Hi
Im new to 3d printing and am thinking of buying a smooth plate for my A1 mini to see how it differs from the textured one ive been using. However now im looking at the store there are a few different options (hot, cold, double sided etc.). Would anybody know of any videos or docs that would outline what each is good for? I’ll be solely printing in PLA most probably.
thanks for any help you can give
N
This should give you a good start. In general Bambu Lab wiki is a good source to start with.
first, according to the store I see, the A1 Mini only has two plates: Textured PEI and Smooth.
second, all Bambu plates are double-sided. The Textured PEI plate is the same on both sides. For the P1/X1 series, the High-Temperature Plate’s opposite side is called the Engineer Plate (the same as the Cool Plate; it too has an Engineer Plate on the other side.)
third, the Smooth Plate appears to just be the same as the High-Temperature plate for X1/P1. It will give a smooth bottom to your prints, rather than the textured bottom. You’ll need to apply glue to the plate before printing anything but PLA, or it highly likely won’t stick to the hotplate.
I don’t like the Textured PEI plate. I always use the Cool Plate for my X1C; it’s more energy efficient and has the best success rate for my prints, I also prefer the smooth finish. However, for the A1 Mini, you don’t have a Cool Plate option. You only have the choice between the Smooth Plate and the Textured PEI plate, and since you said you’re looking to mainly use PLA, the Smooth Plate will still be a great option for you since you don’t need to apply glue to print with that material.
At the end of the day, your only options between these two plates are; do I want a smooth bottom on my prints, or do I want a textured one?
There’s another option lurking in there. The Cool Plate.
Cool Plate, Smooth PEI (High Temp) and Engineer plate are all smooth, but they all have different use-cases.
I’ve not yet completely worked out the cases yet. But, it seems like the Cool plate was primarily intended for PLA in enclosed printers, where you don’t want the heat to get too high. For the A1 series, this should not be an issue.
the cool plate shown on the A1 accessories page for the UK store doesn’t fit the A1 Mini. It’s for the A1/X1/P1 series.
This user only states they have an A1 Mini.
If you go to accessories on the store and click A1 it shows 5 different plates which seem to be compatible with A1 including hot and cold.
By the sound of it I won’t be needing the hot or cold, but I’m still a bit confused about the double sided ones. It says it has ‘smooth & matte surfaces’ 
check my above post. Those other 3 plates are for the A1. Not A1 Mini. They will NOT fit the hotplate so do NOT buy them.
ALL bambulab plates are double-sided. Check your textured pei plate; it will have the same surface/label on the opposite side. The same applies with the Smooth Plate; it will be mirrored on the opposite side.
This means if one side of the plate is damage, you just flip it over.
A smooth and matte surface is the same thing; they’ve just flushed out the description with additional tagging. The textured pei plate adds a sparkle-like effect to the base. The Smooth plate doesn’t, which makes it look matte.
