I really appreciate that you show the whole engineering process, with all the research and decision-making to evolve a design. It’s not just informative but also engaging.
LATE BREAKING NEWS: There is now a firmware update that appears to fix the underextrusion issues I was seeing in the first layer. With the new firmware (01.01.00.00) I am now getting good results with the automatic flow calibration and the default profile for the Bambu Lab PETG Basic filament.
white petg probably is using titanium dioxide as a pigment, so it is pretty opaque and will not work great as a diffusor. Non-pigmented filament (often branded as natural/natur/or simillar) would be definitly better. It isn't translucent, but should diffuse light without dimming it as much.
I was thinking maybe he could add a clear layer closer to the leds, then have the final lens in clear 3 layers thick. That way the clear closer to the leds does a little diffusion, then it's smoothed out again by the final lens. That air gap would probably require bridging tho
@@c0mputer The results are really go IMO, but I thought the result of some of his prints were good when he could see room for improvements. That is what this comment is about, improvement. The difference between 99.9% and 99.999%. 😀
I came for the 7 segment displays, I stayed for the translucent windows, and I am *not* disapointed. Thankyou James, for answering questions I didn't even know to ask ❤❤❤ Oh, and P.S. Your video on the carbon-fiber roller bearing balance tester thing completely inspired me; I've started drawing up 3D parts for my modelling projects. Thankyou for the inspiration ❤😊
As far as review videos go, he didn't spend a lot of time talking about the product really - spent way more time showing an interesting use of it instead. The results sell it!
What a slick idea. Standard 7 segment displays are honestly so tricky to get good visibility on without just the right diffusion layer and this makes it look so good and seems like it has the potential to allow make a very bright display without running into bleed or contrast issues.
First time channel viewer here… Very informative, no-nonsense video that doesn’t shy away from the more advanced projects (in my eyes, anyway, as somebody looking to go into 3D printing). I’m amazed at the quality of such a relatively cheap printer and this has re-awakened (re-awoken?) my interest in them!
Terrific video. The fact you guide us through the whole process, your thinking, the successes and the failures, and your solutions is so, so, so, so helpful. TH-cam is just the greatest resource thanks to people like you. Thank you.
I've been away from 3D printing a while, James. Seeing these capabilities has me dumbfounded, especially for the costs! Using that faceplate in a product, one would not know it was printed and could perhaps be a one-off (unless of course they removed it and looked at the backside). Amazing!
Great video! I just picked up the A1 mini as my 1st 3D printer. I also went ahead and picked up a hardened steel hot end and some PETG-CF (along with some PLA).
Thanks for taking us through your process! To improve on the print surface quality even more, it might be worth using the Bambu High Temperature Plate so the first layer has no texture and is completely smooth. Also, with ironing selected in the slicer, all top surfaces can be melted smooth! Cheers!
You can use Hilbert curve infill for the first layer to prevent any diagonal pattern in the front of the panel. I’ve done it before with great results. Takes a lot longer but worth it.
Great video, and a very interesting idea. This made me think of another possible variation. Instead of a black panel with white segments, print the whole first layer in white. Use black in subsequent layers to define the individual segments. I think that would make all the segments invisible when they are not illuminated.
@@Clough42 you could also try to separate the two layers (diffuser and transparent petg ) by leaving a 1mm gap between them. I know, the diffuser will be printed in the air , as bridge , but for those small sizes might work quite ok .
Amazing. I have been on the fence about buying the a1mini with the ams to print backlit panels for my cockpit build. The results look just as good as laser cutting/engraving. And there is the extra added benefit of printing reliefs that some panels have. The only drawback to matching the color of the real panels which I think is a fair trade off. Thanks for the extensive test. I think I will pull the trigger on the purchase.
To have good diffusion, you want a first layer of diffusion closer to the LED to spread the light source origin. The secon layer acts as a screen on which the light is projected. Think of it like a laser pointer illuminating a thin paper and then the spread from that is projected on a wall. The most important thing is to leave some space between the first and second layer.
Another awesome video! This is something I had been looking for - and thank you for the link to order! Shame they are now on back order until after thanksgiving! Keep up the great work on these videos... I am always amazed at your level of professionalism and thoroughness.
