What Can I Do With Bambu Lab A1 Mini?
Printing capability, materials and upgrades
About a week ago I ordered a Bambu Lab A1 Mini with AMS Lite, and I was feeling very excited like I had just unlocked a new skill tree for myself to explore. While I’ve been waiting for the delivery, I have also been looking into what I might be able to do with my A1 Mini?
Why A1 Mini?
Why did I choose A1 Mini for my first 3D-printer? The first time I took notice of this printer was while watching Adam Savage’s Tested video, where he was asked about his favourite entry level 3D-printers. He recommended the A1 Mini, so I went looking for online reviews.
The first review I read was by PCMag UK, Bambu Lab A1 Mini - Review 2024, which received 4.5 out of 5 as the Editor’s Choice.
Bottom Line
The Bambu Lab A1 mini is a top-notch 3D printer for beginners or hobbyists seeking an affordable option. It's easy to get going, fast, capable of four-color printing, and makes great-looking prints.
I also read the review by Tom’s Hardware, which also gave the printer 4.5 out of 5, but truth be told, I was already convinced by this point.
Printing Capability
The A1 Mini has a somewhat restricted 180 x 180 x 180 mm printing area, but I think it is a reasonable size for a beginner’s printer. Personally, I don’t mind having a smaller printing area for two specific reasons. First of all, should I end up buying a larger, more capable printer in the future, the A1 Mini will still be perfectly suitable for printing smaller parts.
Secondly, and arguably more interestingly, the smaller print area will encourage — or force — to learn how to join multiple smaller parts into a larger object. Learning joinery, or more specifically, mechanical joints will be one of the more interesting skills I need to learn.
The printing bed heats up to 80 C, which is lower than in other Bambu Lab models, but I think it is suitable for entry level printing. Or to put it in other words, I’m curious about in what kind of situation I’m going to find out that it isn’t hot enough.
Printing Materials
The A1 Mini is ideal for printing with PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA. While other materials are not strictly excluded, they are not recommended. Compared to larger printers this is somewhat limited range materials, but I think these will be more than enough to get started.
Regarding storage conditions, there seems to be some variation between sources. However, it seems that suitable humidity for PLA is around 30-50 % while PETG, TPU and PVA should be stored in around 5-30 % humidity. The storage temperature should remain below 30 C for PLA, PETG, TPU and PVA.
PLA
Polylactic Acid is a biodegradable thermoplastic monomer, which typically manufactured from corn starch, sugar cane and similar organic materials. It is hard and brittle, has poor UV resistance and as well as low temperature resistance (~55 C), so it is best utilised for indoor objects.
It has minimal thermal expansion, and it can be used to print both finely detailed (< 0.2 mm) objects as well as large size objects, so it is commonly used for concept models, miniatures, prototypes, jewellery, low-wear toys and food containers. Since it is cheap and easy to use, it is one of the most commonly used printing materials.
It has a low melting temperature (130-180 C, depending on composition), glass transition of 60-65 C and heat deflection temperature (HDT) of ~52 C. Density of 1.24 g/cm3 and shrink rate of 0.37-0.41 %.
Post-processing PLA can be difficult, but it can be (water) sanded and painted. PLA parts can also be glued and solvent welded (e.g. dichloromethane or DCM, and to some extent, acetone). By itself PLA is food-safe, but should not be used for cups, plates or other kitchenware unless it is given an additional food-safe coating or sealant, such as epoxy or silicone.
Types
Depending on manufacturing process and what kind of biomass materials are used in the production, there are several distinct types of PLA. There are plenty of colour options to choose from, but there are also wood filaments, metal filaments, and carbon fibre filaments. Metal and carbon fibre filaments are very abrasive, so they require hardened steel extruders.
I think A1 Mini might be able to handle wood filaments, but it probably would not do well with metal and carbon fibre filaments.
Disposal
PLA can be (1) chemically recycled, (2) industrially composted (requires high temperatures), (3) incinerated, and (4) dumped to landfill. It will eventually degrade in landfills, but since it might take from tens of years up to a thousand years to decompose, the first three options are more preferrable.
PETG
Glycol modified Polyethylene Terephthalate is a semi-rigid material, which is commonly used for water containers, mechanical parts and holders. Compared to PLA, it is more heat resistant, more flexible, less brittle and is more UV tolerant, so it is well-suited for outdoors use.
