I got a 3d printer!

its so much fun!!!

For some reason, I’ve felt very hardware-y the last couple months. That’s honestly pretty weird, given that the sum total of my hardware experience was like, one PLTW class in middle school, where I learned how to hook up two wires, was banned from using a soldering iron, and mostly played command and conquer the whole time (thx, florida edu system).

But lately, I’ve been thinking about manufacturing a product (to be blogged about at a later date) and that gave me just enough of an excuse to buy this!

It’s a Bambu P1S, currently on sale! The box got here on Monday, and I was giddy like a kid on Xmas.

A friend told me, “what’ll you do with it? You’ll run out of stuff to print in a month.” Ha. I said. I’m not one to just buy some fancy shit and then get bored of hobbies! Except for flute. And lockpicking. And music production. And photography. And scuba. This definitely won’t be like any of those, though!

So I stared at it, all smiley, freshly deboxed. What was I gonna print, again?

…

Ok, look, there’s a bunch of useful stuff I can print.

Like for example this big poop chute and bucket to catch all the plastic poops! Or this handle for a scraper to help remove the prints from the printer plate! Or this carousel to show off all the plastic color samples I could buy! Or a stand for my 3d printer! Or some boxes for these 3d printing tools I just printed!

Wait is this hobby a scam?

ok, it’s not a scam

There is SO MUCH cool stuff online, for free!

Like, super useful stuff! Like this fidget spinner, or this twirly fidget spinner, or this swirly fidget spinner.

Ok, there’s actually lots of cool stuff on MakerWorld. And that’s something really clever Bambu did; they give you points (redeemable for gift cards) for submitting popular models, and also give users points for printing, rating, and reviewing models. And they make it a one-click print from the site to the printer.

The variety is insane. Need a phone stand? There are hundreds. Want to print a working wrench? Sure thing. A case for your brand of shaver, or a wallet card to hold your lockpicks? Someone’s already made a design. I found myself scrolling through thousands of models like I was browsing an infinite hardware store where everything was free.

What really blew my mind was discovering how many functional things can be made of plastic. I'm talking about actual mechanical parts: springs, clasps, and hinges. Even NASA is 3D printing "space fabric": chainmail, with one side that reflects heat and another that absorbs it.

I printed a miniature of lower Manhattan that perfectly captured the tiny details of skyscrapers. I made articulated hands where every joint moves independently - no assembly required, they just came off the printer fully functional.

And that’s my biggest takeaway:

Bambu took over the market bc they made 3d printing mainstream

Bambulab, the biggest manufacturer of 3d printers, launched just 3 years ago. They looked at competitors; ender, voron, etc, that have been around for decades, and smashed them. They did it with the absurdly simple premise that launched Apple to success; 3d printing should just work.

Other printers are honestly, kinda dumb.

Bambulab printers level the bed on print start. They have temp sensors on the bed and nozzle. They have a camera to monitor the print. Their app lets you print things from anywhere with one click. Their AMS reads filament details from RFID chips in the spool, and loads colors and print flow and temperature settings automatically. Their slicer (which turns 3d models into mechanical instructions for the printer) will go slow on the first layer, speed up later, generate supports, swap between filaments, create purge towers and lines, and tell you when you’re doing something stupid.

And from my point of view, I took the printer out of the box. Everything (software, print plate, nozzle, sd card, starter filament) was already included. I hit print and walked away. I came back an hour later, and the thing I saw on the screen was now in my hand. That’s crazy.

And that’s why I picked this printer - some Redditor said, “now that I have a P1S, I finally spend more time on 3D printing, rather than my 3D printer.”

and now down the rabbit hold

Of course, downloading other people's designs is fun, but also limiting. I want to make my own things! …which meant remembering how to use AutoCAD.

I hadn't touched CAD software in years, but also now I have to make designs that are printable. That’s harder than it sounds. This is why I was amazed by all the models out there that are successful one-click prints.

3D printing seems simple, but the engineering underneath is actually quite complex. You start thinking in terms of overhangs, support structures, and print orientation. Can this shape be printed without supports? Will this overhang collapse?

Different plastic types have wildly different properties. PLA (made from corn starch) is easy to print but weakens quickly around 60°C. ABS handles heat better, up to 98°C, but is trickier to print and emits fumes. PETG splits the difference with good strength and a heat tolerance of about 70°C. Each requires different temperatures, bed adhesion settings, and cooling.

Then there are the tolerances. Getting moving parts to actually move requires incredibly precise spacing: usually around 0.1-0.2mm of clearance. Too tight and parts fuse. Too loose and everything wobbles. The P1S can print at speeds up to 500mm/s with 20,000 mm/s² acceleration, but vibrations at maximum speed are noticeable, so you want to set your print speeds differently depending on the material and the layer of the print.

But at the end of all that, you end up with something that’s actually yours.

And I’m having a blast!