Bambu Labs X1 Carbon - Initial Impressions

[Simon]

Another new X1 user after two prior Creality printers.  Really impressed with both speed and print quality.  There a few points not previously mentioned.  TPU is not recommended.  The long feed tubes and much pushing and pulling of filament is probably the reason.  So now my Ender 3 Pro is dedicated to TPU.  The AMS has proved very useful though I have not yet done a multi-color print.  Being able to select the appropriate material without manually changing filaments is nice.  Filament loading is really easy.  Just clip the filament end and shove it in.  And the ability to automatically switch to a second roll of filament when one runs out is really useful.  The ability to use the short end of a roll more than makes up for the filament used in hot end cleaning and calibration at the start of each print job. 

I still feel more comfortable with parameter setting in Cura than Bambu Studio, but for more standard prints it is more than adequate.

Overall extremely good value for the price.

I think TPU can be done if you hang the filament reel on the back of the printer and feed it straight in without the AMS, this of course means no multi filament.

[wraper]

Another new X1 user after two prior Creality printers.  Really impressed with both speed and print quality.  There a few points not previously mentioned.  TPU is not recommended.  The long feed tubes and much pushing and pulling of filament is probably the reason.  So now my Ender 3 Pro is dedicated to TPU.  The AMS has proved very useful though I have not yet done a multi-color print.  Being able to select the appropriate material without manually changing filaments is nice.  Filament loading is really easy.  Just clip the filament end and shove it in.  And the ability to automatically switch to a second roll of filament when one runs out is really useful.  The ability to use the short end of a roll more than makes up for the filament used in hot end cleaning and calibration at the start of each print job. 

I still feel more comfortable with parameter setting in Cura than Bambu Studio, but for more standard prints it is more than adequate.

Overall extremely good value for the price.

I think TPU can be done if you hang the filament reel on the back of the printer and feed it straight in without the AMS, this of course means no multi filament.

Yes, although I've read some people had success with stiffer TPU in AMS. Did not try TPU in AMS myself though. I barely did any multicolor prints but PLA support interface work wonders for PET-G printing.

[Conrad Hoffman]

Just an FYI- we've been thrilled with the capabilities and print quality of our Bambu X1E. We were on the verge of buying a second one because we've found so many uses for it. BUT- we needed some spare parts due to failures of the tiny connectors related to the print head. The parts are cheap, like 10 bucks. For whatever reason, Bambu won't supply parts and they can only be had through their distributors. Lead times are about 3 week out, do we're down for at least 3 weeks. This isn't acceptable in a commercial setting, so our next printer won't be a X1E. Not sure if it will be a Bambu or not.

[InvisibleMan]

I have the X1C, but still keep a small stock of spares on hand especially for the hot end nozzle. As you say, they are not expensive so it pays to have a couple of spares with the machine. Hopefully, Bambu will bring the spares policy for the X1E into line with the others in the range.

[Conrad Hoffman]

We just bought an X1C to work alongside our X1E. Still trying to get that one up and running. For whatever reason, the X1C is quieter, smoother and gives results as good or better than the X1E. Missing features like a heater are easily added for minimum cost. We're making precision engineering parts, not just action figures and toy boats. Well, OK, we've made a few toy boats, dragons and test pieces.  With the right materials and setups, our parts look nearly as good as injection molded parts. Some parts are made from IGUS low friction bearing material and those are really impressive. Just can't say enough good about these things, save for the X1E parts availability problem.

[MarkF]

Since you are talking about Bambu printers, James over at Clough42 has several videos on printing engineering filaments and has reviewed a few of their printers.  His latest video compares some different filaments and his failures with them.