t get to scared of all the posts here, There are a lot of posts about problems, actual most of the post are the few that are having a problem. I never had a serious problem and the few I have had I could easily fix. I don’t design and use cad to make things, so I can’t help on that end. I started to build a 3D scanner and learn a cad program but found it just a little to much for me. I find every thing I have wanted so far on the several 3D maker sites where I have down loaded free or very cheap files to load into Bambu Studio. Check out and learn how to use Bambu Studio (computer app to tweak, slice and send the file to the printer) and Bambu Handy (phone app). But most of all, have fun. We are here to help you should you need it, No question is to stupid, (the first time that is)
Excellent thank you for the advice. I’ll try not to ask stupid questions more than one
I imagine I will be like you @Locoman in that I’ll be downloading files rather than designing from scratch but methinks I’d like to get my hands dirty at some point.
@ZenithUK thank you for confirming the PETG question. I will give the carbon-fibre a swerve until I’m beyond the novice stage but had heard about it before. This brings me to the question of where I should get my PETG from. Bambu seems to be low on stock so is there a reputable alternative supplier for PETG for the A1 series? I assume the spool the filament comes on is good to use in the filament drier and won’t warp.
And finally you recommended a filament dryer which I’ve just ordered so thank you for the recommendation
It is true that BL are currently having a supply problem with PETG. Their stocks have been wiped out by the back-to-back Black Friday sale then the Winter/Christmas sale.
When you buy filament from Bl, be sure to check you’re getting the right one. The slightly higher price for a given material/colour is usually because it comes on a spool which can be used safely in a dryer.
The lower price is usually for a refill only, which you need to transfer onto an empty spool. The spools unlock with a half twist and separate into 2 halves which you can then use for a refill, locking the 2 halves back together.
You can buy extra spools from BL or you can print them yourself. You need to decide if the cost in time and material is worth the saving in price. If you plan on using printed spools in your dryer then they will need to be PETG. If you don’t use it in a dryer then you can use PLA.
This is one spool design I’ve used that will fit on the bed of an A1 mini.
As for other reputable brands of filament, I’ve personally not had a problem with eSun or Eryone. I’ve also heard good things about Overture and Sunlu but I’ve not tried them myself. Amazon is pretty good for supplying filament, but do shop around to find the best price.
GusGF
I got 4 rolls of Bambu Matte filament with my printer but since thenI have been getting Creality filament from Am–zon (US) because they are big in the 3D business and I though made in the US, (I was wrong there) and the China tariffs were going to hit the US any day then (but I found out Bambu had a US store so tariffs weren’t an issue after all). I have had good luck with the Creality PLA+ filaments. I have tried so other off brands of speciality filament like TPU, PLA silk, PLA metalic etc without and problems, some times I use the filament dryer but usually I don’t dry the filament. I live in north central Wisconsin, US, started printing in winter when the humidity was low, but even in summer I didn’t have any problems printing with off the shelf PLA. I do dry the TPU and wood PLA before printing though. Did you get or are you getting the AMS Lite with your printer. If you plan on doing many multi-color projects, I recommend it, it will make your life easier, although you still can do multi-color manually, just more work and time. Also I think the printers come with stainless steel Hotend, I recommend getting the Harden steel ones as replacements. Along with a roll of PTFE tubes, and maybe an extra PEI build plate. I have those and one of their smooth-textured plates, although I have not used the smooth side of that plate, only the textured side. As time goes on, you will find other accessories and parts you might need or want from Bambu. The Items I suggested are essential for printing so I recommend getting them from Bambu and not some third party supplied.
I think I got a little carried away here. I will quite for now and give you a rest.
Oh by the, when I was working with young Architects and teaching them the business, I told them that there was no such thing as a stupid question. But if they came back time and again with the same question, from my point of view, it wasn’t the question that was stupid…
@ZenithUK Thanks for clearing that up about the spooled and unspooled refills as that did confuse me a little when I first look at BL for supplies when buying the printer. I will have a look on Amazon at the suppliers of filament you mentioned, thanks again for the advice.
@Locoman Not sure there is much left that’s not made in China. We got a Christmas card the other day which said on the back ‘Sourced from a sustainable forest’ and when I read further saw it was made in China. Looks like manufacturing has moved wholesale to China!
As regards the spare parts you mentioned I did look at getting some accessories but BL had no stock. No, haven’t gone for AMS Lite. I’d rather just get experience and confidence with the mini and then decide next steps otherwise I’ll just feel overwhelmed. I should be able to pick stuff up secondhand off of eBay as time goes on or future BL sales. But thanks for the advice, much appreciated
