The newest and smallest member of the BambuLab family has just been unleashed on the 3D printing world! Claiming minimal setup, multi-material printing, and a mechanism that launches filament, let's see what this printer has to offer.
Features:
Looks like BambuLab have taken a step away from their normal CoreXY printers and gone for the more classical Bed Slinger system. However the A1 Mini moves faster than ever, claiming a speed of 500mm/s, as fast as the P1 and X1 series. The 180mm³ print-size machine comes fully pre-assembled with minimal steps before printing, making it a very simple printer to use.
The A1 mini offers fully automated calibration including automatic bed levelling and speed calibration. These systems allow for the user to simply press a button on the printer and wait as it fully takes care of the calibration process. This makes it perfect for new users who may not have a lot of experience in setting up these machines.
For the more seasoned user who may work with different materials and nozzle sizes, BambuLab offers quick-swapping hotends. The process is to remove the outer shell on the X-gantry, remove a cover over a clip, and simply unclip the hotend from the printer. This allows a hotend to be swapped out in under a minute, again saving time and hassle from the user.
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Finally, the A1 mini can be paired with its own AMS (Automatic Material System). This system is specially designed for the A1 mini and allows for up to 4 rolls of filament to be loaded into the printer. 4-colour multi-material printing is made simple with this management system, paired with the famously labelled 'poop flinger' which launches purged filament out the side of the printer. While it may make a bit of a mess, multicolour printing has become even faster.Printer Specs:
Here are some basic specs we've pulled up on the A1 Mini:
| Printing Dimensions | 180*180*180 mm³ |
| Max Speed | 500mm/s |
| Ideal Materials | PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA |
| Max Hotend Temperature | 300 °C |
| Max Bed Temperature | 80°C |
For more details about the printer, make sure to head over to the BambuLab website here!
Conclusion:
To sum it all up, it looks like this is going to be quite the revolutionary printer, offering more automation than ever before, paired with extruding up to 4 filaments. The fully automatic calibration and the compact size of the A1 mini makes it ideal for hobbyists looking to learn the art of 3D printing. However this printer is more than capable of keeping up with more seasoned users with its rapid print speeds and failure prevention methods. We can't wait to try ours when it arrives next week!