I’ve been using my Bambu P1S Combo for roughly 2 Months now and have been loving it. I liked its User Friendliness, Speed, Quality and Reliability so much, that I wanted to get a second P1S Combo for all Multi colour stuff and then go on to try the A1 Series for Mono Colour Prints in a planned small Size Print Farm…
Needless to say, Bambu shit the heatbed so hard with its recent changes that I can no longer support them, leaving me to wonder what printers hit the same Notes that I liked and mentioned above.
One Printer I’ve been curious about since I joined this hobby was the Ankermake M5. If what I heard is true, then it would make for the perfect Monocolour printer as it would allegedly hit all above mentioned points… especially considering I could go for Refurbished models for half the price, only 260€ which seems endlessly enticing…
Thoughts? What are some other options? I especially could need a reccomendation for an enclosed Multi Colour Printer with P1S quality… as for price wise I am very open and flexible honestly. I’m kinda just curious what options there are in general nowadays!
I got the Creality K2 with CFS and I love it.
It did arrive with a broken door, which seems to be a common issue, but Creality shipped a new one with no hassle and I got it in under a week. Other than that I’ve had no issues.
It’s large and crazy fast compared to my older Ender 3. It does multi color, although I find the purge waste seems excessive, so I avoid most multi color prints except ones that change at layer height, which it handles automatically. The CFS is still useful for swapping automatically if a roll runs out. I’ve got over 200 hours on it now and it hasn’t skipped a beat. I love being able to print anything anytime without spending all the time tinkering to keep it running like I did with the Ender.
I specifically avoided Bambu and waited for this printer to release because of Bambu’s closed ecosystem. They remind me too much of Apple. Creality has a decent track record with open software, maybe not the best with support, but it’s worked for me.
Prusa
So pricey, and their core xy just came out. Prusa doesn’t have the best track record with their initial releases.
I love my mk3 but I wouldn’t buy a prusa right now.
I’m In a similar boat to op, I don’t feel there’s a good solution right now. The creality k2+ and qidi plus 4 are worth looking at, but they’re also fairly new and not well proven yet.
I’m tempted to take the plunge and finally build a voron 2.4
Voron is fun, I built my Trident not too long ago.
OP mentioned a print farm situation. Repairability and uptime is a much bigger deal in that sort of situation. Having a quick, available fix is more important than hoping that your 24/7 printer never wears out or breaks.
didn’t they also say they are going closed source for future models some time ago?
Yep, I think MK4 is the first one that’s not fully worn6 source. Or maybe XL, not sure.
I believe the only thing Prusa is withholding from open-source is their PCB designs as of the MK4 and Prusa XL release.
oh that’s pretty minor then. super easy to just get whatever stepper board, and optionally any sbc or computer in general really for klipper
I’m curious what you’re referring to when you say Prusa doesn’t have the best track record on initial release. I started with two MK3s at work, upgraded them to MK3S+s, and now to MK4s. I didn’t have any trouble along that upgrade path and I was always an early adopter. We also have a Prusa XL. If you are still on the MK3 model, perhaps you haven’t had much experience with their newer models. However, the MK3S is six years old now.
Regarding cost, Prusa seems very comparable to Bambu for similarly speced printers. Specifically, looking at printers with an enclosed print bed and metal frame, the Bambu X1C is more expensive at $1100, vs the Prusa Core kit at $950 (assuming your comfortable assembling it yourself).
At home, I’d sure love to have a Voron to tinker with. However, for a print farm, I wouldn’t consider anything but a Prusa these days.
It seems wrong to compare the price of a fully assembled bambu against a prusa kit. Especially for a farm, you want to pull it out and print.
Have you tried the mmu? It wasn’t great. Mine’s collecting dust. The xl didn’t get good reviews when it launched, I’m not sure how the sl is doing.
I’m not saying prusa don’t make awesome printers, but their first gen tends need more refinement. I’ve owned a few creality but my mk3 was my favorite printer until the x1c.
And yeah totally agree the voron would be for a fun thing, not a print farm.
I don’t think it’s wrong to default to the kit. I wish more companies offered that option. If you’re going to be maintaining them, you need to be very familiar with how it goes together. However, I agree with your point if your buying in bulk. It will get really annoying to assemble multiple units back to back. Though, I believe Prusa offers discounts for repeat buyers, so the assembled option would drop in that case. Also, the Prusa Core is their latest release and we haven’t seen any deals yet. The Bambu X1C price I mentioned is the current sale price. MSRP is $1200. Going back one Prusa generation to the MK4, a fully assembled printer is only $1000 at MSRP. I still think Prusa and Bambu pricing is very compatible.
Regarding the MMU: yes, I’ve had two. I’d summarize them by calling them trash. They have both been collecting dust in a box for years. I eventually found that they were not with the effort, but regardless, I don’t believe that old accessory has any bearing on the printers themselves. If a Prusa printer did have any substantial issues on release, I would at least be comforted by the fact that you won’t be stuck with it. The upgrade kit options, extending from the early MK models through to the MK4, and now to the Core One demonstrate that commitment. I can’t think of any other manufacter doing something similar.
Forget Creality, Prusa is worth the price for a print farm. OP is looking for workhorses, not poorly supported jank. Have you ever tried to get support from them? It’s a fucking dumpster fire.
If you have a farm you’ve got spare parts on hand and you’re not relying on support.
I agree on creality though, I’ve owned a few and I’m skeptical but people really like their new one.
Prusa!
For the kind of setup you are wanting I’d look at Creality. Low cost, reasonably fast, multi color options. Yes they take a little tuning at the start but in terms of a bulk farm machine it’s a solid option.
Unless it’s ideological, you can still use the Bambu, they’ll be releasing a “developer mode” which is LAN only and enables direct communication with the printer.
And means you no longer get support
Prusa
Qidi Q1 Pro looks interesting
