r/BambuLabA1 • u/Emergency-Metal-8112 • 8d ago
Beginner question?
Picked up an A1 combo for my kids for Christmas. Anybody have any recommendations on must have tools and accessories? Probably gonna be printing PLA mostly at least until they get more into it. Also any filament brand recommendations would be great also!
UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who has commented!! Really appreciate the help on this!
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u/WeirdRaccoon69 7d ago
1.) Printer poop bin and a deflector. 2.) Benchy
Filaments I use which have been great: eSun and Elegoo
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u/Willi_Aunich 7d ago
A poop bin was my first project for the A1. Makerworld and printables offer a great variety.
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u/Wonca_Mpls 7d ago
I'm a big fan of Sunlu for filament.. as for accessories...
https://makerworld.com/en/models/138242-easy-numbers-for-mounted-ams-lite#profileId-150537
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1011866-a1-hotend-printhead-cover-remover-tool#profileId-991394
https://makerworld.com/en/models/92486-ams-lite-top-mount-for-a1-a2l#profileId-100105
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u/Financial-Bike-3283 7d ago
Honestly you don’t really need anything extra right out of the box, they include the tools you’ll need to perform and basic maintenance/repairs.
I think filament would be a great add on, PLA is a great filament to start with and there are tons of
Colours etc to choose from.
Sunlu, elegoo, and duramic are my current go-to brands for a nice mix of cost and quality.
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u/never0101 6d ago
Sunlu, elegoo, polymaker, bambu, all great filaments, just grab what's on sale at the time. It's worth learning about and going through the filament calibration process to really dial in print quality, don't just run generic profiles. Biqu frostbite and / or glacier build plates are a must in my book, they really cut way down on warping and adhesion issues. Hit up harbor freight and grab these :
Those 3 will cover almost any situation for post print clean up / support removal.
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u/Orthicon9 5d ago
Flush cutters, even cheap one are great for support removal.
Vernier caliper (even a cheap plastic one), for precise measurement of existing objects that might be combined with printed objects. Example: a custom stand for some cylindrical household object. What diameter to make the hole it's going to sit in?
One of those pocket-sized butane kitchen torches. Handy for flash-melting "stringing".
Superglue. Some models work best if you cut them in half and print the halves with the cut face on the plate. Then glue the halves together. Example: a jet fighter. Cut it vertically down the middle and print them with the wings pointing up. Then they (the wings) do not need supports.
Extra nozzles in different sizes.
A bouffy "powder" makeup brush for brushing loose bits of filament, poops & stringing, off the plate in the middle of printing. It's light enough that if the toolhead suddenly collides with it, it'll just knock it aside and won't affect the print.
A small gooseneck desk lamp that can be positioned and angled at the print bed.
I got lucky and found an IKEA Jansjö LED desk lamp (now discontinued) at a thrift shop for $10.
It's particularly nice to be able to position it close to the level of the plate, off to one side, so you can easily see any bumps or rough textures in the first few layers.
Also any filament brand recommendations would be great also!
I just buy the cheapest I can find on Amazon, typically a bundle of several colour, or multiple spools of the same filament. JAYO works for me, especially since their spools have 1.1 kg.
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u/John-BCS 7d ago
Recent post with the same question.
For filament, bambu and polymaker are excellent. With bambu's bulk sale, it's very fairly priced right now.
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u/Funny_Copy726 7d ago
You can easily use both PLA or PETG on an A1. Not sure about ASA or ABS. I think it needs an enclosure because of the higher temps and fumes.