Bambu Labs X1 Carbon - Initial Impressions

[TomWinTejas]

This week I finally received my new Bambu Labs X1 Carbon and wanted to share my initial impressions.  The TL;DR is wow, this printer works out of the box with amazing speed and good quality.

I first purchased an Ender 3 Pro four years ago when I saw there were limited options for purchasing project boxes to fit my ESP32 projects.  The Ender requires some assembly, nothing complex, but as I recall it took about an hour to get finished.  There was a pretty big learning curve with bed leveling and tweaking temperatures and flow rates, slicer settings, etc.  But even after getting those dialed in, the printer was begging to be upgraded and thus began the rabbit hole that I struggled to escape.  Upgrading the mainboard to get quieter stepper controllers, printing new fan shrouds to get quieter fans with improved airflow, upgrading the extruder to alleviate retraction problems, installing a BL Touch for bed leveling, and finally upgrading the entire hot end.  At the end of the day I felt like I sunk so much time and had such little to show for it and realized I would rather spend time tinkering with electronics and not on a 3d printer which I use to create enclosures and odd parts.

So a few months ago I ran across videos of the new Bambu Labs printer which was in a Kickstarter phase.  Fully understanding the risk of Kickstarter, I decided to forego the savings and wait to see if they could actually deliver the product.  A couple months ago they accepted pre-orders and I signed up.  A week ago I received an e-mail asking me to pay the remainder of the balance and a few days after I UPS dropped off the printer.  The unboxing was not as simple as plugging it in, but following their wiki it was a 10 minute process to remove the packing material and safeguards and complete the setup.

The combo kit I ordered came with the printer and a filament manager box (AMS) that holds 4 spools and can manage mid-print switches.  It also came with a few sample rolls of filament and I decided to stick with the supplied filaments for the first prints.  It was nice to see that I didn't even have to install the slicer to get the first test print going, I was able to browse and select the model on the touchscreen and it did a great job of 3d rendering the part to preview it.  I was skeptical but a half hour later I saw the finished product and was highly impressed.

Today I decided to load up some Microcenter (eSun) PLA+ and see how it handles some third party filament and it's doing fantastically.  Below are some pictures from a test print showing how well the printer handles overhangs, stringing, bridging, and supports.  There was some very minor stringing, but all in all it passed with flying colors.

The provided slicer, Bambu Studio, is intuitive so far.  I am used to Cura and from what I understand Bambu Studio is a derivative of PrusaSlicer, but I haven't had any problems adapting to the interface.  The print jobs can be sent via the network and there's always the option of using the microsd card as well.  There's also a mobile app where you can monitor the jobs and adjust settings like the speed on the fly.  So far I have no complaints about the slicer or the mobile app.

The noise levels are typical for 3d printers, but I also have the printer sitting on an unmodified Ikea Lack table at the moment, so it's not helping the sound levels.  The table also isn't fixed to the wall and has little mass, so I'm sure there's some ringing associated with the shaking of the table as the print head moves.  If I decide to stick with the Lack I plan on adding some braces to make it more rigid and then coupling it with the wall to greatly reduce the shaking.  I may also try adding more mass below the printer and see if that helps with the noise.  There is a silent mode which may be slightly quieter, but I find adjusting the speed moreso changes the pitch of the noise and the sport mode seems quieter to my ears than the standard mode.  In any case the noise doesn't bother me and the printer can be paused and resumed with ease if you need to take a phone call nearby and feel it's too loud.

The printer is quite expensive compared to the Ender 3 Pro, but it was worth the splurge in my opinion.  It's truly plug and play and there aren't many aftermarket upgrades that I feel I would want to do at this point... and those which I am looking to do shouldn't have any effect on the actual printing and are ancillary to the machine such as improving the lighting and adding more space for desiccant beads in the AMS.

