Bambu Lab A1 Mini + AMS Lite 3D Printer Review 

Oh dude, there's so much of that regardless of being a beginner 😭 Brand fanboys and haters are the worst. We need more people like Angus, indeed. Print for the love of printing, friend.

There's a lot of ways we can all learn from Angus in regards to treating people with kindness.

Don't know what wrong places you've been to, but I don't see that, I see a dozen messages helping out any beginner no matter how stupidly common and easily answered if they weren't so lazy their question is.

@@cenciende9401 😂😂😂

>you don’t see that in woodworking for example You definitely do, there are alot of elitists in woodworking.

"Highlights how much input shaping can overcome some pretty ridiculous printing environments." - wobbly print environment has nothing to do with print quality LOL, there are many videos with people hanging bed slingers on one corner from their ceiling and the printer is flying all around the place and print is coming out fine, only thing that matters is frame rigidity

If I tried printing on a table like that with my old Anet A8, it would probably catch fire just to spite me lol

​@@howabout2138 The resonance has to go somewhere, the printers hanging in the air aren't typically printing at unicorn speeds. Anchoring the printer to a wall or bolting it to the floor offers a measurable improvement in input shaper results. There's a reason why CNC machines have been being built as massive as possible; to decrease resonance, while 3D printers are much less reliant on mass and rigidity, more is still better.

@@wyattutz you are mixing concepts, resonance of machine - sure, matters, but it's purely dependent on frame of machine, resonance of the base for machine / surroundings - doesn't matter as long as machine is decoupled from what it's standing on even by crude rubber feet or some other thing, if machine is rigid enough it can be thrown around while printing / milling and nothing will chnge in its output, wobbly table might make shitty printer more wobbly which was wobbly in first place before the shitty table was introduced, however super stable surface used in combination with shitty wobbly machine won't change anything, and other way - proper rigid frame put on a wobbly table will still be proper rigid frame - only thing that matters is relative rigidity of the machine itself, not the base, base only amplifies imperfections, CNC machines are also so heavy because the forces there are much bigger, if you ever tried to mill some hard material on crappy CNC you would see that the whole frame of it is bending and bolts are becoming loose if you go too fast

Ya it’s like I’ve always said a wobbly table wobbly 3d printer frame resonances make print worse table make print bed slinger wobbly fast scary then give the thing filament results.

The next layer 💀

I just found out what he did and unsubscribed. That was such a douche move.

@@viv3dThe last layer 😂

Explain said embargo and whether it was in place months ago when he got this printer

@@jelybrd of course, there was an embargo this whole time….

i was about to comment the exact same thing!

I also have a KP3S and although I think it can be capable in the right conditions 300 dollars is just too good to pass up...

@@rgbvelcroshoes8281 No, cause I then remembered it was Bambu, and their whole locked ecosystem is something I can't get into, for deontological reasons. Copying PrusaSlicer, Printables, adding Cloud functionalities, they're all red flags.

i also have a kp3s for a couple of years now, and just ordered this one, as i believe for the price it will be a massive upgrade considering all the added features on the A1 mini, specially with the AMS bundle. Happy printing yall...

Printing...finds a way...

I can think of 3 solutions 1. Improve the process of melting down scraps into new filament 2. Time filament cuts so that the printer can load the new filament behind the old one just as the layer finishes. 3. Incorporate a second object that isn't dependent on color that waste filament is instead filtered to print at.

i dont think anything present in the market today at this price range besides Prusa is able to compare with the ease of use of these machines. I love myself some stupid cheap kit, yes, but those machines have problems all the time. This little guy for 300€ is an insane deal, there's no reason to buy anything else if you're a beginner who just wants to have a 3d printer

@@MrChoklad there is no Prusa with comparable price.

@@Duckferd a Mk4 is in the same price range as a X1 and it's more or less as easy to use, that's what I meant

@@MrChokladI think he was referring to a1 mini price but either way ba,by just murdered prusa by coming out with essentially the mkt but faster and half the price this week

do you work with 3d printing? or is all that from a hobby??

@@littlefrank90 hobby work, I 3d print RC Planes.

It's so convenient for moving and filming but yeah it's probably time to retire it...

I'm willing to bet they're not counting on us to be their core audience. These printers are for non-hobbyists who are willing to pay extra to avoid having to tinker. They are much more likely to accept proprietary products and stay within the ecosystem they're familiar with. I don't think it's any coincidence that Bambu has slick packaging and design language similar to Apple.

im of the same attitude except for the big thing of it being closed source, yet taking tech from open source designs. X1 and the printers like it are open source and Bambu have stated that they used Voron printers to make the X1. The 3D printing community was founded on the idea of open source, and everyone benefitted from it. Its a shame to see that die in the form of increasingly patented tech and closed source printers.

@@OrangeDuster And that's exactly why I'm waiting patiently for my Prusa Mk4 to ship. The industry will move in the direction that we move it.

​@@senoralimk4 is still closed source so far. Even if they open source, the nozzle will still need to be customized.😂

@@dark_xdark132 If you've got some insider information suggesting that Prusa is going to suddenly change course after all these years, I'd like to see it.

It’s really not a direction. They just didn’t have anything in that price range yet.

Im considering prusa mini or this 150euro cheaper A1 mini. I like the A1 mini but has no experience with their slicer or printers. Do have experiences with the prusa mini's in last work and mini's were flowless. Push and print every time, easy print removing, everything was flawless, can you say A1 mini is on same level? 180mm bed size is ok for me by far. Currently have ender V3 SE and yes, the printer was cheap but it's not very fiendly to use.