I had not seen your video before, I was searching for reviews of this printer and stumbled into this one. I was very pleasantly surprised to see some serious design engineering using this printer much in the same way I would if it got it. Rapid test parts for my model trains. Then when i saw you also had the multiple filament adaptor I felt I had no need for such a tool. UNTIL I SAW THE RESULT! Then I started thinking about my trains. Number boards, cab fire boxes and bulk heads, running lights, direction indicators, all kinds of reason to use the multifilament gizmo. Then I watched the details unfold. It was fun to someone working just like I do. Print multiple variations until it comes out right. Great methodology and example of printer use and value add. Well done on the three layers Amazing quality. My advantage is I can make the panels as small plates that fit in the larger frame. So a large part with these features printed in it is not required. What do you think ????? Dennis in Virginia
Great idea. Been printing for years, and this seemed a no brainer to get for small parts rather than sending to bigger and slower machines. Waiting for it to arrive. Wasn't sure about the AMS, though ordered it as well, and glad I did now.
When you did the first batch of surface finishes, I was thinking hit the face with some fine grit sand paper to make it all more consistent and matte, and then maybe a coat of wax?
Wow. 30 ish years ago we were doing one offs with inkjet transparency film, black paint, colored bits of film, and white film stuck to the inside of of the transparency film, and they looked ok, but could easily be scratched, and would take hours if you changed your mind. Now you can do a better job with something that conceivably could be a Christmas present. Great work as usual.
Lol… I have no interest in that printer nor the topic and still, I‘ve watched the whole review… you are fantastic to listen to… found your channel with the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon review and really liked your way of explaining. So well, I guess that‘s one of the biggest compliments I can give you.. 😁
Diffuser thought... would a broken or cross hatched or whatever clear layer work as a diffuser. So all clear material for transmission of light, and facets with sandwiched air gaps to do the the light scattering. Even a grid of pits or pyramid shapes on the diode surface may be enough. 🤞 And you do very good work with bamboo!
Really great video. Love all the details and seeing your thought processes. Would love to see more detailed slicer settings you use. Still getting used to BambuStudio myself with my A1.
Did you try putting the diffuser layer further away from the surface? I'd expect you'd get better diffusion of the light with the diffuser closer to the LED, and less reflectance of the room light off the diffuser making the segments that aren't lit darker. Or maybe fill the whole space between the LED and the front of the panel with the clear, and with all the layer lines, you might get better diffusion without reflecting as much room light on the unlit segments.
Committed to excellence. How you drill and dig to improve an already acceptable result. Congratulations. As other comments show, very inspiring for further improvements (seems to be ingredient of 3D printing though 😊)
This is so cool! I did a project a while back for 8 segment displays using neopixels that was way more complicated and did not turn out nearly as good as this. Thanks for a great video.
Another great video. Mixing multiple colors and filament types is a huge leap forward for the maker community. My X1 should be here tomorrow. I've been working on a car dash project off and on for a couple years and this looks like the ticket. Most people use the old DYMO labels UGLY. Two things. I tried a sheet of diffuser material and found the light would bleed into adjacent arears. I would print the "light funnel" out of the white with black around each one. This helped diffuse the light much better for me.
Thanks for sharing, I'm impressed by the results you were able to achieve with the A1. Regarding the quality issues you saw with the 0.1mm diffuser layer, I ran into similar issues with PETG and fine layer heights in my X1C. Bambu Studio uses volumetric flow rate to constrain its printing speed with PETG, so when you switch to finer layer heights it tries to print PETG much faster than it should, which can result in poor print quality. Reducing the maximum flow rate for the material might help get the result you're looking for.
This kind of work with 3D printers is really helpful for us tinkerers! Subscribed and looking forward to more of your testing using 3D prints with Bambu printers.
for some reason the algorithm knows it best! I stumbled upon your video for no particular reason, and now I find myself buying a Bambu P1S after clicking on your link for the mini... I hope you get a commission for that too! waiting on that Fusion 360 tutorial!! keep the faith.
7:20 You can just export all components as a .step file and they can be separated in the slicer easily in the Objects tab. .step files also often have better quality over .stl for many rounded shapes.
I ENVY your ease with SMD parts. This 78 year old retiree does best with point to point (P2P) wiring. Again, an old man's preference in solder alloys: 63/37 Sn/Pb and "audiophool" Ag bearing eutectics for me. Kudos to James for teaching "old dogs" about recent technological developments. Some of the presented material actually penetrates.
When you hold objects that are a little reflective on the top down camera view, the glare can make it kinda hard to see detail. I think getting a circular polarizing filter for your camera would be a nice video upgrade that won't break the bank. Great video as always. I just noticed this with the printed parts casting a lot of glare in some shots, not a huge deal.
This looks so slick! In terms of legibility in a bright room, that could maybe be helped by printing the diffuser layer further from the lens, or even simply sliding a piece of paper over the PCB so that you don't see the white when the segment is unlit?