I'm sure I've missed plenty in this initial review, but am glad to answer any questions or try some small test prints if it's helpful to anyone.



https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon-combo

[Lindley]

Very interesting, look forwards to seeing how your journey progresses.

[simba15]

Any updates? I know the early ones have had some issues with plastic parts.

[Infraviolet]

Would the X1 Carbon work with the Ultimaker Cura slicer software instead?
What are the maximum travel and printing speeds you've been able to have the head do without sacrificing print quality?
Thanks

[TomWinTejas]

Any updates? I know the early ones have had some issues with plastic parts.

Overall it's been a positive experience.  One downside to the printer is that the default configuration leverages cloud based print jobs, so if the Bambu Lab server is down, you can't print... but there is a LAN mode and you can always print via SD card, so it's not something that will be useless if the company goes out of business. 

As far as print quality and reliability, it has been great so far.  I don't do a huge volume of printing, but have gone through a few rolls of PLA+ so far.  I do have some PETG, ABS, and TPU that I would like to try out... I'll report back when I experiment with those.

[TomWinTejas]

Would the X1 Carbon work with the Ultimaker Cura slicer software instead?
What are the maximum travel and printing speeds you've been able to have the head do without sacrificing print quality?
Thanks

You can use another slicer, however you would lose the ability to manage filaments... so if you want to use multiple filaments in a single print, you'd have to use Bambu Studio.  It's based on Prusa Slicer, so as a result it's also opensource, which can be found at: https://github.com/bambulab/BambuStudio

The slicer has presets for speed: Silent is half speed, Standard is regular, Sport is 124%, and Ludicrous is 166%.  I usually run in Sport mode and don't notice any ringing... but larger prints on Ludicrous can have a little bit of artifacts.  I have the printer sitting on an Ikea Lack table and printed some braces for the legs to stiffen them up and then got some angle brackets to screw the table into an adjacent bookshelf and the wall behind it to minimize sway.  Even with my efforts to stiffen things up, it does still sway a bit on Ludicrous speed.  I think the quality would improve if I got a better table with more mass... but for what I print it doesn't really matter enough to me.

[Infraviolet]

What have those speeds been in mm/sec? Thanks

[mikerj]

I've been down a similar rabbit hole with cheap printers, which has been quite interesting to be fair.  I've been contemplating the purchase of an X1C but there doesn't seem to be any option to purchase it without the AMS which I don't want,  but I do want the upgraded extruder parts and filter for high temperature materials (which don't come with the X1).

[wraper]

I've been down a similar rabbit hole with cheap printers, which has been quite interesting to be fair.  I've been contemplating the purchase of an X1C but there doesn't seem to be any option to purchase it without the AMS which I don't want,  but I do want the upgraded extruder parts and filter for high temperature materials (which don't come with the X1).

In UK you can preorder X1C with ETA of end of April. You can change extruder gears and hotend to hardened steel versions on non carbon X1 and P1P too. And there is no difference in material temperature in X1, X1C and P1P (need to attach some sort of walls to print ABS on P1P). Hardened steel extruder/hotend are only needed if you print with abrasive filaments a lot. Carbon filter can be put in X1 too but you need to buy it separately. BTW AFAIK by default it's not working when printing high temperature materials as it only works when fan blows the air out. Maybe will get mine X1C with AMS next week as I preordered it a few weeks ago and paid full price on Friday.

[wraper]

I think the quality would improve if I got a better table with more mass... but for what I print it doesn't really matter enough to me.

Waiting to get mine yet but thinking about just placing it right on concrete floor  . Not ergonomic, however solves all swinging and vibration problems with no effort and zero cost.

[mikerj]

I've been down a similar rabbit hole with cheap printers, which has been quite interesting to be fair.  I've been contemplating the purchase of an X1C but there doesn't seem to be any option to purchase it without the AMS which I don't want,  but I do want the upgraded extruder parts and filter for high temperature materials (which don't come with the X1).

In UK you can preorder X1C with ETA of end of April.

