I Tried 3D Printing as a Beginner: Is it Worth It?!

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🎥 VIDEO CHAPTERS:
00:00 I Tried 3D Printing As A Beginner:
01:30 Setting Up A 3D Printer: Bambu Lab A1
02:55 Where Should You Put A 3D Printer?
03:27 What Filament should you use to 3D Print?
04:21 Let's Start Printing: Easy First 3D Prints
05:48 Project 1: Printing 3D Printer Accessories
07:27 How To Capture A Perfect Print Timelapse
08:21 3D Printing in Multi-colour - Bambu Labs A1 AMS Combo
08:59 Project 2: 3D Printing Studio & Desk Setup Solutions
09:28 Project 3: 3D Printing Other People's Product Designs
10:43 Designing My Own 3D Prints & Using Tinkercad
12:06 Is 3D Printing Worth It? My Conclusion!

#3dprinting #bambulab #BetterCreating
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[foolishus]

3:03 "so that wobbly IKEA table, probably not ideal" then 3:14 "so I went to IKEA" had me rolling

[jasongooden]

3D printing is a superpower.. having more than one printer is like an infinity stone.

[RNMSC]

A couple of 'minor' corrections. PET-G is not 'stronger' than PLA. In fact testing has shown that PLA can hold more weight and withstand more shock, at room temperature than PETG. What PETG has as advantages are that it has a substantially higher glass temperature, (temperature below 'melting' point but where it is essentially mold-able or deform-able. It is also one of the few plastics that apparently is safe for use in making things to go into aquariums, or at least the plastic doesn't break down and leach toxins into the water.

The usual recommendation I have is that as long as what you are printing is going to be used around the house, and isn't going to be spending long hours in your car in the summer, go with PLA. If it is going to spend time in the car, or is going to go in an aquarium. it's time to consider PETG.

There are other materials that are worth considering in many cases, but nearly all of them perform better in an enclosure like the P1S, X1 series, or H2 series printers.

For the beds that come with the A1 and A1 Mini your best adhesion advice is to pause before printing your first print of the day, and go treat your print plate like a melamine dinner plate. Hand wash with a good quality dish soap (Even the Palmolive or Dawn offerings at the Dollar Store will do the job) gently scrub with finger tips to make sure that remnants of previous print jobs have detached, ans then thoroughly suds up both sides of the build plate, to remove fingerprint oils. When done, rinse making sure that all detergent is removed from fingers and printer plate, then dry with a couple of main squares of paper towel. Handle the plate by the edges as much as possible, and properly place the plate on the magnetic surface, whichever side up looks to be in better condition.

If you are printing exclusively in PLA, I recommend picking up the Bambu Lab cool plate for PLA. I don't think there is any such thing as a perfect build plate, but PLA sticks well the build plate doesn't get as hot, which means you're running a lot less current through your printer. It might not matter for a phone case, but for something that's going to take 20 or so hours to print, it can be a couple of kilowatt hours of electricity. Still perhaps nickles and dimes, but they add up.

If you go with the A1 Mini, Bigtreetech brand has a couple of 'hologram' build plates backed with a surface for either PEI or PETG. For models that fit on that printer, the surface that attaches to the build plate during printing will have a visible pattern with hologram like characteristics. Whether that's vital to anyone, it may be a nice addition for a christmas gift, or you may find other advantages.

One down side to PLA, at least in the form most of us use when printing, is that in time, when it is under stress, (Say that coat hook) it will deform even at room temperature. My own experience is that for some things, you may go years before you need to make changes, for others, it may be months. And for '2 part' prints to hide the screws, you may need to make sure you can re-print both. For something like this, keeping a local copy of the model on your PC in a folder tagged 'useful print models' or the like, with a descriptive file name, or a document where you describe which file gives you what, and perhaps have pictures of the printed object, notes on what you printed with, and whether it might be a good idea if this is deforming easily to switch to PETG, all seem to be good ideas to me. And of course you could keep track of a lot of that in whatever note taking app you use.

Finally, remember, it's plastic your printing. If you don't like the surface, it can be sanded. you can also use filler primers, wood putty, or Bondo filler materials to give yourself a surface you can improve. People make prints that end up with a surface finish that looks like dark chrome for cosplay. And you may have a limited selection of colors to print with, and perhaps even that one full spool of gray that doesn't go with anything, but with either primer, or plastic primer paints in rattle can's, you can make that toolbox you printed to contain all the 3d tools that you figured out after you've been printing a while are useful, whatever color you need to to match your decor or shop style.