When you showed how the white digits didn't pass enough light, my literal next thought was, "How about one layer of white under the clear?" And then you did it! Cool. It does seem like the single white diffusion layer works, but I preferred the darker look of the un-illuminated windows. I like the suggestion that somebody else made to offset the diffuser layer from the lens. Another thought: perhaps try printing the interior light channels from white as well. That might help reflect a bit more of the off-axis light from the LEDs towards the window and boost the brightness.
I really love hidden indicators. For that you print a single 0.1 layer (0.2 works as well, it's good for larger windows) solid / don't have the holes poke through entirely. Even that lets through a surprising amount of light. Even with a textured bed I succeeded doing that and it looks really nice as you can't see the indicators at all unless they're lit. In a recent project I even printed a clear PETG light guide and then into such a hidden feature. That didn't turn out too stunning, but good enough for a charge indicator
Actually back a few years ago, PETG was mostly translusend dyed. While pigmented dye is now the "standard", you can still get translucend PETG. So maybe a "translucend" black first layer would hide the segments if the light is off, but work better than using the normal black used for the other layers.
@@oleurgast730 Normal black is little enough pigmented for it to work really well. This way you don't need to swap filaments. But this is a nice idea for sure! 100% worth trying out!
Remember no matter what printer you have, you should always be doing E-Step Calibration and every material should have flow-rates calibrated. I have filaments that need 0.93 as the flow rate, and others that need 1.07. EVERY time I get a new filament I run a flow rate cube to check it. Same filament in my CR6SE might have a different flow rate of my Ender3. I have never tried multi-material with my printers, it is a manual operation on them, but I've never understood how to do it. This gave some insight. Thanks James!
This is generally unnecessary to get good results when using Bambu filament on a Bambu printer. In fact, there was a firmware update for the A1 a few minutes before this video went live that fixed my issue, and I'm getting good results with the default flow ratio setting now. (edited to fix typo)
@@Clough42Interesting. Even PRUSA's need to have filament flow rate calibrated using their own filament. That said, Having used INLAND PLA+ and PETG, the numbers are VERY consistent (just different between printers), and PRUSA Mint is similar, numbers are consistent and just vary between my two printers. Would like a Bambu, but the cost just keeps me away. I had 4 printers at one time (2 home built from 2010, an Ender3 and CRS6SE). I just have the two Creality printers now. Only reason I see to get a different printer right now is if I want exotic materials. Good stuff as always though James. Learned a LOT of Fusion from you through the years! :)
The white diffuser layer reduces contrast between OFF and ON segments so I prefer no diffuser. Maybe if you can make diffused color the same as LED color, contrast will be better. Really impressed on how you can print different layers in different colors! -- Thanks for a great presentation.
Great Vid! I found your it totally useful for the type of simpit panel engineering that i enjoy. i really appreaciate you showing your engineering process and gleamed so much to add in my next simpit panel. Just wished the form factor of the AMS Lite was more practical to have with me in my Kommand Center as it would be on your desk. P.s You really sold me on the purpose of the AMS
High recommend the smooth PEI plate for something like this 🙂 Also, making the sides of the window channels white would probably improve transmission if you wanted it even brighter.
i used a very similar technique for one of my prints a few months back. worked flawless. when i then printed the same part with a newer version of the slicer, i had those same small holes that you got. i was able to tweak some parameters here and there, but never got to a point that satisfied me. they have to have changed some slicer algorithms and introduced some bugs that way. really hope they figure that out again...
With all the respect to your work and effort I would like to give a tip to those who have single filament printers. You can achieve the same results by using UV resin for the windows. With small syringe apply 3-4 layers of resin and cure each layer with UV light. I'm using glass on my printer bed for better finish. You can use color dye also. Thanks!
Another option to get the light more evenly diffused over the lens would be to make some transverse stripes on their inside surface so they catch light from different directions. With that, they could be completely made out of transparent material, minimizing the light loss. It's similar approachto how diffusers e.g. on car blinker lights are made out of single piece of transparent plastic.
@@NicksStuff with a 0.4mm nozzle you can pretty safely lay down lines 0.3mm thick, and you can do multiple layers of that, staggered slightly to achieve a finer overall pitch. and, since this isn't like a camera lens or something, just a "try to randomize the light rays" type application, it's ok if you push the limits and the individual lines don't turn out that great, because over multiple layers that randomness will average out to even illumination. i find with this type of thing, the hardest part is often just figuring out how to model something to manipulate the slicer into placing the individual lines exactly how i want. (hopefully someday we'll have better tooling for more granular control over the gcode)
Great design and result! Definitely will play around more with both correction factors as well as top layer pattern. Hilbert Curve might be what I have been looking for without knowing.
