Hello 3d printing community! I am looking to join the ranks and purchase my first 3d printer. Specifically I am looking at the a1 mini.

My use case is mostly functional, housing for electronics, hooks and jigs, that sort of thing, so I don’t think I need the ams kit although the multicolor printing and support beams of different materials sounds nifty, I also hear bambu printers are really good with supports.

My biggest questions to the community are, is this a good choice? What filament should I start with? And I live in a dryer climate, is a filament dryer something I should definitely invest in, and if so what is a decent and decently cheap one you’d recommend?

Thank you for taking the time to read (and hopefully reply to) my post.

  • jrgd@lemm.eeEnglish
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    1 month ago

    Just note that with Bambu printers about past data collection practices and their in general mid to atrocious after-sales support. If this doesn’t deter you, then go ahead and get one.

    I do a lot of my functional parts in ABS, ASA though printing such material may be difficult on an open-air machine. The two obvious choices will generally be PLA or PETG. PLA is one of the most common printed materials, and is fairly balanced in material strength. PETG parts are more likely to permanently deform heavily before fully snapping, as well as they have a but more temperature resistance than PLA. Additionally most PETG plastics hold up decently well to UV, often making them more suitable for parts that need to be outdoors.

    PLA takes not much consideration on surface to print, as most printers come with a smooth PEI build sheet by default. It will however need more cooling than printing with PETG at equivalent speeds. If you use a PEI sheet for PETG, make sure it is textured. You will destroy a smooth sheet if it doesn’t have some kind of release coating to lower its adhesive properties to PETG.

    There is no guarantee for spools of filament to actually arrive dry, so a filament dryer isn’t a bad idea. I don’t have any particular recommendations for a good filament dryer. I have a Filadryer S2 from Sunlu, but am not impressed by it.

    • nullroot@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
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      1 month ago

      Ugh I didn’t even think about that, the data collecting. After some research I think I should be able to mitigate that with lan only mode or just some firewall rules or pihole blocking. Thank you for the link!

      I was looking at the sunlu s1 and s2 for a filament dryer. The s2 sounds kinda glitchy but functional, and the biggest complaint of the s1 seems to be the 55C max temp.

      If my humidity is usually 20% or lower where I live is it likely I can just skip a filament dryer for now?

      • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.businessEnglish
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        1 month ago

        usually 20% or lower where I live

        Yeah, you probably can since it appears you live in the desert. It’s not like the filament is going to magic up water that’s not there.

        I’m somewhere that is more like 40%, and I don’t have the endless wet-filament-problems some people have but I’m also printing just PLA and PETG which aren’t really the filaments most impacted by a little bit of wet.

        • Manzas@lemdro.idEnglish
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          1 month ago

          Some filament brands are more sensitive to moisture than others for example devil design PETG took 6 months to moisten ,but prusament did it in like two weeks.

      • StefanT@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        1 month ago

        I think I heared that lan-only mode means you need to transfer the files to print via SD card.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    1 month ago

    Great choice; I personally found the A1 Mini to be an excellent starter machine.

    Start off with a few spools of PLA in a few different colors. It’s easy enough to buy whatever you need on Amazon.

    I live in a moist climate and haven’t yet bothered with a dryer, but I also haven’t messed with TPU yet.

  • stealth_cookies@lemmy.caEnglish
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    1 month ago

    Yup, all the Bambu printers are pretty good. I’m quite happy with my P1S + AMS. Definitely a better choice for a beginner than the Enders and similarly cheap project printers that many people start out with.

    You can always buy an AMS later if you don’t want to now, but the utility of it for me is more around having multiple filaments to choose from without having to load a new filament rather than multicolour printing which is very slow and wasteful.

    I wouldn’t bother with a filament dryer. I live in a pretty humid climate and between work and home I’ve been 3D printing things for over a decade and have never felt the need to dry my filament. I’d only really consider it if I was starting to print Nylon or something similarly hygroscopic.

  • IMALlama@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    1 month ago

    You got a few good replies, but I just want to briefly mention build volume. Nearly everything I print is functional. Splitting prints into sections isn’t the biggest deal, but being able to print things in one shot is nice. Consider the size of things you’ll be printing and ask if you think you’ll be happy.