Bambu Lab A1 mini
| Bambu Lab A1 mini | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manufacturer | Bambu |
| Model | A1 mini |
| Location | 3D Printer Area |
| Team | 3D Printing |
| Induction Required | No |
| Risk Assessment | Yes, see the assessment |
| Tools: all pages • list • Power Tools • Broken tools {{}} | |
We have two A1 minis in the 3d printer area, Frank and Stan.
Frank was installed in the Space on 7th August, 2024 and Stan on the 19th July 2025.
Both Stan and Frank have a 0.4 hardened nozzle meaning that you can use filaments that contain "fillers" such as Carbon fiber or glow in the dark. Please don't try to print wood filler filaments on the 0.4 nozzles, they really require a 0.6 hardened nozzle and will clog the 0.4.
For a guide on how to 'slice' 3D models to prepare them for 3D printing, please see How To: Slice Models For 3D Printing. For information on buying filament see 3D_Printing#Materials.
Preparing the printer
Check your filament is loaded. Load your filament by following the instructions on the A1 mini screen under Filament > Load. Choose the filament type Generic PLA or Generic PETG etc.
Check that the build plate is correctly positioned.
There is a detailed breakdown of steps for getting things up and running on this page:
Printing direct to the printer from the slicer
You have to be connected to the LAN in Hackspace and be able to "see" the A1 mini.
In preview tab of the slicer choose "Print plate", this will send the sliced code to the printer and the print job will begin.
Firewall
In order to allow discovery, you may need to open some ports on your firewall. Newer versions of the slicers allow you to specify an IP address and access pin by selecting "Bind with Access Code"
If you are running a RedHat-like distribution (e.g. Fedora), you can allow inbound traffic on the discovery port (2021/udp):
sudo firewall-cmd --new-zone bambu --permanent sudo firewall-cmd --add-source 10.0.0.0/24 --zone bambu --permanent sudo firewall-cmd --add-port 2021/udp --zone bambu --permanent sudo firewall-cmd --reload
On Ubuntu, Debian or Mint using UFW, you can use:
sudo ufw allow from 10.0.0.0/24 proto udp to any port 2021
On Windows, you can paste the following into a command prompt (Win key and R, then type cmd and press return)
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="bambu" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=2021
Printing from a Micro SD card
You will need to have saved your sliced part to a Micro SD card.
- In "Preview tab" of the slicer, choose the dropdown from "Print plate" and select "Export plate sliced file"
- Click this and you will be prompted to save the file in a name format yourname_m.gcode.3mf.
- Put this file on your Micro SD card and head off to Hackspace.
- Insert your Micro SD card into the printer. Your sliced objects will appear for printing on the A1 mini screen.
- Choose the object and hit print.
REMEMBER TO REINSERT THE ORIGINAL SD CARD AFTER YOUR PRINT HAS FINISHED
Printing operation
The printer will go through its startup routine (which includes auto bed levelling), a little shaking too.
A purge line will be printed on the front of the build plate.
When the print is completed - wait a few minutes for the build plate to cool down and then it should be very easy to remove your printed item by gently flexing the build plate back and forth.
Please try not to use scrapers or tools that might damage the PEI print plate material.
Cleaning up
Unload your filament by following the instructions on the A1 mini screen under Filament > Unload.
Ensure the build plate is free of your printed item, supports and any filament purge lines (found at the front of the build plate).
Please make sure any waste filament from purging or loading is either collected in the "poop box" or placed in the bin.
If you printed from your own SD card, remember to reinsert the original SD card from the printer when you leave.
If your print does not want to stay put on the build plate during printing
Sometimes first layers don't seem to want to "stick" to the build plate. This is usually due to grease/dirt from fingers previously touching the build plate. To try and remedy this: using a little washing up liquid and water (not Soap) - wash the plate - rinse with clean water and dry the plate with a paper towel. This tends to solve 99% of bed adhesion issues.
Note: there are no manual adjustments on this printer (unlike older printers) so please don't try and tinker - contact the 3d printing team if you have issues.
Bambu SNAFU
As of January 2025 Bambu have announced they wanted to tie people into using their slicer, in the name of security. Subsequently they announced a LAN only, Developer mode that is now delivered in the latest version of their firmware. This mode allows a LAN only mode with the ability to print directly from Orca slicer without restriction. We operate this "LAN only, Developer mode" on our Bambu printers in the space.