In this post, i am going to list 7 best upgrades for Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printer. These upgrades might not be for everyone, but if you want some inspiration and ideas on what to upgrade, this is where to start.
So it has been about a few weeks since I bought my very first 3D printer which is the Bambu Lab A1 Mini printer with the AMS Lite combo and I’ve to say that I’m very impressed with the performance and the quality of this printer.
It is super easy to use and very beginner friendly, just as they advertised it to be. It’s a perfect entry-level 3D printer and I can imagine that the printer will attract new users to get into the 3D printing hobby, who otherwise wouldn’t even like to try to.
You can use the printer almost straight away out of the box. You don’t need any tinkering, calibrating (manually) or any all of that. All you need to do is to assemble a few parts, have some filaments on hand and you’re good to go.
If you forgot to order some filaments, don’t worry, they even give you free 20 g spool of filament!
At any rate, after using it for a few weeks, I found that there are some things that I could do to improve the printer itself or the printing experience.
They might just be minor improvements or upgrades, and not necessarily essential, but if you’re eager to print something to test out your new printer, and don’t know what to print, make sure to print these out.
These prints are functional so it’s better than wasting filaments on sample prints that you might never need.
That said, these are the 6 best upgrades that I’ve done for my A1 Mini printer and recommend.
Table of Contents
1. Poop Bin
So the first upgrade is the poop bin. If I would recommend the one with a sleek design, it would be this one here, designed by thrutheframe. If you print it in white, it will go perfect with your A1 Mini printer.
There are like 5 different versions, but I decided to go with the tallest one. If you use the A1 Mini to print, you need to print the base and the topper separately though.
A1 Mini can’t print any model that’s higher than 180 mm. If you don’t want to print twice, just opt for the shorter bin.
Now the bin comes with docking bays which you need to print and tape to the printer. They act like a spacer so you won’t place your bin too close or too far to the printer. You also need to insert some small magnets into the designated holes, so you could dock the bin to the bays magnetically.
I didn’t print the docking bays because I don’t feel like I need them. After all, I don’t want to stick anything onto the printer, and I don’t feel like ordering magnets.
The PMS doesn’t topple easily or anything, so placing it next to the printer is all what you need to do.
Of course, you could also just use any box to catch the poop. Before I printed the PMS, I used this box to catch everything that the printer flings and it works just fine.
However, the box kinda ruins the aesthetic of my workspace so that’s why I decided to print one.
2. Spool Adapter for AMS Lite
The second upgrade is the SUNLU spool adapter. Now you probably won’t be needing this if you don’t have the AMS Lite and if you’re using any of these popular filament brands:
- Bambu Lab, spool inner diameter: 55 mm
- Overture, spool inner diameter: 55 mm
- Polymaker, spool inner diameter: 55 mm
- eSun, spool inner diameter: 54 mm
But if you do have the AMS Lite and if you’re using SUNLU filaments, then you would need at least one. The hole in the middle of the SUNLU spool is way too big (inner diameter: 70 mm) to fit into the AMS Lite spool holders.
The spool holders of the AMS Lite can only support spools with the inner diameter of 53-58 mm, so the adapter is the perfect solution for it. If you want to save material, you can print simple ones like this one here by MichaelRousseau3D.
Since I care about aesthetics, I decided to print the rest of my adapters in this design by LwFactory.
3. Plate Holder
The fifth upgrade is the plate holder. If you buy a second textured plate, or the smooth pei plate, you may want to store them upright. You don’t want to lay them flat because you don’t want the surfaces of your plates to get damaged.
So a plate holder is a great solution for that. You can find a lot of plate holders on Makerworld.com, but I went with this one by jayburd for my A1 Mini plates because I like how minimalistic the design is. It can also hold 4 plates at a time.
4. A1 Mini Toolbox
The fifth upgrade to get is this toolbox designed by hfoster52. So why do you need the toolbox?
You know how annoying it is to unpack the cardboard accessory box (which comes with the printer) every time you need like the hex wrench or something? It’s even more annoying when you try to close the box because the flimsy plastic insert won’t go all the way in.
The toolbox not just solves this problem, but it will keep your tools neatly organized too. If you get this insert designed by jponky here, you can even store your spare nozzles and some other spare parts.
To assemble the toolbox, you need six M3x30 screws. Instead of driving to the hardware store to get those specific screws, just print these pins designed by MauriMulon. (I actually drove to 2 different hardware stores in my area to find those screws, but they didn’t carry any!)
5. Filament Swatch Frame
Bambu lab provides you with filament color swatches when you buy the A1 or the A1 Mini. These swatches represent every filament type and color they carry in their store.
They come neatly packed in a box. But once you take them out of the box, you’ll just end up with a bundle of mess.
If you don’t mind using 300-400 g of filament, you can print this cool frame designed by wuguigui. The frame will keep your swatches organized and if you hang the frame on the wall or display it on the table, you can always find the information about the filament you want to order next with ease.
Not a fan of something so big? How about this filament swatch tray designed by nobroccolihere? Or this amateurish tray designed by me, where you can also use it as an insert for the A1 Mini toolbox!
6. Scraper
A scraper is a must-have tool to get. There are a lot of affordable ones on Amazon, but why buy when you can print it yourself? In the accessory box, you’ll find a metal blade wrapped in kraft black paper.
The pre-sliced file of the scraper handle and the holder are already saved on the SD card that comes with the printer, so you basically just need to go to the Print menu, find the scraper and hit print.
Put everything together using the hex wrench and the screws they provided you with.
While scraping, make sure to have the ridge behind the screws to touch the surface of the plate while scraping. This allows you to scrape your prints or excess filaments at the correct angle without damaging your plate.
If you’re not a fan of using metal blades for scraping, try out this plastic scraper designed by JernejP (the file is also available in the SD card).
7. A1 Mini Handle
The last upgrade is this handle for A1 Mini by LwFactory. This handle is such a lifesaver because I move my printer a lot and it’s so annoying to move it because you need grab the backside of the Z-Axis tower before lifting it up.
The handle lets you lift the entire printer without coming into contact with any rails or sensitive parts of the printer.
You just need to remove the original covers at the top of the Z-Axis though, but don’t worry, they are super easy to remove.
Use the hex wrench they provided you with and start unscrewing the front screw to remove the grey top cover. When you lift the cover, you’ll see another cover beneath it. Unscrew the 3 screws on the cover and remove it.
These covers are fairly easy to remove when you unscrew them as they sit almost loosely on the Z-Axis tower. Keep the covers somewhere safe and install the handle using the screws of the original covers.
So those are the upgrades I did for my A1 Mini and if you have any other cool upgrades you want to suggest, just let me know in the comments!
