I got into 3D printing in October ’24 – I’ve always wanted to get a 3D printer and start printing custom parts, mostly for my home. Things like a headphones holder or a webcam privacy shutter can be really useful.

I am mostly interested in printing functional prints and for that reason I decided to go with PETG filament, and only PETG filament. It’s pretty cheap, stronger than PLA (also more flexible) and can withstand high temperatures. It can also be printed without enclosure, because the fumes that come from melting the plastic aren’t toxic. It has a little higher printing temperature than PLA (220-250°C vs. 200-220°C for PLA) which I guess makes it a bit more expensive to print, because of a slightly higher electricity usage.

I own a Bambu Lab A1 printer with AMS Lite from the same company. The AMS (Automatic Material System) makes it possible to print in 4 different colors. The printer changes the filament accordingly while printing multi-color objects.

Total costs for the printer were around 349€ for the printer and 270€ for the AMS adding up to a sum of 619€ (around 649$).

Why Bambu Lab?

I remember taking robotics class in school, it was back in 2016. Our school had an Ultimaker 3D Printer. The 3D printing technology back then was still in its infancy – the printer was prone to faults, it needed a lot of calibration that was done mostly manually. Later I also found out that Ultimaker printers were massively overpriced, and their business model based on mostly selling their overpriced printers to schools. How did they get that many of them to buy their garbage I will never understand.

With Bambu Lab it’s the opposite – very cheap price (in comparison to ’16 – ’17 prices) and almost completely plug and play. All calibrations are done automatically, all you have to do is assemble the printer upon unpacking it and load the filament. Of course you also need to perform a small calibration process beforehand, but it’s still nothing compared to what I had to struggle with back then.

I heard a lot of great reviews about the Bambu Lab A1 and it was the only model I could afford (except the A1 mini, but I figured it’s better to spend some extra money to get a normal sized printer) so I decided to go with it. And I have to tell you, I am totally satisfied.

Why I love this printer

There’s a lot to say here. First thing would be that a lot of the parts can be replaced, in case they break. The official Bambu Lab store supplies all the original parts with appropriate price tags. In case that anything breaks, you can simply replace a part that breaks. Some parts are consumable goods, like the build plates or timing belts, those need to be replaced at some point. Naturally, they’re also available in the store.

There’s thousands of models online for accessories, mods and useful extensions for this printer online. And you can print it out yourself! Some modifications require additional parts, such as screws, but they can be purchased online for cheap. They’re also the standard ones (M4, M5 etc.)

Tinkering is so fun. There’s tons of things you can (and actually should) do, like regular maintenance, cleaning and occasional calibration. I love tinkering with it, especially applying fresh grease and oil to the rails or gears. Call me autistic, but I absolutely love stuff like that.

In contrast to a traditional printer that, well, prints on paper, there’s a lot of things that can go wrong and a lot of stuff that can impact the print quality. But fear not, there’s a whole Bambu Lab Wiki, which is maintained by the manufacturer themselves, with all the tutorials, guides and resources to help you troubleshoot. In the worst case, their support is also great and can help you further.

Cons (I suppose)

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. 3D printing (on any printer, not just the Bambu Lab) can be really frustrating. I have recently had an issue with underextrusion (when the extruder pushes out less filament through the nozzle than it should, resulting in missing material there, where… well, where it should be). I spent 2 weeks taking the printer apart, doing calibration and lubricating all the axes, just to find out, that the issue was the AMS being a bit too far away from the printer. Yeah.

Apart from that, it’s also a pretty expensive hobby. Parts, mostly the consumables, aren’t cheap, and the material, especially when you want to have all the different pretty colors, can sum up. While good quality PETG filament averages 16$ per 1 kg and the hotend (nozzle) costs around 15$, a new build plate can cost up to 50$.

Conclusion

I love 3D printing and I love this printer I have. It opens a lot of new possibilities, from designing custom parts for your kitchen to printing toys, gadgets and modifications for, well, anything. And there’s millions of free models online that you can use.

I would strongly encourage you to get into the hobby if you love tinkering and creating.

If you have any questions, feel free to write one below in the comments! I will get back to you.