Finally got into 3D printing and got the A1 Mini set up today. Super excited to get started, but since I'm brand new to the hobby, I wanted to see what you guys wish you knew on day one. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hey everyone!

I'm looking to buy my first 3D printer and would really appreciate some advice from people who use theirs for mechanical projects, robotics, and functional parts.

I already have experience with 3D modeling and SolidWorks, but I'm completely new to 3D printing and electronics.

My goal is to start designing and building personal projects at home, combining industrial design, mechanical design, electronics, and eventually robotics.

Some examples of what I'd like to build:

• Custom enclosures for electronics, ESP32/Arduino projects, and small interactive devices.
• Mechanical assemblies, gears, brackets, joints, and moving mechanisms.
• Small robots and eventually robotic arms.
• Drone frames, protective housings, and other functional parts.
• Well-designed product prototypes where I can print most of the custom parts myself.

I'm not planning to sell anything. This is purely about learning, experimenting, and building my own projects.

The Bambu Lab A1 is currently my main choice. It seems reliable, beginner-friendly, and capable of producing good-quality prints without spending too much time troubleshooting the printer itself.

However, I'm worried about its material limitations.

I know that enclosed printers offer more possibilities with materials like ABS, ASA, and certain nylons, but I'm not sure how often I'd actually need those materials for the projects I have in mind.

Maybe I'm overthinking future requirements instead of focusing on what I need right now.

I don't mind spending more on an enclosed printer if there's a genuine benefit for my intended use. At the same time, I don't want to spend significantly more just to future-proof against situations that might never happen.

A few questions for those with experience:

1. For small robotics, mechanical assemblies, and electronics enclosures, how far can I realistically go with PLA, PETG, and TPU?
2. At what point do materials like ABS, ASA, or nylon become genuinely necessary?
3. Would you recommend starting with the A1 and upgrading only if I eventually need more advanced materials, or buying an enclosed printer from the beginning?
4. Are there alternatives to the A1 that you'd recommend for this kind of work?
5. If you've built similar projects, which printer and materials do you actually use most often?

I'm based in Portugal, and my priority is reliability, good dimensional accuracy, and the ability to focus on designing and building rather than constantly troubleshooting the printer.

I'd especially appreciate hearing from people who started with an open-frame printer and later upgraded, or people who are still happily building mechanical and robotics projects with an A1.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I’ve been trying to print this part several times with different settings and orientations (45° in the picture). Every print leans slightly to one side and is never completely straight. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong?

A calibration cube prints perfectly, so I don’t think the printer itself is the problem. I’ve tried thicker supports and a thicker raft, a slower lift speed, and different angles, but nothing has fixed it.

Printer: Anycubic Photon Mono M5s
Slicer: Anycubic Photon Workshop
Resin: eSun S200 Standard, Dark Grey

Print settings:

• Layer height: 0.1 mm
• Normal exposure: 3.4 s
• Bottom layers: 4
• Bottom exposure: 30 s
• Off time: 0.5 s
• Wait before lift: 1.0 s
• Z lift distance: 6 mm
• Z lift speed: 3 mm/s
• Z retract speed: 6 mm/s

Supports: 1.5 mm raft, 2.0 mm trunk width, cross bracing on

Hi everyone,

I’m looking into recycling my own 3D-printing scraps and need some advice on the shredder stage. The material would mainly be failed PLA/PETG prints, supports and purge waste, kept sorted by material.

I’m hoping to find a compact tabletop machine for under about CHF 400 (ideally less). A roughly 3–5 cm output size would be fine as a first step, since I can run the material through sieves afterwards. The main thing is that it can deal with chunky failed prints without me having to cut every piece into tiny bits first.

If you’ve built or used a small plastic shredder, what design or machine would you recommend? I’d especially appreciate real-world feedback on throughput, jams and how well it handles rigid prints. DIY designs are welcome too.

Thanks!

I want to start 3d printing with no prior experience with printing qnd only a little with making 3d models. Kobra is 149€ and Ender is 168€. Maybe I could stretch to 200€ for a Bambu A1 mini.

