Loving my H2D, upgraded from the P1S which I no longer have. Yet the extra build plates remain in my possession. An adapter of sorts would be pretty cool that yes, I’ll lose some X/Y build volume, yes I’m a big boy and can accept the loss. It would let me keep using the other build plates I blew my hard-earned money on.
I wouldn’t recommend it.
Any adapter made of metal would likely cost more than it’s worth.
It likely would sit well or have the same thermal properties, affecting the thermal transfer and any bed levelling that runs the entire build surface (annoying it still doesn’t scan the area the print will actually take up each print).
Anything you print will cause other issues.
Consider it a sunk cost and try to sell them to recoup a profit (you imagine they have no value, anything you get is a bonus).
Give them to a local school that uses Bambu printers, the A (not mini), P and X will all benefit.
I routinely donate to schools whole printers and more. They are usually grateful for anything given modern school budgets.
Offer to swap them for something you need (depends on your country and which services are available for this.
Build a fort.
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I don’t see something being made over night of course.
Thermal transfer shouldn’t be an issue if the print bed can sit directly on the hot bed. This imaginary product in my head would place the build plate in the front center of the H2D bed. The gaps on the sides and back is where the adapter would be. A thin grommet on the inner part in the shape of the smaller build plate to align it accordingly. The only areas that won’t be touching the bed would be the sides and back. The majority of users aren’t using the full 256x256 volume of the build plate so the area that’s not in contact with the bed isn’t really going to be used anyways.
Slap a QR code and some calibration glyphs around it to tell the printer “This is your build plate and this is your print area”. That syncs with the slicer and it’s a done deal. Great make work project for Bambulab in the least.
I do have plenty of hot ends and heating elements that I have no use for so those can definitely be donated if any schools in my area use that printer.
As @MalcTheOracle said, any possible solution isn’t economical and requires a lot of work. The best solution would be to print an entire build plate in PEI with a 256×256 cutout; this way, you don’t lose any build volume. However, PEI costs around 300€/kg.
From a manufacturer’s perspective, it simply doesn’t make sense to offer a subpar solution and risk a lot of negative feedback instead of just selling you a brand new, perfect build plate. I own six build plates for my P1S and every single one of them has a different height, so a manufacturer would have to customize them for each order—at least if the solution doesn’t reduce the build volume.
Sure, it would be nice to use the P1S build plates on the H2D as well, but there are too many trade-offs to execute it properly.
A solution like the one you mentioned would work, but I don’t see Bambu offering anything like this, since they’d rather sell you a new one than reuse the old ones. Additionally, this would require the LaserCombo’s birdseye camera and introduces a high potential for failure. Moreover, there isn’t a significant demand, at least in my opinion, to reuse the P1/X1 plates on an H2D. A printer with such specifications and a price point of 2200€ is targeted at enthusiasts with deep pockets or businesses.
A system that would recognise build plate size as in, the bed levelling system recognises print build ( geometry ) size and amends itself accordingly ?
wouldnt it be better to just stick with the extra p1 (sell the plates with i ) rather than adding a lot of extra coding / scripts /
It should be trivial with a water jet to make a P1 sized cutout in a H2D plate.
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Sure, cutting it out is simple enough—but then what? Either you need an additional coating and must reduce the height difference between the adapter plate and the build plate to nearly zero. Everything is feasible, but as I already mentioned, it’s completely uneconomical.
Alternatively, you could use the adapter plate solely for aligning the build plate, which sacrifices part of the build volume and—bonus—the hassle of dealing with script hell at every print. For this second solution, simply printing an alignment fixture is entirely sufficient.
The third—and worst—solution is to cut up an H2D build plate to use as an adapter plate for a P1S build plate. That is simply absurd. As I already mentioned, I have six build plates for the P1S, and each one has a slightly different height that is crucial for 3D printing. Moreover, why ruin a €60 item just to make one that fits a €25 part, only to end up with significantly inferior results?
For me, the question remains: why put in all that effort only to end up with a suboptimal, Frankenstein-like result? Save your nerves—and the time and money—by investing in 2–3 new build plates from AliExpress instead, and relax with a beer.