Didn't fall over though! I was impressed haha

It’s the complete opposite of an odd choice. It was the only price point they weren’t competing in. Why would they release new printers to compete with their printers that are already selling well. Didn’t go to school for business I take it. 😂 Edit: This doesn’t signify that the multi color printing market is bigger than you thought, this is them simply making it more accessible to people. Having said that, there has been a market for multi color 3D prints since 3D printing started. Before we just called it PAINTING. 😂 Which I prefer still since the AMS is a polluting machine. I barely use mine. Buyers couldn’t care less if it’s painted or printed in color.

There is a note on the wiki that PTFE tubing with a max length of 1.2 m can be used.

The way the spring loaded spool holders work will likely prohibit the PTFE tubes from being extended much, as the spools need to be retracted on a color change and there is no motor to drive them.

As the printers get faster it's getting more and more noticeable lol, even the better lower table was moving on the carpet. 😫

Once this is released there will be many spool adapters available. Just look at how many spool adapters are currently available for the AMS.

I have a Prusa Mini that is also 180x180x180 as a companion to my mk3 and these little printers are great when objects fit (most mine do). I think you will enjoy the a1 looking at the robust build.

Me too. I hate the AMS. Barely use it.

Honestly, you could’ve started saving money by not upgrading the S1 so much. I see people that obviously can’t really afford it spend money on unnecessary upgrades when all they needed to do was get better at adjusting the printer. My S1 didn’t need anything but silicone bed spacers and firmware. The e3v2 only needs $150 in upgrades and firmware to print like an mk3. You’re not alone though. Lots of people get sucked into the unnecessary upgrade rabbit hole that RU-vid causes. Having said that, you’re about to do it again. This is only worth it if you want multicolor for under $500. That’s the only selling point of this. In terms of upgrading, it’s a dead end. Outside of multi color printing is limited in scope.

I have the p1s with ams and agree, the multi colour is not for me. It is great however as you can load up multiple spools of the same filament and not have that anxiety of running out mid print. I have 2 cold white and 2 black spools depending what I am printing.

I'm right there with ya. I wish this was out last year when I bought my S1 Pro. Wish they would fix the poop problem though.

Why not the p1s? Are the few minor upgrades worth the extra $500?

Beware getting printers from places that are proprietary like this. 3d printing companies are renowned for dropping support for things and then you have an expensive paperweight. Yea Prusa is expensive, but they support all their printers with new firmware releases and backward compatibility. But really most 3d printer manuyfacturers use open source software and repair parts that can be sourced elsewhere.. just most don't have AMS systems yet.

​@@jth_printed_designsthe p1s is another I've considered

@@mystixa I don’t want any Kool-Aid, thanks. Most printers released in the last four years are still supported, including $200 ones. And you don’t need the company anymore, the community is much better at fixing things, and faster.

Go with prusa. They will still be around in 10 years and always support their products no matter how old.

Yep. And it is terrible so far. Tested last night.

Still wondering why the don't just use klipper.

@@warmesuppe Klipper needs an external computer. Prusa or Marlin's input shaping is just a firmware change. 90% of of the result for no cost.

@@ElectraFlarefire A lot of people run octoprint with their prusas and the mcu only input shaper seems to struggle in comparison with the klipper one. so i would just move on and use a 30€ SBC.

@@warmesuppe I run octoprint, but it's nice having the printer still working without it. Plus it's fun to see how far you can push a machine that is now 15 years ago(I run an early RAMPS based i3 with one of e3d's first v6 hotends) In the case of the new Prusas like the Mini and MK4, they have full networking, so no octoprint is needed unless you also want a webcam.

You can set you slicer to have waste filament to go into a print object and or infill, though may be an issue for a small build plate. I print mostly functional parts, so for example I print my color products on one part of the bed, then I print a functional object that I don't care about the color, in another spot. In the slicer, I tell the machine to purge all waste into the functional object. It almost eliminates all waste, and I get a 2nd functional part without slowing down the main print. You may already know about this but I know a LOT of people don't. I'm not sure if Bambu doesn't advertise this because they sell more filament with less people doing this, but it's a simple setting.

choking hazard too all those small bits of plastic poop.

How does it take less time to complete? 🤔

@@dangerous8333 Because the filament only has to be retracted a few inches rather than 3 feet. My current 2 AMS units are mounted on a rack over the printers. The filament has to be pulled out of the single Bowden tube completely and replaced by the next filament. On this new setup there’s separate Bowden tubes for each material

they said they only gave the clear ones to reviewers and staff because they can only make clear injection molds while the molds are fresh and not "beat up" Source: CNC kitchen interview with Dr. Tao

I'm with you. I'll still be working on making my IDEX a non bed slinger. Plus with a 300×300 bed my IDEX can print almost 2 of anything that will print at the same time.

Regarding the last point , there is the Prusa XL which has multiple toolheads , that allows it to make multicolor prints way faster and with less waste , is over 2000$ thought

@@ulforcemegamon3094 Im aware of that one, sadly the price is just way way too high.

add fibre 😂

Can we see another calm talk on how the bambu labs a1 is the best thing since sliced bread

One of my fav shirts

much want!

If only you knew what the future of 3D printing actually looked like. It will make larger machines look stupid but the Bambu Engineers don't even know what that looks like so I wouldn't expect anything better before the 300mm variant

@@cybyrd9615 Right. I guess we will all be waiting for you to reveal your Star Trek replicator design. Haha