After a few years of development, Bambu Lab has created an ecosystem around its printers. Knowing how to take full advantage of this system will help you use Bambu Lab 3D printers like a pro. It means saving time, saving material, and focusing on the purpose of 3D printing.
3D printing is all about you. Without the person behind the machine, no printer can create. A 3D printer not only replicates objects, but it also creates ideas and inspires creative people. The ecosystem accelerates everything. Just taking Cyberbrick as an example, you found a good project on Maker World, you print everything out with your Bambu Lab 3D Printers, then build the whole thing in real life with the Cyberbrick Kit that Bambu Lab sells online, finally, you activate it from the Cyberbrick app, and everything works. The ecosystem takes all the complicated parts, and you get inspired.
Let’s know the Bambu Lab ecosystem better and use the Bambu Lab 3D printers like a Pro.
Part 1 Maker World
The Maker World connects the printer with the Bambu Lab account, making it much more powerful than traditional 3D models sharing sites like Thingiverse. If you haven’t used the Maker World, I highly recommend using it. Most 3D models on Maker World have been printed out and tested. Designers are requested to upload photos of the real prints to show that they can be printed. The profiles he used are also uploaded. That means slicing on PC becomes unnecessary if you don’t modify any slicing settings. Changing colors or switching materials can be done in Bambu Handy directly.
Once you see anything you like, click on the collect button to add it to your collection. You can see it on the Bambu Handy and Bambu Studio. Then you can print the model anytime you want.
Since everyone is allowed to upload their own profiles, a model usually has many profiles from other makers. These files were remixed or modified from the original ones.
Sharing profiles, uploading original 3D models, and rating 3D models will get you points. The points can be redeemed as a gift card or some other stuff.
Part 2 Bambu Handy
Bambu Handy is the mobile app that controls Bambu Lab 3D printers. It is also connected to the Maker World, allowing you access to thousands of 3d models and create things with a few clicks.
Using the Bambu Handy well can save you so much time. You can use it in the following situations:
1. Searching for 3D models
By doing so, you can print the files directly on your printer
2.Cloud Slicing
Printing files on Maker World is Bambu Lab server slices the file for you, so you can customize the print task before sending it.
First, choose the printer models at the top to locate specific profiles. After that, choose plates to print, select certain parts if it is necessary, then choose the printer and build plate type for the mission. Next, you will see the best part about the cloud slicing: you can use a different material. Just choose the material you want, then turn on “Use my filament presets”, and select the actual presets related to the slot. Before sending the task, you can add numbers to print more copies. If you are not sure how many pieces it can be copied, just put 10 in it, the system will figure it out. And once you send a task to the 3D Printer, it will appear in the printing history, and you can print it from there within 90 days.
3. Device Management
The Bambu Lab 3D printers can be controlled by Bambu Handy in many ways. Except for some regular functions, you can turn on or off some features of the printer, for example, turn off the sound of the A1 Mini and A1, and turn on or off the build plate detection. The maintenance can also be started from Bambu Handy.
4. Troubleshooting and technical support
The Bambu Handy is also a place to get help. First, clicking on the error code, you will be redirected to related tutorials. It solves most of the problems. If it doesn’t, just go to the “support center” to submit a ticket. Since the app is connected to the printer, you can also upload the related printer log, so that the technical guys can find out the problem very fast. No need for emails.
5. Filament Management
The Bambu Handy is also a good place to manage the filament. Just select the filament slot in each device page, then choose the filament preset and color to define it.
I run a filament calibration process to create custom presets for every single filament type on all my printers so that I can use and share them. It makes a difference in printing. Normally, we put a third-party filament in, select the type as generic, which may not fit the filament you are using. And we did find that it performs better when using custom presets. In the recent versions, Bambu Lab has also added a new function called “Filament Management” which may help us better.
Based on the above things, using Bambu Handy well is the first thing that makes you look like a pro. As for me, I consider Bambu Studio my last way to slice; Bambu Handy already enough for me.
You can check more details of my presets and get the download link in Custom Bambu lab Filament Preset, One Step that Make Your Bambu Lab Printers So Much Better
Part 3 Bambu Studio
Bambu Studio, the official slicer that Bambu Lab releases, I consider it as a PC version of Bambu Handy and a Slicer. It has most features that Bambu Handy has. But customizable slicing is the thing that only Bambu Studio can do.
Sometimes, we get a 3D model from somewhere else or just need to modify the profiles from the Maker World. Bambu Studio is the place to go. Remember to log in to the account, so that you can access all your printers, custom filament presets, and Maker World model collections.
After that, you can slice in the following ways:
1. Search and open online models within the Bambu Studio.
2.Click “Open in Bambu Studio” on the Maker World page.
3.Open 3mf files that you downloaded somewhere.
4.Drag model files to the Bambu Studio.
After that, you can do anything to customize the model. For example, switch to use a different printer, change the color it uses, scale the print size, or change some specific settings for better results. You cannot do those in the Bambu Handy.
But those customized tasks cannot be modified on Bambu Handy, you can find their records and reprint it with the same combination and settings. Anything you want to change on this model, you need to slice it again on the PC.
If the situation happens regularly, the following tricks will help you out.
A.Upload your presets to Maker World
It only works when the original model exists on Maker World. We usually do this when the original presets don’t cover our own printer, or it doesn’t fit our needs. By doing this, you can print from Bambu Handy and do some customization.
B.Send tasks and cancel
For tasks with many plates or different combinations, you can send the tasks to the printer and cancel it immediately so that the records will be stored in the history. Just remember to home all after every 2 or 3 tasks to prevent the printer from hitting the limit. The records will be stored for 90 days, you can refresh the period by re-printing them.
C. Create 3MF files to save settings
Changing the slicing settings may be unavoidable, but saving the 3MF files will help to save time, as it keeps all the settings, especially useful for complicated 3D models.
As for me, I will do one step further by naming the file with a version number so that I can check all the records when something goes wrong. For example, if I modify the duffy duck on August 14, I will name the file as duffy duck.v2.814.25
And you can see more detailed tricks in Tricks of Multicolor Printing on Bambu Lab 3D Printers.
Part 4 Storage Box, sealed bags, and Tags
You may have noticed that Cyberbrick kits are released with a printable storage box. It is one of the tools that pro users like the most. They usually store parts, screws, and other tools in different storage box, those boxes will also be labeled with tags so that they can find everything fast and easily. Sealed bags are used a lot for some temporary parts.
For example, Cyberbrick projects usually have many parts and two-color combinations. You can use sealed bags to storage the printed parts. Keeping one set a bag or one plate a bag will be OK. Then you can put all the required tools and parts in serval storage boxes and start the assembly after everything is ready.
Alright, that’s all.