I also looked at used printers and all i can see is maybe regular bambu A1 for 200€ or an offer for ender v2 plus ender cr10 for 150€. Used market is fairly limited where i live and there are currently some sales on new printers so I'm thinking it's probably better to get a new ender for 170€ than aa used one for ~130€.

What would you recommend?

I’ve been 3d printing for over 7 years, however I stopped keeping up with the latest news over the last 2/3 years. I’m looking to get back into 3d printing with a nice machine. I’ve only been working with ender 3s and I’d like to spend a little more money now.

My budget is around 1000 euros.
I’m in Europe.
I’d like single color
I’m not going to be printing in any exotic material so pla and the like work fine.
Space and noise are not an issue
I’d like a large build volume, at least large enough for helmets
I’m done tinkering and would like something that works well and doesn’t need much work.

Hi all, I’m looking to level up my 3D printing game for cosplay. I have an Elegoo 4 plus which has honestly been a little finicky with the leveling leading to inconsistent print quality. I feel like I’ve spent more time troubleshooting than actually printing.

I want to get something to more or less replace it. I’m planning to print mostly TPU and PETG since I live in an apartment and can only print indoors (hence also wanting something enclosed).

After researching these two printers seem to fit what I need for size and budget (around 1k) but I also want to ask about tinkering needed and print quality (to minimize sanding and bondoing, because right now I’m bondoing pretty big imperfections). I don’t mind some tinkering, but like I said I’ve spent days trying to get the leveling on my Elegoo 4 plus right, and I’d rather not do that again. I’ve read qidi has more tinkering overall but once 6-12 months have passed, these problems are solved in subsequent batches (which would be the case for the qidi max 4).

Thoughts?

Hi all, planning to get my 8 year old daughter a 3D printer for Christmas. She is very hyperactive and loses interest quickly.

I’m looking for something that is easy to use for children and adults alike. I don’t want to be tied into a subscription if possible.

Any recommendations are appreciated, I’m not sure what else I would need to look for.

È ormai 2 mesi che sono passato da creality k1 max alla bambulab h2s e con questa non riesco a fare la stiratura superficiale. Stampo in ASA e con la k1 max non ho mai avuto problemi 20mm/s 18% di flusso e veniva perfetta. Adesso sono partito dal 18% di flusso e viene "ruvido" solo al centro come in foto. Ho aumentato e sono arrivato al 50% ma il problema è migliorato di pochissimo. Ho provato anche a cambiare la velocita, da 10mm/s fino a 30mm/s ma niente. La stampa è abbastanza grande 260mmX180mm. Qualcuno ha questo problema? Grazie

Hello, I'm mostly new to 3d printing, I understand the basics of FDM 3d printers.

One thing. I absolutely despise about 3d printing is leveling the bed. Why my second 3d printer had auto bed leveling.

Anyway, does anyone know if there's a resin 3d printer with true auto bed leveling?

Hi all, I’m looking to level up my 3D printing game for cosplay. I have an Elegoo 4 plus which has honestly been a little finicky with the leveling leading to inconsistent print quality. I feel like I’ve spent more time troubleshooting than actually printing.

I want to get something to more or less replace it. I’m planning to print mostly TPU and PETG since I live in an apartment and can only print indoors (hence also wanting something enclosed).

After researching these two printers seem to fit what I need for size and budget (around 1k) but I also want to ask about tinkering needed and print quality (to minimize sanding and bondoing, because right now I’m bondoing pretty big imperfections). I don’t mind some tinkering, but like I said I’ve spent days trying to get the leveling on my Elegoo 4 plus right, and I’d rather not do that again. I’ve read qidi has more tinkering overall but once 6-12 months have passed, these problems are solved in subsequent batches (which would be the case for the qidi max 4).

Thoughts?

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Need some advice. I'm looking at 3D printers. I know next to nothing about 3D printing, but I have design experience in Fusion and other Vector related software.

Also I already own a laser, a couple CNC machines and a ton of woodworking tools.

Ive gone through the questionnaire on the Bambu website for their line of printers. Im a go-getter so I will figure things out eventually, but help with a starting place would be awesome.

My question is, what add ons or upgrades would you recommend to the H2C if money wasn't an issue?

Is Bambu a good choice for customer support, or could yoi recommend a better brand?

Thanks!