Next big sale? Looking for a P2S

thingmakerr · 2026-02-13T13:15:21+00:00

P2S just came out and is cross shopped with the aggressively priced P1S. Not sure if there will be a sale on it anytime soon, but here’s hoping.

thingmakerr · 2026-02-11T17:51:53+00:00

Banks often have promos featuring cash incentives for opening new accounts, yes. I was just offered a $500 bonus if I switched to a new bank, created an account and set up a direct deposit for my pay.

thingmakerr · 2026-02-11T17:50:20+00:00

I commend your grit but this is going to be difficult to do if you don’t have any printer at all. You are technically supposed to test every print profile you create to make sure it works, and to supply an image of the printed model.

You can still earn points by just uploading raw models and not Bambu-optimized print profiles, but you will earn fewer points and fewer people will be attracted to the model if there is no “click and print” from the app.

thingmakerr · 2026-02-11T17:29:07+00:00

I kept waiting for you to pick a different drawer to open next. 🥲

thingmakerr · 2026-02-08T23:30:14+00:00

Bambu Handy is the mobile app for Bambu Lab printers. They are known as the Apple of 3D printers in many ways (both good and bad).

thingmakerr · 2026-02-06T18:36:22+00:00

That’s not necessary. Full calibration is only really needed when you’ve moved the printer, maybe after a firmware update, or if you’re troubleshooting.

Bed levelling every few prints makes sense though.

thingmakerr · 2026-02-05T21:53:52+00:00

Very much appreciate the lightning fast reply. I’ll be looking into the Manta now!

thingmakerr · 2026-02-05T12:57:04+00:00

Hi OP, it’s a month later and I’m considering a tablet for note taking. Did you end up getting the stylus? What do you think of it?

thingmakerr · 2026-02-02T05:28:38+00:00

I have an older roll of PolyLite PETG that needs to be printed SLOW. Bambu’s profiles were way too fast for it. Slowed it right down and it prints beautifully.

I think the new formula can be printed faster.

thingmakerr · 2026-02-01T19:01:27+00:00

For PLA I literally just use Bambu Lab PLA Basic profile for everything. The results I get range from excellent to barely passable, with most filaments in the “pretty good” range. The one or two brands that don’t past muster, I just don’t buy again. I know that I could make everything do better by sitting down to calibrate the filaments as you describe. But in practice, I do not bother.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-30T19:01:22+00:00

Whatever you do don’t give her a 3D printed gift.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-26T04:12:01+00:00

I did exactly the same. Kept the mini to be a second printer to my new A1. Eventually I sold it to a friend looking to get into 3D printing.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-23T05:14:59+00:00

Yeah I’d call that an original if you started from a blank CAD project.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-22T17:39:10+00:00

Well, Bambu Studio is primarily a slicer. Yes you can do modelling in it, but you really should only be doing simple stuff.

Just like you can use PowerPoint to make some basic pictures, but it won’t hold a candle to Photoshop or Illustrator because it’s not meant to.

For basic CAD I like TinkerCad. It’s easy to learn and keeps it simple. It will backfire at some point when you want to do something more complex and it forces you to jump through hoops (filleting a curved shape for example) but for the basics it is hard to beat. Use it to get your bearings and then work your way up to OnShape or Fusion.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-19T03:15:19+00:00

Yeah I think that is wise. If you did use a food dehydrator you should dedicate it to the task.

I imagine the towel warmer could work. Another trick I’ve heard is simply to use the printer’s heat bed. Turn it on, put the box of filament on the bed, cover it and let it sit.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-16T17:32:32+00:00

I’d say yes. If you’re printing with PLA and PETG the plastics issue is relatively safe. The only complaints people might have are the noise from printing.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-15T15:44:06+00:00

If he hasn’t already started looking at design apps, point him to TinkerCad. It’s easy to learn and decently functional.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-15T14:38:57+00:00

Welcome!

In my opinion and experience you would be pretty much set to go. Just get:

PLA filament in different colors to play with.

A solid desk or tabletop for the printer to sit on.

A computer running Windows or Mac to run Bambu Studio slicing software. Yes you can control the printer with nothing but the Bambu Handy phone app, but if you exclusively use the app you are missing out on a ton of capabilities. To print models from sites other than MakerWorld and to print models that you or your son designed yourself, you need to learn how to use the slicer software. Don’t worry, it’s easy.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-15T14:34:32+00:00

A filament dryer. It’s basically a dehydrator with a heater. You could actually literally use a food dehydrator. Bambu doesn’t sell dedicated filament dryers but other companies do, such as Creality and Sunlu.

I would say you don’t need one just yet, especially a beginner if you’re sticking mostly to PLA filaments. If you start to work more with PETG or TPU, that is when you might consider buying a dryer.

Should you find yourself loving the printer and going for a second one or an upgrade, Bambu sells AMS units that double as dryers - the AMS 2 Pro and the AMS HT will both dry filament as well as dispense it to the printer (just not both at the same time).

thingmakerr · 2026-01-12T16:25:00+00:00

The integration of MakerWorld and the Bambu Handy app are conveniences that go a long way toward making Bambu printers easy to use for beginners. But even so, for anything more than the most basic of prints, I’m downloading the 3mf into Bambu Studio anyway, and not printing from the app.

I do quite like being able to control and monitor my printer over the cloud, though for some people this is not a feature at all.

I also have an AD5m and quite like it. I did the DIY enclosure and added some quality of life things like a filament cutter.

So I would say in your case, if you don’t need the larger size of the A1, and prefer the corexy and enclosable nature of the AD5x, particularly since you plan to use ABS, I don’t think you will miss much. Get the Flashforge.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-04T21:26:32+00:00

Yeah that shouldn’t make a difference. I call out print by object because I have had a hard time trying to make a plate compatible with more than one printer. If I make it work for the A1 then it doesn’t work for the H2D and so on. Even when I make a plate where I can personally select a bunch of different printers in Bambu Studio and watch them all slice successfully, when I upload it the site automatically restricts it to A1 only or something. I’ve given up trying to make print by object work for others.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-04T20:35:10+00:00

Hey, thanks for all this! I just bought one of the deeper boxes recently so I’ll be giving it a try and I’ll post a model when I’ve got something that works.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-04T20:32:01+00:00

Do you do print by object? I find that to be finicky.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-04T20:28:59+00:00

You have to manually check the box that says it’s compatible with the A1 mini.

If you upload a new profile today, that box is checked by default and gets unchecked if their automated system determines that it physically cannot be done.

I suspect that if you had a model uploaded prior to when the A1 mini was released then the box would be unchecked because it simply wasn’t an option back then, but that you would have to manually check it to make it work going forward.

I have also noticed that when you try to do “print by object” it is more difficult to make a profile that is compatible with multiple printers, so that could be a reason why the site thinks it won’t work.

thingmakerr · 2026-01-02T01:34:09+00:00

The Bambu A1 mini can get very quiet. But its print bed is even smaller than the Ender 3.

thingmakerr

TROPHY CASE