Bambu Lab X1C 3D Printer

I am/or was a complete NOOB when it comes to 3D printers. I have had my X1C since Christmas and absolutely love it. Using YouTube tutorials, I have learned Freecad V1 and used it to take full advantage of my printer making all sorts of useful parts to fix my kids toys, replace the hinge on the fridge and even print out my dental scan (for fun!). As a beginner, I wanted a machine that was as easy to use as my regular (paper/ink) printer! After a lot of online research I settled on the Bambu Lab X1C with the optional AMS. (The AMS is the automatic filament feeder that sits on top. While it isn't a requirement, if you are spending this much on a 3D printer I personally would recommend spending the extra to get the AMS)

Just after I got my printer there was a big scandal regarding this printer, apparently Bambu have locked down some of the facilities to network print from 3rd party apps. If you want to delve around in the guts of this thing or are mass printing commercially it may not be the printer for you (but then if you were you wouldn't be reading this review!). I would argue that most people including myself are happy using the software it comes with to send our prints from the computer to the printer!

I use entirely free software to do my designs (Both have steep learning curves but there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube!): * Freecad version 1 (Free download from freecad.org) - Great for Engineered parts. Export as * Blender version 4 (Free download from blender.org) - Great for more artistic stuff. Export as STF * Bambu Studio (See printer setup) - Used to 'slice' designs and send to the printer.

AMS: The AMS (filament feeder that sits on top) is an optional extra. I would strongly recommend it though at time of writing it does add several hundred dollars to the cost! Even for just one spool it really makes the process of swapping spools easy. Note: This can be used for multi-colour prints but switching colours is incredibly wasteful. I use it to house the different materials I use. So I have one slot with the filament I use for prototype (PLA) then I have the other two with my most commonly used other materials with the forth slot free for materials I don't use that often.

It came with everything I needed to get started though the deals vary so it is worth checking: * The printer itself including print head, etc * Textured print plate (there are other types) * A spool of (bright green) PLA filament. (PLA is the easiest filament to use and a good one to get started with) * Bambu studio - downloaded from website (Available for Windows, Linux, Mac, etc)

Additional recommended purchases: * AMS - (Optional but nice) There is a hook on the back that can hold a spool if you don't get it but then you have to swap manually every time you want a new spool. Also you don't have to put the hook on the back if you get the AMS that sits on the top! * Micro SD card - This is required if you want to record your prints on the built in camera. I used an old Sandisk 32GB micro SD card I had lying around! You don't need a huge one and they can be picked up from a supermarket, Officeworks or even the post office from about $15! * Filament dryer- (Not really necessary for PLA) These come in a range of prices and can be purchased from places like Amazon, InkStation, etc. Most of the filaments are sensitive to humidity and require a bit of baking to dry them out. While the filament is generally fine to print straight out of the sealed bag, once it has been sat in the printer/air for a while it sometimes benefits from a couple of hours in the filament dryer! (Prints come out looking better) * Smooth plate - This allows for a smooth face where it contacts the plate but may need the special glue ($5 from the Bambu store) I brought once I felt I had skilled up enough. * Different materials - I also purchased PETG HF filament and ABS for prints that were going to be used outside (PLA is not good with water or UV). There is a chart on the Bambu website with what should be used for what. Note: I purchased these after I got good printing with PLA.