PETG has almost no warping, so it is suitable for printing large objects. It can also be used for detailed printing (~ 0.15 mm). Since it is ductile, it can be used to print snap fit components, and holders that will bend before they break. PETG is also a food-safe product (it is used in water bottles, among other things) even without additional coating.
Compared to PLA, it has somewhat higher melting temperature (160-293 C), glass transition of 85 C and heat deflection temperature of ~70 C. Density of 1.23 g/cm3 and shrink rate of 0.3 - 0.8 %.
Types
A variety of PET plastics exists, but as far as A1 Mini is concerned, I’ll be using only PETG in different colours.
Disposal
PETG is not biodegradable so composting is not an option. Dumping it to a landfill should not be an option either, since like most plastics, it degrades to microplastics long before it is completely gone.
PETG has lower melting temperature than PET/PETE, so it can’t be recycled with common class 1 plastic products. It can be incinerated, but waste prints could also be recycled to new filament at home, though these kinds of recycling setups might not come cheap.
TPU
Thermoplastic polyurethane is a highly elastic printing material, which is ideal for products that need to be stretchy and flexible: they can be semi-flexible like a (model) car tire or elastic like rubber bands (it can stretch more than 5x its original shape before failing). As such, they are good for vibration damping, padding, impact protection, drivebelts, grip sleeves and so on.
Since TPU is soft and bendable, it can be tricky to print with. It has melting temperature of 185-220 C, glass transition of -30 C, and heat deflection temperature of ~44 C. Density is ~1.2 g/cm3 and shrink rate of 0.4 - 1.4 %.
Disposal
TPU is biodegradable in around 3-5 years, and it is recyclable in suitable industrial facilities. It can also be recycled and incinerated. Landfill is also an option, though not an ideal one.
PVA
Polyvinyl alcohol is a soft and biodegradable polymeric, which is water soluble and highly sensitive to moisture. It is also very UV sensitive and will quickly degrade when exposed to natural light.
PVA is ideally suited for printing support structures as they can be easily removed by simply submerging the print into a warm water.
Disposal
Dissolve it in warm water.
Printing with AMS Lite
Automatic Material System (AMS) Lite upgrades the basic A1 Mini to run with four filament spools instead of just one. From this follows that I can print with multiple colours and/or multiple materials. I think this is pretty nifty feature for an entry level product.
I could, for example, have two colours of PLA or PETG for structural parts, TPU for soft parts and PVA for water soluble supports. It might be a while before I find myself needing PVA supports, but then again, it might not; my ambitions tend to grow along with my skills.
Upgrades for A1 Mini
In addition to the AMS Lite, there are couple of upgrades I think would be very useful.
Dual Texture PEI-plate
Printing plate with textured surface on one side, and smooth surface on the other side. The textured side provides good adhesion while the smooth side gives a nice clean surface finish. Depending on printing material and which side is being used, additional glue might not be needed.
I think this will simply make my life a bit easier, when prints adhere to the print plate. The print plate is also easier to maintain and should not degrade so fast through repeated cycles of heating, cooling and scraping.
Additional Hotends
A1 Mini a stainless steel toolhead, which comes with a 0.4 mm hotend. This is fine for everyday use, but there are considerations.
Nozzle Size
0.2 mm is ideal for high precision print job, with intricate details, but the trade-off is that print jobs will take much longer.
0.4 mm provides a good balance between speed and quality
0.6 mm and 0.8 mm nozzles are a good option when printing large structural parts with little details. Larger nozzle size makes printing faster. These are also necessary when printing with wood, metal and carbon fibre filaments, as they can clog smaller nozzles.
Nozzle Material
Stainless steel is good for most printing materials and is also a cheaper option when compared to hardened steel hotends. However, carbon fibre infused PLA/PETG is very abrasive and will quickly spoil the softer stainless steel hotends.
Wrapping Up
As I have learned about the A1 Mini’s capabilities, I’m still feeling pretty confident about my decision to buy on. Granted, I’m still waiting for the delivery, so my feelings are subject to change once I get some hands-on experience. I’ll be sure to update you once I’ve had the chance to see it in action.
Beyond just the A1 Mini, as I’ve been learning about 3D printing materials and started to teach myself 3D modelling, I’m genuinely excited about the possibilities. For a long time, I’ve wanted to create and build physical things, but without the space for woodworking or metalworking, it always felt out of reach. 3D printing, however, is something that I can do in my own home.
Learning to model physical objects is giving me a fresh perspective—not only on how I think about designing things, but also on how to pay attention to structural and practical details. This is a good thing!