Oh man this is awesome! I have designed 'dead front' displays before and those use a smoked clear lens. Try using translucent grey filament for the lens and i betcha the segments will be hard to see when the LEDs are off!
Sir, I have just designed some after market car remote replacements ( not nearly as edjucated as you, but they work ... 🙂). It has a little round clear insert for the LED, and this would be a GREAT way for avoiding that inserted extra. Also you have showed me how to bring multiple stl's in as a single unit, in stead of using the combine feature in Fusion. Thank you so much for your educated and also fantastic content !
Thanks for showing your workflow in the slicer! I've been fascinated by multimaterial, but can't see myself justifying the cost of P1P or X1C or fiddling with an ERCF when any printer can do filament swap at X layer which was mostly adequate for the occasional print where I'd want multiple colours or different materials (PLA composites mainly). Yours is an excellent use case for MMU, same with the TPU+PETG mix membrane touchpad I saw the other day and so on - I think A1+AMS could be a decent starting point for me. Loved your presentation as well - you went through different iterations of the design and explained the changes you made so nicely, subscribed.
Try setting the diffuser back farther. Decoupling it from the lens. I'd think that'd help increase contrast while decreasing the brightness when off. Thanks for the video. I'm blown away that multi-material has gotten this effortless.
Good result! Though I don't like the white diffusion layer, since it reduces contrast and brightness so much. I'd put in a clear layer or two as a diffusor at maybe 2mm distance from the window. And just leave air between them; the printer can bridge over gaps nicely, especially at those small sizes.
I am impressed with the filament changes and not having a ton of streaking messes through the different colors. I would have expected some nozzle dragging to inadvertently pick up some PETG across the boundaries.
Hi James, I'm curious how long/turny of a light tube you could print with the clear filament embedded in black/opaque. Would the light follow the tube kind of like fiber optic line or will it just very quickly diffuse and die off? Imagine your enclosure design called for the indicator light to be 3" away from where you could practically place the LED.
I was wondering about that, lining the tube with white or embedding the super thin white layer in clear to cure the black drag if you didn't source the non-pigment filament xano mentioned.
I really appreciate that you show the whole engineering process, with all the research and decision-making to evolve a design. It’s not just informative but also engaging.
LATE BREAKING NEWS: There is now a firmware update that appears to fix the underextrusion issues I was seeing in the first layer. With the new firmware (01.01.00.00) I am now getting good results with the automatic flow calibration and the default profile for the Bambu Lab PETG Basic filament.
Thats so cool James! The single diffusor layer is much better than what I did! Thanks for the shout out.
Kudos for plugging Christopher Helmke's content btw. Dude is impressive indeed!
No one on TH-cam quite makes me feel imposter syndrome like he does. He's just so damn good at what he does.
white petg probably is using titanium dioxide as a pigment, so it is pretty opaque and will not work great as a diffusor. Non-pigmented filament (often branded as natural/natur/or simillar) would be definitly better. It isn't translucent, but should diffuse light without dimming it as much.
I was thinking maybe he could add a clear layer closer to the leds, then have the final lens in clear 3 layers thick. That way the clear closer to the leds does a little diffusion, then it's smoothed out again by the final lens. That air gap would probably require bridging tho
I don’t understand. Is the result not good here? Looks good to me.
Clear PETG transparancy depends on speed of print and other settings in lesser degree
I print 7seg displays with my X1C, and I use natural white as the diffuser layer, and it works great.
@@c0mputer The results are really go IMO, but I thought the result of some of his prints were good when he could see room for improvements. That is what this comment is about, improvement. The difference between 99.9% and 99.999%. 😀
I came for the 7 segment displays, I stayed for the translucent windows, and I am *not* disapointed.
Thankyou James, for answering questions I didn't even know to ask ❤❤❤
Oh, and P.S. Your video on the carbon-fiber roller bearing balance tester thing completely inspired me; I've started drawing up 3D parts for my modelling projects. Thankyou for the inspiration ❤😊
I normally skip over review videos but I watched this one all the way through and I'm seriously considering one of these.
As far as review videos go, he didn't spend a lot of time talking about the product really - spent way more time showing an interesting use of it instead. The results sell it!
This has made me decide to get an A1 for myself. Thank you for this video!
I used to be a fan James .. now you're making me order printers. Mixed feelings man!!
What a slick idea. Standard 7 segment displays are honestly so tricky to get good visibility on without just the right diffusion layer and this makes it look so good and seems like it has the potential to allow make a very bright display without running into bleed or contrast issues.
