The Bambu Lab A1 3D printer combo with the AMS Lite is a beginner friendly mid-sized 3D with heaps of amazing features such as the full auto calibration system that calibrates the Z-offset, bed-level, vibration resonance and nozzle pressure all automatically, there’s an excellent quick swap nozzle system for changing out nozzle sizes. It also has impressive printing with speeds, along with excellent print quality and multi-color printing capabilities with the AMS lite.
Key Specs
- Full-auto Calibration
- Multi-Color and Multi Material Printing
- Active Flow Rate Compensation
- Quick Swap Nozzle
- Active Motor Noise Cancelling
- 256mm x 265mm x 256mm Build Volume
- Rigid Frame
- Easy operation
- Color Touch Screen
- Excellent Print Quality
Assembly for this printer is super easy and setting up the machine is straight forward process. The manual has clear instructions on the assembly and the bolts are clearly labelled in bags. All the complex parts are already setup and pre-assembled and just need to be bolted together, along with plugging in a few cables. It will take around 15-20 minutes to assemble the printer and the whole assembly process is straight forward with easy to follow steps.
Design and Build
The A1 has a clean modern open frame design. The main structure uses extruded aluminum and sheet metal build to give it a solid construction. There’s nicely designed molded plastic covers for the main body and other small components. There’s a high level of attention to detail to the fit and finish and it’s all well-built with quality materials.
At the front of the printer we’ve got the 3.5” color touch screen, this has simplified user interface and it’s easy to navigate for starting a print, change filaments, adjusting settings and for the basic printer operation.
For connectivity the A1 has built in Wi-Fi for file transfer and remote access on a PC with Bambu studio or with the mobile app. There a 32GB micro SD card located at the front for offline transfer of files and for saving video and time lapse footage. In the setting there’s also a LAN only mode for local wireless printing.
Motion
For the motion we have a linear rail attached to the aluminum profile for the X axis, and the linear rails are ultra-smooth and give accurate motion, with very little maintenance required. The Y axis has a metal guide rail slider system which is neatly enclosed in the base. At the back the Z axis uses dual lead screws on linear rods which ensures precise Z layers.
Tool Head
Taking a look at the tool head this has a direct drive extruder that feeds filament through an all metal hot end that comes with a stainless steel 0.4mm nozzle installed. This can reach temperatures of 300c which is good for printing basic materials PLA, PETG and TPU. What’s interesting here is that the nozzle system allows for quick swaps simple by removing the silicon sock and clipping the hot end with one clip. Along with the 0.4mm nozzle there’s options to install 0.2, 0.6, 0.8 mm nozzles and these are available on the Bambu Lab site
This tool head also has built in filament tangle detection and a filament run-out sensor. This will pause the print and notify if the filament has run out, and resuming printing after is filament replaced and it’s also good to know there’s power off recovery if there’s loss of power to the printer.
At either side of the hot end air ducts connected to a single rear fan, cool down the freshly printed layers.
Heated Bed
The heat bed is embedded with magnets and these hold the dual sided textured PEI plate firmly in place and it can reach a maximum temperature of 100C. Towards the back of the bed there silicon wiper for that’s used for cleaning the nozzle.
The latest version of the A1 now has an upgraded heat bed cable that features Kevlar reinforcement, thicker insulation, a softer copper, optimized wire winding interval, nylon sleeving and extended strain relief for the cabling. They have also added a rubber bumper to help protect the wires from accidentally getting bent or damaged.
Now for print size the A1 has a build volume of 256mm cubed and that’s the same size as found on the X1, P1 series of printers, so build plates can be interchanged and this is a good size for most for models and projects.
Camera
There’s a small camera located on the printer, while it has a very low frame rate, it’s used to monitor the prints, record print videos and time lapses footage. Next to the camera is a small LED light to light up the print area and there’s a cover that can be moved over the cameras lens for privacy.
Full Auto Calibration
The full auto calibration on the A1 is a hands free system that will probe and set the Z offset and bed level automatically. Along with this, sensors will automatically measure the vibration resonance on both the X and Y axis and the active flow rate compensation, all combined resulting in hassle free and easy printing. So there’s nothing to manually adjust or to tinker with and we can just focus on get things printed.