Unless I'm being really dim (entirely possible) I don't see any option to order without the AMS.  The UK website only lists the P1P, the X1 and the X1 Carbon "Combo".  The P1P pricing is attractive, unlike the machine itself which makes an Ender 3 look pretty.  You can print external panels for it, but then I'm heading down the rathole again!

[wraper]

Here.

[wraper]

You can print external panels for it, but then I'm heading down the rathole again!

[TomWinTejas]

I've been down a similar rabbit hole with cheap printers, which has been quite interesting to be fair.  I've been contemplating the purchase of an X1C but there doesn't seem to be any option to purchase it without the AMS which I don't want,  but I do want the upgraded extruder parts and filter for high temperature materials (which don't come with the X1).

In UK you can preorder X1C with ETA of end of April.

Unless I'm being really dim (entirely possible) I don't see any option to order without the AMS.  The UK website only lists the P1P, the X1 and the X1 Carbon "Combo".  The P1P pricing is attractive, unlike the machine itself which makes an Ender 3 look pretty.  You can print external panels for it, but then I'm heading down the rathole again!

I ordered it right when it became available and I know at least here in the US the AMS was an option.  I don't think I'll do much multi-filament printing, but the AMS seemed like a handy way of keeping the filament dry.  The option of doing a support filament also sounded intriguing, so I decided to spend the extra money.  I can't say that I've put it to good use yet, but if the printer lasts as long as I hope then I should eventually.

[mikerj]

Here.

Thanks, I was looking in the "X1 Carbon Combo" rather than "X1 Series", it makes sense now. I was a bit concerned about the cost of spares (heaters, nozzles etc) but they seem surprisingly reasonable.  Very, very tempted, though won't be able to hide this from my wife

[wraper]

So I received my X1C combo today. Didn't try AMS yet. Printed a few things, my impression so far is that it's a real production quality machine while others feel like toys for tinkering. The loudest thing is fans. As of mechanics, it's not that loud even at ludicrous speed. I guess those who heard rattling were hearing it from unstable base. No rattling whatsoever when I'm running it on concrete floor. Also imho it's not that bad placing it on the floor as screen can be adjusted facing upwards.

[simba15]

Excellent to hear.

I am trying to get one for my office so we want more of a production device than a toy.

Thanks!

[exe]

I thought it's knock-off of prusa xl (minus build volume), but holy molly, it's quite a loaded machine, especially for the price. I'm seriously thinking cancelling my prusa xl preorder (which I'll probably won't be able to afford, esp. in the configuration I want) and buy this beast to upgrade my prusa mk3s+ (or whatever it's called now, I bought it several yeargs ago and upgraded several times).

I'm impressed with self-calibration, AMS and stock hardened steel extruder. Prusa was fun to tinker, but it won't match all the features of x1 no matter what. The only thing I don't like is, it seems it's noisy. On the other hand, my prusa is noisy too. Yeah, it rattles and resonates quite a bit when moving fast and I wasn't able to fix that. At the very least I had to disassemble the PSU and put silicon glue on caps and heatsinks that were vibrating, but rattling didn't completely go away, though now it's quieter.

[wraper]

The only problem I had so far was bed adhesion with their glue stick which was included and default profiles. Increasing bed temperature for ABS and PETG fixes the problem on engineering plate, for PLA and cool plate it's better to not use it at all or use something else. AMS works great, I also put additional silica gel packs between feeders and moisture indicator card. <5% humidity and works great for keeping filament dry.

[wraper]

The only thing I don't like is, it seems it's noisy. On the other hand, my prusa is noisy too. Yeah, it rattles and resonates quite a bit when moving fast and I wasn't able to fix that. At the very least I had to disassemble the PSU and put silicon glue on caps and heatsinks that were vibrating, but rattling didn't completely go away, though now it's quieter.

It's not that noisy except fans on max speed. No vibration when placed on stable base.