I almost feel like this new printer is even better than my existing X1 Carbon. The nozzle change is superb.
I loved how you broke down the topic and showed your process through it all. Thank you!
When im looking into a printing topic you are the first choice every time.. buying this system for sure now. Thanks again!
First time channel viewer here… Very informative, no-nonsense video that doesn’t shy away from the more advanced projects (in my eyes, anyway, as somebody looking to go into 3D printing). I’m amazed at the quality of such a relatively cheap printer and this has re-awakened (re-awoken?) my interest in them!
Excellent test of this little fella. Bambu Lab have really lifted the bar with their printer performance and pricing in all their range.
Very nice project. Thanks for all of the details and critical observations. Just bought an A1 a couple of days ago and am waiting for it to arrive.
Hi James, that was a Fusion 360 masterclass as far as I'm concerned.I learned so much from it. Love the videos. All the best from Jim in the UK.
Terrific video. The fact you guide us through the whole process, your thinking, the successes and the failures, and your solutions is so, so, so, so helpful. TH-cam is just the greatest resource thanks to people like you. Thank you.
I've been away from 3D printing a while, James. Seeing these capabilities has me dumbfounded, especially for the costs! Using that faceplate in a product, one would not know it was printed and could perhaps be a one-off (unless of course they removed it and looked at the backside).
Amazing!
Great video! I just picked up the A1 mini as my 1st 3D printer. I also went ahead and picked up a hardened steel hot end and some PETG-CF (along with some PLA).
Considering the clear is not perfectly clear would adding more layers of the clear defuse the light better wile be brighter? Idk just a thought.
This is an excellent video. Quality throughout, and I love the bass groove outro. Well done!
Thanks!
I really enjoyed this project. Great example of what the printer is capable of and also a fantastic way of producing custom displays.
Thanks for taking us through your process! To improve on the print surface quality even more, it might be worth using the Bambu High Temperature Plate so the first layer has no texture and is completely smooth. Also, with ironing selected in the slicer, all top surfaces can be melted smooth! Cheers!
At the time I made the video, I did not yet have the smooth plate. I just got it yesterday, and will be trying it shortly.
You can use Hilbert curve infill for the first layer to prevent any diagonal pattern in the front of the panel. I’ve done it before with great results. Takes a lot longer but worth it.
Thank you for your detailed description on your settings. I learned a lot from this.
Great video, and a very interesting idea. This made me think of another possible variation. Instead of a black panel with white segments, print the whole first layer in white. Use black in subsequent layers to define the individual segments. I think that would make all the segments invisible when they are not illuminated.
Lots of great ideas to try in the comments today.
@@Clough42 you could also try to separate the two layers (diffuser and transparent petg ) by leaving a 1mm gap between them. I know, the diffuser will be printed in the air , as bridge , but for those small sizes might work quite ok .
I would love to see a "PC fan showdown" -style video where he tries out all of the crazy ideas we send him.
Amazing. I have been on the fence about buying the a1mini with the ams to print backlit panels for my cockpit build. The results look just as good as laser cutting/engraving. And there is the extra added benefit of printing reliefs that some panels have. The only drawback to matching the color of the real panels which I think is a fair trade off. Thanks for the extensive test. I think I will pull the trigger on the purchase.
To have good diffusion, you want a first layer of diffusion closer to the LED to spread the light source origin. The secon layer acts as a screen on which the light is projected. Think of it like a laser pointer illuminating a thin paper and then the spread from that is projected on a wall.
The most important thing is to leave some space between the first and second layer.
Another awesome video! This is something I had been looking for - and thank you for the link to order! Shame they are now on back order until after thanksgiving! Keep up the great work on these videos... I am always amazed at your level of professionalism and thoroughness.
I had not seen your video before, I was searching for reviews of this printer and stumbled into this one. I was very pleasantly surprised to see some serious design engineering using this printer much in the same way I would if it got it. Rapid test parts for my model trains. Then when i saw you also had the multiple filament adaptor I felt I had no need for such a tool. UNTIL I SAW THE RESULT! Then I started thinking about my trains. Number boards, cab fire boxes and bulk heads, running lights, direction indicators, all kinds of reason to use the multifilament gizmo. Then I watched the details unfold. It was fun to someone working just like I do. Print multiple variations until it comes out right. Great methodology and example of printer use and value add. Well done on the three layers Amazing quality. My advantage is I can make the panels as small plates that fit in the larger frame. So a large part with these features printed in it is not required. What do you think ????? Dennis in Virginia
Thanks for another great video! I ordered one with your link and looking forward to my first multi color printing experience!
