As I use my new Bambu printer, I am realizing some of its limitations, and one of them is mixing TPU with other materials. Yes, I know there is the AMS compatible TPU, but that’s quite firm, and I think I have an idea that requires nothing but a software fix.
My idea is virtual filament slots for multi-color/material models that are implemented as manual filament unloading/reloading swaps. Ideally, this would be available for all printers including those without AMS units, but it would be especially useful with the AMS as a supply of firm filaments that are frequently swapped and with other filaments being supplied manually and swapped much less frequently. It would also be nice to be able to identify the fact that external spool does not necessarily mean one filament. And since it’s a software upgrade, it can be rolled out to everyone that already has a Bambu printer for free (making existing owners even happier with their products and adding a new feature that can entice prospective buyers). It would also take some of the sting out for those of us with AMS printers who expected it to handle TPU 95A without issue.
Personally, I can think of some applications where a 2-4 layer swap between 2 filaments (in a cross-hatch pattern of 100% infill with 50% of it being lines of one material and 50% of it being lines of the other material and then going 90 deg the other way on the next layer) would produce a ridiculously strong bond between materials such as PETG and TPU. Granted, these materials bond fairly well at a flat boundary, they can separate under stress.
I’m sure other users can come up with neat uses of such a feature.
I’m an idiot. You can add additional filaments in Bambu Studio (little plus button in the menu above the filament list). I haven’t used it yet, but it’s there. I assume the printer will pause and wait for you to change filament. I don’t know if it calculates purge volumes.
No, I simply didn’t see the option to add more filaments to the local list.
Unfortunately, though, I’m not as much of an idiot as I claimed. While you can add as many filament profiles as you want to a build plate, you cannot enable AMS on projects in which any of the filament you want to use is not loaded into the AMS.
This means that the feature I thought was fully-developed is anything but.
If there was a way to print with more materials than those which are loaded into the AMS, it would be extremely useful. Models with minimal support interface layers (different layers in which any support interfaces with the rest of the print) could have the interface material swapped out for something that is more conducive to post-processing. Prints with only one or two material swaps would be manageable. Obviously, nobody wants to babysit a printer through 100+ swaps, but a handful over the course of a model would be entirely doable.
Please give us full support for AMS-enabled external filament swaps.
I am well-aware that Bambu Studio has a “insert pause” feature, but it only works once per layer. It is not a suitable solution for a print that requires more than 4 colors/materials in a single layer (per AMS unit).
Adding such a feature would enable things like 5+ colors in the top surface of a box lid, loading interface material for support detachment that only gets printed exactly where it is needed, and mixing of materials that are strictly AMS incompatible (e.g. TPU <95A/55D).
Yes, it would be annoying to swap to each material that is not AMS compatible. No, I have no problem with babysitting complex prints that are valuable enough.
you could edit eh gcode and do this, shouldn’t be too hard to pause and change but finding (or, directing) the slicer to only certain areas of the layer might be harder
Unfortunately it may not help with TPU. Currently only BL TPU is compatible with AMS and any other brand or softer TPUs has to be feed from external spool. Using external and AMS at the same time is not possible. That was the concern of OP.
That method will too work with the external spool but then you have to babysit the whole print swapping between spools. I can not understand what is the downside of allowing EXT+AMS that BL insists to not make it.
Sorry, What I meant was starting a print with “AMS enabled” checked in Studio. If you had 4 AMS-compatible materials and X additional materials that are either AMS incompatible or simply used infrequently enough to tolerate intervening for their use.
I want Bambu Studio to do 3 things:
Pause and wait for user to unload previous filament and load next filament.
Display on screen a brief text label describing the color and material type to be loaded.
Optimize the order of filaments being printed so that time spent intervening is minimized.
That is all. Shouldn’t be wildly complicated. Just your average feature request. And honestly, I’d be happy enough with just 1 and 2. 3 is for convenience, and I figure there’s a way to do it fairly easily (compared with more elaborate ideas).
