Bambu Lab's A1 One Year Later...

[Chris Savage]

Yes, please. You have convinced me that ordering the refills, rather than with spools is the better way to go. I'll print more spools, but I really need to increase my filament supply, so another one(s) would be helpful. Thanks.

I will bring two for you.

[granz]

I will bring two for you.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

[JKnightandKARR]

So, I'm guessing that you have not had any troubles with the halves separating? That means that this spool is pretty good - glad to hear that. My yellow filament fit on it nice, and tight.

I had no such issues and have since given those spools to someone else who has been using them with refills for months without issue. Nonetheless, would you like me to bring a spare Bambu Lab spool to the meetup? I'm sure I have one or two that I am not using.

You just reminded me that my most recent filament order should be here today! I need to pay attention because it is thunderstorming out.

IS there a cost diff in buying spools vs refills? I noticed Hobby Lobby now has 3D printing stuff, inc empty spools to use refills on.

[Chris Savage]

IS there a cost diff in buying spools vs refills? I noticed Hobby Lobby now has 3D printing stuff, inc empty spools to use refills on.

I can only speak for Bambu Lab filament, since I have not used any other brand on Bambu Lab printers. Regarding PLA Basic. A single spool costs $22.99 when purchased alone. The refill (no spool) costs $19.99, so you save $2.00, which may not seem like a lot, but it adds up over time.

Also, if you buy four (4) spools / refills, you save $25%. Buying 6 saves you 30%. Buying 10 saves you 35%. I usually buy 6 at a  time. I have plenty of spools, so I buy refills, which means I save

Normally 6 spools would be $137.94, but the discount makes it $96.56. Buying refills instead means 6 would normally be $119.94 (saving $18), but the 6-piece discount makes it $83.96 saving $35.98 total on 6 refills.

[JKnightandKARR]

IS there a cost diff in buying spools vs refills? I noticed Hobby Lobby now has 3D printing stuff, inc empty spools to use refills on.

I can only speak for Bambu Lab filament, since I have not used any other brand on Bambu Lab printers. Regarding PLA Basic. A single spool costs $22.99 when purchased alone. The refill (no spool) costs $19.99, so you save $2.00, which may not seem like a lot, but it adds up over time.

Also, if you buy four (4) spools / refills, you save $25%. Buying 6 saves you 30%. Buying 10 saves you 35%. I usually buy 6 at a  time. I have plenty of spools, so I buy refills, which means I save

Normally 6 spools would be $137.94, but the discount makes it $96.56. Buying refills instead means 6 would normally be $119.94 (saving $18), but the 6-piece discount makes it $83.96 saving $35.98 total on 6 refills.

Cool

[MicroNut]

Has anyone used OctoEverywhere as an alternative cloud based control software? It looks like a free account has a 20MB stl file limit while the $3.99/month has a 500MB stl file limit.

[granz]

Not here. I have heard about Ocoto-Print, but never heard that they have a cloud-based system.

I normally do not like using cloud-based systems (I.E. someone else's computer.) Even though I do use the cloud for my Bambu Lab A1, I am seriously looking into Bambuddy, but have not taken the plunge yet. I do have to admit that Bambu's cloud service is pretty handy though.

[Chris Savage]

Has anyone used OctoEverywhere as an alternative cloud based control software?

I've never even heard of it.

[MicroNut]

Thanks @granz. The BamBuddy looks interesting. That removes my reservations on not buying the Bambu A1 because it is cloud based. Chances went from 40% to 60% of me buying it. After the meetup it'll probably be 99.99999999%

[granz]

I'll bring my Monoprice Voxel - the A1 is too bulky to move. You can take a look at it doing some actual prints. That may help to answer some of your questions.

[Chris Savage]

I'll bring my Monoprice Voxel - the A1 is too bulky to move. You can take a look at it doing some actual prints. That may help to answer some of your questions.

If I still had the P1S, I would have brought that. But I have only the two P2S units, and not even going to try and carry those down the stairs. 

[JKnightandKARR]

I'll bring my Monoprice Voxel - the A1 is too bulky to move. You can take a look at it doing some actual prints. That may help to answer some of your questions.

If I still had the P1S, I would have brought that. But I have only the two P2S units, and not even going to try and carry those down the stairs. 

I saw some of the Bambu units recently at Microcenter. Look pretty cool.

[MicroNut]

I had a conversation with my wonderful practical wife and I had to agree that doing some home improvements was more important. I'm also due for a new laptop since mine is 8 years old. So the 3d printer has dropped down on my list. @granz I may farm out some ideas to you if you decide to do a 3d printing service.

@Jim Fouch did give me a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic a while back. The controller needs work and I think I clogged the nozzle on my first try. I know it is nowhere close to a modern 3D printers but that may be enough to scratch my itch.

[granz]

I had a conversation with my wonderful practical wife and I had to agree that doing some home improvements was more important. I'm also due for a new laptop since mine is 8 years old. So the 3d printer has dropped down on my list. @granz I may farm out some ideas to you if you decide to do a 3d printing service.

I'll be glad to help where I can.

@Jim Fouch did give me a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic a while back. The controller needs work and I think I clogged the nozzle on my first try. I know it is nowhere close to a modern 3D printers but that may be enough to scratch my itch.

You are probably right - it seems to me that the older printers work, but they need more fiddling to keep them working right. You just have to accept that they will be slower, probably lower resolution and not have all the frills of a modern printer. But, like you said, that will hopefully be enough.

[granz]

@Jim Fouch did give me a Makerbot Thing-O-Matic a while back. The controller needs work and I think I clogged the nozzle on my first try. I know it is nowhere close to a modern 3D printers but that may be enough to scratch my itch.

You may want to look into getting that Thing-O-Matic up and running. The first one that I saw for sale, they were asking $1700! And, all the rest that I have seen have been over $1000. Those things are apparently pretty valuable.

Do you know what is wrong with your controller? Bring your printer to our meetup, maybe we can get it going again. I'll bring some extra filament for us to work with. I can also bring some of my tools to try to get the nozzle cleared out.