That printed result at 12:30 is sooo nice.
Another great lesson on 3D printing. Thanks for all that hard work.
This is eye-opening, gives me a whole option for designing control panels. Thanks!
Great video showing your work flow. Really appreciated, you have a new subscriber.
Great video! I hav a P1S on the way so I'm doing my research about how to do stuff like this while I wait. Thanks
That seems to be a very capable machine! Thanks again James!
Great idea. Been printing for years, and this seemed a no brainer to get for small parts rather than sending to bigger and slower machines. Waiting for it to arrive. Wasn't sure about the AMS, though ordered it as well, and glad I did now.
When you did the first batch of surface finishes, I was thinking hit the face with some fine grit sand paper to make it all more consistent and matte, and then maybe a coat of wax?
Wow. 30 ish years ago we were doing one offs with inkjet transparency film, black paint, colored bits of film, and white film stuck to the inside of of the transparency film, and they looked ok, but could easily be scratched, and would take hours if you changed your mind. Now you can do a better job with something that conceivably could be a Christmas present. Great work as usual.
Lol… I have no interest in that printer nor the topic and still, I‘ve watched the whole review… you are fantastic to listen to… found your channel with the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon review and really liked your way of explaining. So well, I guess that‘s one of the biggest compliments I can give you.. 😁
Probably one of the coolest applications for AMS. Nicely done
Really inspiring project. Makes me think of a lot of applications for this kind of idea! Looking forward to seeing the fusion tutorial you promised ;)
Diffuser thought... would a broken or cross hatched or whatever clear layer work as a diffuser. So all clear material for transmission of light, and facets with sandwiched air gaps to do the the light scattering. Even a grid of pits or pyramid shapes on the diode surface may be enough. 🤞
And you do very good work with bamboo!
This is great, have been thinking about this application for quite some time now, thanks for showing this!
Very cool idea on the diffuser, nice to see your try prints
Bambulab simply appeared out of nowhere and left all the other printer companies in the dust. Insane.
Exactly what I was wondering about how to do exactly something like this.
Thanks!
Really great video. Love all the details and seeing your thought processes. Would love to see more detailed slicer settings you use. Still getting used to BambuStudio myself with my A1.
Did you try putting the diffuser layer further away from the surface? I'd expect you'd get better diffusion of the light with the diffuser closer to the LED, and less reflectance of the room light off the diffuser making the segments that aren't lit darker. Or maybe fill the whole space between the LED and the front of the panel with the clear, and with all the layer lines, you might get better diffusion without reflecting as much room light on the unlit segments.
Wow never really felt the need to before but, I might have to get myself some kind of multi material upgrade for my printer after watching this.
Committed to excellence. How you drill and dig to improve an already acceptable result. Congratulations. As other comments show, very inspiring for further improvements (seems to be ingredient of 3D printing though 😊)
i have an x1-c but i really want one of these too, i love their products
Very cool design. I'm looking forward to the walk through.
Realy realy nice Vid, that answered my questions regarding a small diy led sign project. Many thanks!
Well done. Your review was so much better with a real problem to solve.
This is so cool! I did a project a while back for 8 segment displays using neopixels that was way more complicated and did not turn out nearly as good as this. Thanks for a great video.
Another great video. Mixing multiple colors and filament types is a huge leap forward for the maker community. My X1 should be here tomorrow. I've been working on a car dash project off and on for a couple years and this looks like the ticket. Most people use the old DYMO labels UGLY. Two things. I tried a sheet of diffuser material and found the light would bleed into adjacent arears. I would print the "light funnel" out of the white with black around each one. This helped diffuse the light much better for me.
Really great video. I enjoyed seeing the finished product evolve and improve.
Thanks for sharing, I'm impressed by the results you were able to achieve with the A1. Regarding the quality issues you saw with the 0.1mm diffuser layer, I ran into similar issues with PETG and fine layer heights in my X1C. Bambu Studio uses volumetric flow rate to constrain its printing speed with PETG, so when you switch to finer layer heights it tries to print PETG much faster than it should, which can result in poor print quality. Reducing the maximum flow rate for the material might help get the result you're looking for.
This kind of work with 3D printers is really helpful for us tinkerers! Subscribed and looking forward to more of your testing using 3D prints with Bambu printers.
for some reason the algorithm knows it best! I stumbled upon your video for no particular reason, and now I find myself buying a Bambu P1S after clicking on your link for the mini... I hope you get a commission for that too! waiting on that Fusion 360 tutorial!! keep the faith.
7:20
You can just export all components as a .step file and they can be separated in the slicer easily in the Objects tab.