And yeah, find things that are fun, as well as things that are useful. the fact that you are 3d printing something means that it can be as utilitarian or artistic as your mood and search abilities, or the design capabilities you dedicate yourself to picking up, will allow. As you decide to design things to 3d print, have a look at the Slant3d videos on designing for 3d printing. There are others as well.

Have fun.

[chadharding]

The hardest think for a newbie in 3d printing is picking a printer. Took me a year to pick my machine. I ended up with a T1pro and am totally loving it. The funnest hobby

[xpple]

crazy high quality video. not many videos left with this quality. keep it up man

[Dracauphone]

I've been using 3D printers since 2018, I started with an inexpensive creality ender 3 v1 that taught me many things about how to do manual calibration, basic maintenance, modding... This sort of stuff.

After using it for several years (and upgrading the crap out of it in the process), I wanted a bigger and fancier printer so I upgraded to a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon, I was so surprised by how easy to use modern printers are! Going from having to calibrate everything myself to just click on a button and watch it do everything is so convenient! It almost feels like using a slightly more complex inkjet printer.

3D printing really became accessible nowadays and Bambu Lab did great in making their printers as easy to use as possible (even though their software isn't as permissive for tinkering as other brands).

[grahampemberton]

I'm 70 yrs old and just got my first 3D printer ( second hand Kingroon KP3s ) I have no engineering or technical skills. I have however a fast changing hobby base ! (I have a genuine thirst for learning) ..Lots of different hobbies have come and but I think this one will stay a little longer. I have taken the thing apart, fixed printing issues & wasted rolls of filament in the process. That said I am currently trying to figure out how to tell my wife I NEED a new Bambu A1 Combo

[raver_gator]

Just got the A1 printer as well! I've been printing stuff for my pegboard wall, a bunch of silly gifts for friends, dice tower, and recently work related keychains for all of the staff I work with

[perfectfalse]

I’ve never 3D printed anything before and that’s mainly because of startup costs. Just never had the means to dive right in. But I know if I did, videos like this would be the best ones to watch, get inspired, learn, and then continue learning. Thank you

[rebeccah]

I love scrapbooking and gardening so that would probably be the direction i start with. I can imagine little trinkets to use in my pages and some cool little vases to use for organization and small plants...

[ValdezZz-PowPow]

I learned it hardway.. 3D printing is good if you have things to print for your projects or hobbies. I bought a 3d printer and I have nothing to print anymore. yeah.. it was fun first month or so testing and printing stuff i needed but it fell off very fast. Now I'm finding problems in house that don't exist just to print something to justify keeping it Haha

[OhShunz]

An absolute rockstar of a side business. My coworker bought a 3d Printer for her son last year. He learned and made some practice items and decided to begin printing firearm accessories... this is in Texas, ... he now owns three total machines and makes more than her a month.... she's a Quality Engineer for perspective.

[H]

Nice to see you discovered 3D printing. It really opens up your world to creating new and interesting things. I recently designed and printed transparent steam engine as a fun side project (it's on my channel). I am a mechanical engineer though :)

[passport_Pol]

As somebody thinking about jumping into the 3D printing thing, this is the VERY BEST video on the topic I have seen. Thanks mate (assuming you're from the UK 😂). You're a star.

[erikleth-olsen]

i'm deep into 3d sculpting and modelling, this feels like the next step

[tyty]

just saw this video. enjoying 3d printing for exactly what you are saying. The ability to fit niche situational items within my own environment. Also soldering LEDs and building a lithophane box for my own house decoration projects.

[TannerGrandstaff]

Outstanding video! Exactly what I was looking for today. Thank you and well done mate!

[maxzett]

I exactly took the same steps :)
I used to have a (shitty) printer before that never really worked but teached me a lot about printer Hardware and trouble shooting.
So when I finally got an A1 I already knew the "theory" stuff.
After that I initially only printed from Bambu Handy, as when ever I used Bambu Studio prints would fail.
After about 1-2 weeks of doing that I finally sat down, took 1h and literally checked out EVERY aspect of studio.
Then I printed other models via Studio, slowly understanding what does what and improving on "issues", etc.
Currently using a mix of ready to go STLs and doing some "intermediate" TrinkerCADing.
At some point I gotta bring myself to learning fusion360, but man... I hate it xD

[MaybeDee]

I just ordered the Bambu Lab A1 combo, but I didn't really research beforehand, so I was a little anxious, but watchihg this video and seeing how easy it was to build it and use it made me feel more at ease. I'm really looking forward to using the printer as a hobby, maybe even as a "start-up" as a career of making 3d stuff for other people around my area.

[osamaabuaglh]

I'm so glad I took a moment to check this out! You’re doing an amazing job, and I’m excited to be a new subscriber.