[wraper]

So not so good update. I have bed warping issue. Even before buying I've seen people reporting they have bed warping and replacing it. From what I've read it became already like this even when cold. Mine on other hand is basically flat when cold. However when it's hot, it dips by about 1.5 mm a few centimeters from the edges and stays almost flat till the opposite side with the same issue. So it's remains mostly flat in the middle but all of the edges become become lifted upwards. Which results in prints warped on the edges and with large elephant foot when printing something large despite bed adhesion remaining perfect after the print ends. Spent about 1.5kg of PETG on subpar prints of stackable component boxes I designed. Useable but ticks my OCD hard. As bed is flat when cold, first I thought it was adhesion problem as I detached the print before noticing warping. Then thought that magnetic plate is lifting up on the edges due to lifting forces and magnet not strong enough. But fixing plate to the bed on the edges by Kapton tape ruled that out. Finally checked flatness when hot and bingo.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I just got the X1 Carbon, having zero previous experience of 3D printing.
The reasons I'd avoided it thus far are speed ( I'm very impatient) and  not wanting to waste time faffing around to get it working - I just want something that works reliably, not a project.
The combination of speed, reported reliabilty, good reviews and also the enclosure (  stability and fume containment) swung it for me (with a kick from wanting to spend some money before the end of my tax year!)
Only done a handful of test prints so far but pretty impressed.  Overall build quality looks good, and software looks decent. The RFID filament ID system (optional) makes it very plug & play. Literally as simple as dropping an in an STL file, selecting material  and clicking "print.

BTW Here's the link on the UK store for the non-AMS version - expected mid-June, the AMS one is ex-stock, got mine 2 working days after order
https://uk.store.bambulab.com/products/x1-carbon-3d-printer

[ebastler]

So not so good update. I have bed warping issue. [...] when it's hot, it dips by about 1.5 mm a few centimeters from the edges and stays almost flat till the opposite side with the same issue.

Have you been able to improve on that in any way? (Changing the bed mounting or something along those lines?) Or did you contact Bamboo and get any feedback? Just curious, since I am also considering the X1...

[wraper]

Well, I modded it quite a bit. Heater is actually a bit smaller than build plate and magnetic sticker edges lie onto plastic cover which lifts up them on many machines. Also due to poorly laid out traces on aluminum PCB heater, it warps in X direction which worsens when heated. Long trace segments are laid out in X direction only and with no compensation for lower heating density needed in the middle. I guess the best that can be done without totally redesigning the bed is properly lay out this PCB with much shorter trace segments going in various directions and with less denser center. I thought to do so but it's cost prohibitive to order 3mm aluminum PCB for a one-off and it will also need some additional half-depth milling on aluminum side.
So I glued a larger 1 mm aluminum plate which goes above plastic too and put a new magnetic sticker.  Though it later warped in one corner a bit because I somewhat messed up while gluing it with epoxy, so I added some teflon tape shimming to even it out. Still not perfect but order of magnitude better than it was, within about 0.1mm flatness when cold and hot last time I checked.
As of replacement bed, Bambu initially said flatness was within spec. But when I tinkered with magnetic surface by stroking it, some bubbles developed as apparently it was glued with some air underneath which concentrated into bubbles due to my actions. So Bambu sent a new bed which is just as warped as original in X direction if not worse.

[usagi]

I have been 3d printing since 2011, I have had many printers.

The Bambu X1C+AMS is the best printer I've ever owned, hands down. It's the first printer I could recommend to a complete newbie and be confident they'd be successful out of the box without fiddling. I've been printing more on this printer in the past 6 months than I have in the past 6 years.

There's virtually nothing it does that's actually groundbreaking, Bambu just bothered to actually ship modern tech while the rest of the industry was content to rest on their laurels and ship outdated tech. Virtually everything Bambu implemented has been around for YEARS, just ignored by the other manufacturers.

Hopefully this is a wakeup call to the lazy complacent industry.