Bambu X1C or Prusa XL + 5 Tool changer

[Sophie]

hi all, happy new year and all that :)

So, I'm part of a Hackspace, and have been tasked to come up with two proposals for two new 3D printers, with a preference for one of them... But I am struggling to decide!

If money was not the deciding factor...

What would people choose from these two and why?

Bambu Lab X1C with AMS

or

Original Prusa XL + 5 Tool changer

I've been doing a lot of research on both and really the pros and cons of each printer kind of make these pretty much equal in my head. 

The capability I'm most interested in/keen on is the multi material and multi colour printing. 

Please help me choose!

Thanks in advance

Sophie

[Sophie]

If anyone was interested in the proposals I had come up with so far feel free to view the docs below:

Bambu: https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqVAzJx72nN4hvJI1XWo8grKOGtJEg?e=EBt7YD

Prusa: https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqVAzJx72nN4hvJKLl8PFrZtq3BF6g?e=exhE6n 

[vr...@optonline.net]

Hi there Sophie,

 

I'm NOT an expert on either of these printers. Although, I HAVE had my hands on the Bambu unit, and have been working with it at work right now. 

 

From the postings from Andy about the Prusa XL - it's like that one is still in development mode. And, as such, is not one that is easy to use or get great Results UNLESS you spend a lot of extra time working on it. And, also, if you implement all the stuff and processes that Andy speaks about -- THEN you CAN have good results and success. 

 

But, the Bambu is simply more sophisticated, as noted also by Andy. It simply is engineered better, and for the most part - Just WORKS! I will also add, the CTO at Vision Miner, where I work - he has one - and he brags that if you print in ABS and you have supports on the object - that the supports come away Cleanly and have NO Under Surface Maring - which is a BIG Deal. As I agree with Andy, its truly KEY to the forward movement of desktop 3D Printing - having clean surfaces where supports are required. 

 

Now, AFAIK - another major factor is that the Prusa XL has a bigger build space than the Bambu. So, if printing of larger objects is VERY Important to your decision - maybe you need to get the XL. But, if you want a machine that simply works Right-Out-Of-The-Box, then it seems that Bambu is your best option!

 

FYI - Google Groups is giving me a problem, and I have been missing MANY messages/postings from the forum, as I only interact with this group via the email reflections. I CAN get onto the Google Group webpage - to see postings - but, I just can't reply since I'm not logged into it. Thus why this message may be coming up as a Separate Thread - instead of attached to original thread. Also, for some reason, even though I have emailed you directly Sophie - my stupid email app would Not pull up your email addy. 

 

L8r!

-K

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

I think you may be better off with the Bambu at this point in time. Prusa sells their machine without a final system level verification and they refuse to talk about it. As such all buyers must beware. Of course I’m referring only to the fully assembled version and not the kit. At least with the kit you’re fully prepared to take it apart to replace things. Besides that the Prusa is not even half way to a completed polished machine.

And yes… we will be stating this in the podcast.

[Ross Arroyo]

Not to mention the drastic price difference for the CarbonX1C. CX1 aall so has ability to go up to 16 colors at a time (although I’ve only done that a few times).  1 AMS with 4 colors will handle 80% of your prints and 2AMS with 8 colors will handle about 98% of your prints (IMO). All while costing much less than an XL 5

Ross

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On Jan 13, 2024, at 12:37 PM, 3D Printing Tips and Tricks <3d-printing-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I think you may be better off with the Bambu at this point in time. Prusa sells their machine without a final system level verification and they refuse to talk about it. As such all buyers must beware. Of course I’m referring only to the fully assembled version and not the kit. At least with the kit you’re fully prepared to take it apart to replace things. Besides that the Prusa is not even half way to a completed polished machine.

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[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

Let’s get something straight though…

This ams thing ain’t all that great when compared to a toolchanger. Add to that the auto loading of a single extruder is not a good idea when using non bonding materials for full contact supports. So the Bambu IS the better choice at this time in terms of reliability and usability for typical use cases for an inexpensive 3d printer, but it will NEVER be able to match the capabilities of a toolchanger in any way shape or form…

And then there’s the 14x14x14” build area.

Prusa should be taken to task for the boneheaded stupidity of ruining this product. If the fool doesn’t  the whole dang farm in a push to polish it correctly fast he will get just what he deserves.

[James Fackert]

Bambu way by far unless you have one person who is a prusa lover and is just aching to babysit that prusa for the rest of his life.