What is the AMS?
So the AMS Lite is an Automatic Material System which is mainly used for multi-color and multi-material printing, it holds 4 rolls of filament and is able to automatically change and select filament as needed
This allows you to have multiple colors or different material loaded and ready to go. Not only that, the AMS is able to be used as a filament backup system, which will automatically reload filament of the same properties if one runs out.
Spools of filament are super easy to load onto the AMS lite, and the Bambu Lab spools include a RF ID tag that will auto detect what filament type and color is in use and this automatically apply the best setting for the material. Which is a very clever system indeed.
The AMS is not only limited to Bambu Lab filament spools, I found most generic and cardboard spools of filament fit and work well with the AMS lite, but these will need material information and color entered manually.
Now the A1 printer and the AMS Lite do take up a bit of space on a desk top, this measures 680mm in width so if you want a smaller set up with a reduced foot print Bambu Lab does provide a file for printing a bracket to mount the AMS Lite on top of the printer and this will free up some desk top space.
Software and Phone App
Taking a quick look at the Bambu Studio software, it has a user friendly interface and it’s easy to use to prepare 3D models for printing. I find the default pre-sets are great for printing and I’m only usually making adjusting to the layer height, wall thickness, and infill settings all depending on the model requirements.
There’s also the cool paint feature that allows us to add color to any objects for printing. It’s a simple process to prepare and add color to a model with the tools.
Within the software we can also send prints, watch printing progress and control the connected printers.
What’s also great is we have the ability to access Maker World to discover models for printing, there’s a large community of users sharing their designs and 3D models and there’s always something new to find. And these design can be opened in Bambu Studio or sent directly to the printer with the Bambu Handy mobile app.
Prints
Starting with the included pre-sliced Benchy file found on the SD card we’re using the Bambu Lab Red PLA Basic filament. This is a good first test print to check and confirm everything is working well. The Benchy boat printed quickly in 20mins and with it completed the build plate is removed from the printer. The bottom half of the hull was a bit shiner than the rest, but overall the printed model looked clean.
Next up we’ve go the purge bucket, what’s impressive is seeing the first layer of the model print on the A1, it super smooth, clean and uniform. Which go to show how well this printer automatically calibrates its self, and this is all while using a generic brand PLA filament!
For the next print we’re making the LED lamp kit, to get started there’s a QR code on the side of the box. Scanning it with a mobile device will open the model up in maker world through the Bambu handy app. From here we can prepare the model by selecting the printer, then a quickly check of the settings and we can press on print now.
It will cloud slice the file and then send the print job to the printer. With the printers turned on, the filament is loaded and the build plate ready, there’s nothing else to touch and the printer will start automatically. It’s a good system just being able to find a model and start printing.
The LED lamp kit turned out to be a brilliant project to make, it was an easy process to prepare and print the files, and it’s a really nice design that aesthetically pleasing and functional.
Multi Color Print
For the next print we will test out the Multi Color functionality of the AMS lite. These ducks are a pre coloured models. During the print the filament will automatically changes between the yellow, orange, black and white filament colors.
Printing with colors does increase the print time and these models took 4Hrs 48Min with majority of the time spent on the colors with a total of 82 filament changes.
So another thing on multicolored prints there’s a bit of waste produced when loading and changing filament colors. But with careful tuning, such as reducing the flush volume or the prime tower size, the waste amount can be lowered.
The overall quality of the printed color models looks great with a smooth finish and clean transition between the colors.
Final Thoughts
The Bambu Lab A1 3D printer is a very capable machine for printing models and designs. Adding the AMS lite will give you multi-color printing options and I think this will be a popular go to 3D printer setup.
It has straightforward setup instructions and minimal assembly required, and with its ease of use, users can operate the 3D printer and produce high-quality prints.
The 3D printer has an excellent build quality, easy to use software and smart feature like the hand free auto bed level, vibration compensation and active nozzle pressure all add up to a hassle free printing experience.
Whether you’re creating prototypes, functional parts or printing fun models, this printer consistently delivers impressive results that exceed expectations.
Overall the A1 offers excellent value for a beginner or experienced user looking for a easy to use smart and fast 3D printer.
Product Links
Watch the full detailed video review here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBzPNRHTkxM
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