What I like ------------ * Simplicity - It is really easy to use! Once set up you can get a reasonable print with the default setup. The printer came with everything I needed to get going and I was able to download the rest from the web. * Community - There is a huge community online providing examples, tutorials, etc. I got started by following some simple tutorials online. There is also a lot of advice about settings. * Bambu Studio - This looks terrifying at first and has a whole load of settings I will probably never touch however mostly you can rely on the template settings. The software is set up so that you can do as little or as much as you want before hitting print allowing both beginners and experts alike to do what they want. There are some good tutorials on how to get the best out of your prints. It also takes the guessing game out of supports for the hanging parts of your print and will automatically put them in if selected! * Cost of print - The cost to actually print stuff unless you are going big is quite low. The printer is very good at filling solid areas with as much air as it can get away with (adjustable) to reduce the amount of filament wasted. * Ease - Printing is a case of importing my 3d design into Bambu studio, adding supports if necessary, choosing how I would like to slice it (speed vs quality), picking my filament from what is in my AMS and then hitting print. * Loudness - While it isn't exactly quite, it isn't too loud that it can't be used in the office (It isn't much louder than my Epson Inkjet printer). * AMS - This just simplifies the whole process. It also means you don't have to attach the huge hook at the back to hold the spool reducing the depth of the printer by at least150mm! (I have it on a thin desk) * Wobble - The printer should really be placed on a solid surface. But it does extremely well on my wobbly old desk! Even though the whole thing shakes whenever I am printing!) I really need to consider a better surface. * Speed - You can adjust the resolution and quality to increase speed for prototypes * Build plates - With the build plates a metal sheet that sticks to the magnetic print base (mine came with the textured build plate) one no longer needs any special glue for PLA printing. * Spool recognition - The AMS uses RFID to figure out what spool has been mounted and to set up accordingly filament purchased from Bambu labs. Note: You can't buy the RFID tags separately so if you want to use third party filament spools you have to either remove from an old Bambu Labs spools or set up the filament manually! * Parts - Replacement parts are reasonably inexpensive and it came with a whole bunch of replacement bits. I can't say how difficult it is to replace them though as I have not needed to replace anything yet. * Filaments - There are a wide selection of filaments available from the Bambu store (Recommended to buy "with spool" for the first fiew until you figure things out). It is reasonably competitive with other providers * Packaging - Someone has obviously spent a significant amount of time thinking about this. It was well packaged and survived its journey intact despite obviously having taken a beating in transit! * Building - While I followed a Youtube video to do this, the instructions were good and easy to follow. My only criticism was that there were lots of parts left over which were in fact spares. It wasn't made obvious that these were spares so I was worried I had missed something. * Print from SD - It is possible to print from files stored on the MicroSD card without using the network print feature. * Demo - There are several demo files on the printer its self so you can do a test print before setting up software on your computer. I choose the boat one. (Again before the controversy!!! Note: Bambu have NOT altered the design so it is still within the terms of the license!) * PLA Spool (provided) - The PLA filament they provided with the * Fully enclosed printing - This allows an expanded range of different materials that can be printed. * Camera - I like the camera as you can look at the print without opening the door. It also keeps a timelapse recording of each print. Camera could be less out of focus though! What I didn't like ------------------- * While it advertises 256x256x256 mm printing. It uses a good 50mm on one side of the plate for test/calibration printing. Not sure how this can be avoided though. I suppose you could not do the calibration phase but I am not quite there in terms of my skill level yet. * Poop - This printer poops and poops a lot. Every time it starts and finishes a print or swaps a spool (changes colour/material) it has to eject some filament. Even though this is probably less than a gram per time it still seems very wasteful . * Poop capture - As standard this just falls out of the back of the machine onto the electrical socket! There are 3D prints you can download that will make boxes and things to capture the poop. * Fumes! - This thing makes some minor but bad smelling fumes and probably not a great idea to use in an enclosed space! It could really use a small port that could be hooked up to an extractor! I may have to print an adaptor! * Spool RFID tags - They do not allow you to buy or program the RFID tags for the spools so 3rd party filament has to be set up manually! Or you have to peel the RFID tags off old/used spools! * Delivery time - I don't know where the filament is coming from but I live in Tassie and it takes a while to get here. Note: I have only ever used the free delivery option so it might be quicker if I did paid postage?! * Camera - Is a bit blurry and out of focus most of the time.

Note: The print in the Timelapse video below took about 40 Minutes and was a low resolution prototype! The final print took about 2 hours at the highest quality using PETG HF filament.