.step files also often have better quality over .stl for many rounded shapes.
Excellent engineering thought process! Aside from the entire white layer I was predicting exactly what you would do!
Thank you for putting and intelegent and practical use for this segment. Everybody else wants to repeat the specifications not the use.😎
I ENVY your ease with SMD parts. This 78 year old retiree does best with point to point (P2P) wiring. Again, an old man's preference in solder alloys: 63/37 Sn/Pb and "audiophool" Ag bearing eutectics for me. Kudos to James for teaching "old dogs" about recent technological developments. Some of the presented material actually penetrates.
review that surprised me, we need more review like this
When you hold objects that are a little reflective on the top down camera view, the glare can make it kinda hard to see detail. I think getting a circular polarizing filter for your camera would be a nice video upgrade that won't break the bank.
Great video as always. I just noticed this with the printed parts casting a lot of glare in some shots, not a huge deal.
one tip saved me a lot of time - using keybord numbers in order to select filament instead of mouse selection
This looks so slick! In terms of legibility in a bright room, that could maybe be helped by printing the diffuser layer further from the lens, or even simply sliding a piece of paper over the PCB so that you don't see the white when the segment is unlit?
Very much looking forward to that Fusion video where you talk about how you created those dovetails/keystones in the object!
I think you must be the king of high tech. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
When you showed how the white digits didn't pass enough light, my literal next thought was, "How about one layer of white under the clear?" And then you did it! Cool. It does seem like the single white diffusion layer works, but I preferred the darker look of the un-illuminated windows. I like the suggestion that somebody else made to offset the diffuser layer from the lens. Another thought: perhaps try printing the interior light channels from white as well. That might help reflect a bit more of the off-axis light from the LEDs towards the window and boost the brightness.
There are lots of great suggestions in the comments. So many things to try...
❤WOW ! Fantastisch! auf so eine Idee 💡 zu kommen ist wirklich sehr schlau. Hut ab.
I really love hidden indicators. For that you print a single 0.1 layer (0.2 works as well, it's good for larger windows) solid / don't have the holes poke through entirely. Even that lets through a surprising amount of light. Even with a textured bed I succeeded doing that and it looks really nice as you can't see the indicators at all unless they're lit.
In a recent project I even printed a clear PETG light guide and then into such a hidden feature. That didn't turn out too stunning, but good enough for a charge indicator
Actually back a few years ago, PETG was mostly translusend dyed. While pigmented dye is now the "standard", you can still get translucend PETG. So maybe a "translucend" black first layer would hide the segments if the light is off, but work better than using the normal black used for the other layers.
@@oleurgast730 Normal black is little enough pigmented for it to work really well. This way you don't need to swap filaments. But this is a nice idea for sure! 100% worth trying out!
Is there a chance another clear layer and using the Hilbert curve and no white layer would help diffuse the light ?
So many things to try.
Remember no matter what printer you have, you should always be doing E-Step Calibration and every material should have flow-rates calibrated. I have filaments that need 0.93 as the flow rate, and others that need 1.07. EVERY time I get a new filament I run a flow rate cube to check it. Same filament in my CR6SE might have a different flow rate of my Ender3.
I have never tried multi-material with my printers, it is a manual operation on them, but I've never understood how to do it. This gave some insight. Thanks James!
This is generally unnecessary to get good results when using Bambu filament on a Bambu printer. In fact, there was a firmware update for the A1 a few minutes before this video went live that fixed my issue, and I'm getting good results with the default flow ratio setting now. (edited to fix typo)
@@Clough42Interesting. Even PRUSA's need to have filament flow rate calibrated using their own filament. That said, Having used INLAND PLA+ and PETG, the numbers are VERY consistent (just different between printers), and PRUSA Mint is similar, numbers are consistent and just vary between my two printers.
Would like a Bambu, but the cost just keeps me away. I had 4 printers at one time (2 home built from 2010, an Ender3 and CRS6SE). I just have the two Creality printers now. Only reason I see to get a different printer right now is if I want exotic materials.
Good stuff as always though James. Learned a LOT of Fusion from you through the years! :)
The white diffuser layer reduces contrast between OFF and ON segments so I prefer no diffuser. Maybe if you can make diffused color the same as LED color, contrast will be better.
Really impressed on how you can print different layers in different colors! -- Thanks for a great presentation.
I need to get a proper PCB for this made so I can judge legibility if the digits with different configurations.