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[Ross Arroyo]

yes. That’s why I immediately put down my deposit for the XL5 when it came out.  Plus I promise that the XL5 would not need a tower or wipe (ish) with much less wasted time and filament.  However the price for the XL plus the reviews (mostly from this great community) caused me to pause and watch.  Plus the CX1 was out first so I went ahead and purchased it and just worked while I waited for XL.  Good point on the 14 x14x14 size.  CX1 is 10x10x10 sort of.   There is a small 1x.5” space int the front corner it has to exclude.  

I think it is still just a matter of time where a large format, great performing tool changer hits the market at a great price point.   

 I have had great luck with printing PETG / PLA full contact supports with my CX1.  Until then I’ll keep cranking away with this CX1 and the piles of poop it generates.  Still my favorite so far.  

Ross

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On Jan 13, 2024, at 12:57 PM, 3D Printing Tips and Tricks <3d-printing-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Let’s get something straight though…

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[Sophie]

Thanks all for your comments.

Even though most of you are leaning towards Bambu, it's still a tough one.

I think the idea of the Prusa XL could have been soooo good, and it's just sort of...not, besides the larger build plate and 5 toolheads, most other things just got forgot about or afterthought. I'm also still a bit bummed that it doesn't come in an enclosure of sorts. 

Thanks again

[James Fackert]

The Bambu X1C works.

The Prusa XL +5 doesn't.

Makes the choice clear and simple.

If you need the size of the XL bed and can't modularize your project into assemblies of smaller parts,  keep looking and waiting.

Prusa has failed his community. It's sad. But it's true.

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[Peter]

I think "doesn't work" is a fairly extreme overstatement of the problems some people are having with the XL5.

Does it require some assembly even for the "fully assembled" version? Yes. Are there some software features that are still half-baked? Absolutely. Are there design and engineering decisions which could have been better? You betcha.

But it's still a functional and very capable printer, and some of the early kinks are already being worked out. For example, the "retract on park" distance has been increased in some of the updated filament profiles, and I've been having great success printing very large multmaterial prints without a prime tower.

It's fair to be critical of the XL5, and it's certainly fine to decide it's not the printer for you. But it definitely works. As proof, see the attached 13" tall garden gnome printed in five colors of crappy old ABS I had lying around and needed to use up, no prime tower needed.

   -Peter

[James Fackert]

Yes, I hear you.

I am pretty disappointed in Prusa on a bunch of levels over the years, so biased.

But if you are not a "dig in and make it work" person,  I don't consider it a "works out of the box" printer, and that what "works" means to me.

Nice print!

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[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

Wait.., what?!

Wadya mean “it doesn’t work”? Kinda extreme on that statement. Mine works fine! We say no to recommending it because they market to people who are afraid of Allen wrenches and they don’t do a full system test before they ship it. That does not mean it doesn’t work!

If you can’t handle actually thinking about the 3d printer because you don’t have the skills then we say don’t buy it. Instead go with the smaller, less capable machine that puts you completely at the mercy of the people that build it. I look at the Bambu posts on their forum. I see just as many issues there as I see on the Prusa forum. Bambu is not a  perfect machine and it is still a single extruder machine.

[vrfx]

Peter - I am only NOW just seeing your reply - and your AMAZING GNOME! VERY Cool indeed!

But - I hope you don't hate me for SAYING this - but, HELL - make that Gnome look F'ing AMAZING and Acetone Vapor Smooth the HELL out of that thing - and you will BLOW People's MINDS!!!

Heck - if you were in SoCal - I'd ask you to give it to me to Smooth it for you - and I would use one of my tricks to do Big Smoothing!

Anyway - Go ROCK That Prusa XL dude - I just LOVE Big Arse 3D Prints! And, Cartoonish - is even MORE Awesome!

-Kurt

[Juan Posada]

I am surprised nobody has brought up another factor, which is that you can only buy one of these machines you can actually buy today. If you order a Bambu today it will ship next week. If you order a Prusa it will be shipped "in the first half of 2024". 

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[vrfx]

Yeah Juan - that's a VERY GOOD Point - and one Sophie MUST Consider!

I will throw in another suggestion - as Andy has gotten Great results from the Tenlog IDEX printer - so, maybe Sophie should also consider that one...

-K

[James Fackert]

I have spent way too much time debugging and fixing 3d printers. 

Gosh the last ten years sure has been fun, but... 

I have stuff I need to print now.

Bambu does the job.

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