Great Vid! I found your it totally useful for the type of simpit panel engineering that i enjoy. i really appreaciate you showing your engineering process and gleamed so much to add in my next simpit panel. Just wished the form factor of the AMS Lite was more practical to have with me in my Kommand Center as it would be on your desk. P.s You really sold me on the purpose of the AMS
High recommend the smooth PEI plate for something like this 🙂 Also, making the sides of the window channels white would probably improve transmission if you wanted it even brighter.
Multimaterial sein Vater. Beeindruckend. Danke.
Your design of that display was super cool, never considered a diffuser layer before!
i used a very similar technique for one of my prints a few months back. worked flawless. when i then printed the same part with a newer version of the slicer, i had those same small holes that you got. i was able to tweak some parameters here and there, but never got to a point that satisfied me.
they have to have changed some slicer algorithms and introduced some bugs that way. really hope they figure that out again...
Very well done and I‘m very much intersted in getting an A1 mini myself now. 😊
With all the respect to your work and effort I would like to give a tip to those who have single filament printers. You can achieve the same results by using UV resin for the windows. With small syringe apply 3-4 layers of resin and cure each layer with UV light. I'm using glass on my printer bed for better finish. You can use color dye also.
Thanks!
That's a cool idea.
Another option to get the light more evenly diffused over the lens would be to make some transverse stripes on their inside surface so they catch light from different directions. With that, they could be completely made out of transparent material, minimizing the light loss.
It's similar approachto how diffusers e.g. on car blinker lights are made out of single piece of transparent plastic.
Wouldn't that need a resin printer? To reach the necessary resolution, I mean
But then you can't do a multicolor resin print (yet)
@@NicksStuff with a 0.4mm nozzle you can pretty safely lay down lines 0.3mm thick, and you can do multiple layers of that, staggered slightly to achieve a finer overall pitch. and, since this isn't like a camera lens or something, just a "try to randomize the light rays" type application, it's ok if you push the limits and the individual lines don't turn out that great, because over multiple layers that randomness will average out to even illumination. i find with this type of thing, the hardest part is often just figuring out how to model something to manipulate the slicer into placing the individual lines exactly how i want. (hopefully someday we'll have better tooling for more granular control over the gcode)
Very Enjoyable and inspirational! Thank You ❤
Great design and result!
Definitely will play around more with both correction factors as well as top layer pattern. Hilbert Curve might be what I have been looking for without knowing.
Oh man this is awesome! I have designed 'dead front' displays before and those use a smoked clear lens. Try using translucent grey filament for the lens and i betcha the segments will be hard to see when the LEDs are off!
Sir, I have just designed some after market car remote replacements ( not nearly as edjucated as you, but they work ... 🙂). It has a little round clear insert for the LED, and this would be a GREAT way for avoiding that inserted extra. Also you have showed me how to bring multiple stl's in as a single unit, in stead of using the combine feature in Fusion. Thank you so much for your educated and also fantastic content !
Thanks for showing your workflow in the slicer! I've been fascinated by multimaterial, but can't see myself justifying the cost of P1P or X1C or fiddling with an ERCF when any printer can do filament swap at X layer which was mostly adequate for the occasional print where I'd want multiple colours or different materials (PLA composites mainly). Yours is an excellent use case for MMU, same with the TPU+PETG mix membrane touchpad I saw the other day and so on - I think A1+AMS could be a decent starting point for me. Loved your presentation as well - you went through different iterations of the design and explained the changes you made so nicely, subscribed.
Nice job!
How rigid is that arm? It looks a bit unsupported. Any issues with dimensional accuracy or repeatably?
Always spectacular work and information. great video...I just love my P1PS too
Try setting the diffuser back farther. Decoupling it from the lens. I'd think that'd help increase contrast while decreasing the brightness when off.
Thanks for the video. I'm blown away that multi-material has gotten this effortless.
Good result! Though I don't like the white diffusion layer, since it reduces contrast and brightness so much. I'd put in a clear layer or two as a diffusor at maybe 2mm distance from the window. And just leave air between them; the printer can bridge over gaps nicely, especially at those small sizes.
I am impressed with the filament changes and not having a ton of streaking messes through the different colors. I would have expected some nozzle dragging to inadvertently pick up some PETG across the boundaries.
Well done, the machine does a really nice job with this fine detail and difficult geometry.
Hi James, I'm curious how long/turny of a light tube you could print with the clear filament embedded in black/opaque. Would the light follow the tube kind of like fiber optic line or will it just very quickly diffuse and die off? Imagine your enclosure design called for the indicator light to be 3" away from where you could practically place the LED.
I was wondering about that, lining the tube with white or embedding the super thin white layer in clear to cure the black drag if you didn't source the non-pigment filament xano mentioned.