Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?  

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I have both printers side by side, a Bambu p1s and a Prusa mk4, upgraded frim mk3s+.

The mk4 makes a resonant sound, while movin in y-direction. Thiscan be solved by reducing the speed to 85%.  But the quality of the prints, compared with the bambu-lab objects, is inferior. The bambu produces by far better quality than the mk4, independent of the use of the input shaper. 

It is, of course the question, whether the cloud in China is acceptable or not. But it is very convenient for the user. The rfid filament detection is a perfect solution for users, who do not want to tweak around with sophisticated print parameters. Just put the printjob on the way and get almost perfect results.

How long will the bambu work? At the moment there is no long-time experience. May be, the carbon rods will wear down in a short time. We will see…

RE:

I live in a small apartment, so everything is in our living room

@ppespepe Love your perspective on the whole Prusa vs. Bambu discussion. You sound like a wise person. But what blows my mind is how you are able to live in a small apartment and yet create this print factory 🤣 

Again, thanks for your insights. It helps a lot, at least it does for me. 

RE:

I have a MK3S+ with 240 printing days (5760 printing hours) going strong. Only problem I had in that time was the display, which was defective and replaced with the same LCD display from Aliexpress. Other than that is is completely stock, just with a hardened Zodiac nozzle.

I also have a Bambu X1C with 430 printing hours and 0 issues so far.

Print quality, print speed and the entire process with the Bambu is next level and blows the Prusa out of the water. I am sorry to say as a Prusa fan.

I really hope that Prusa is working on some CoreXY printer with all the bells and whistles the Bambu has. Like a Voron 2.4 with the support and community but from Prusa. I really can't see myself going back to bed slingers after the CoreXY experience. 😉

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Posted by: @antimix

I was about to purchase an X1C or a P1S, but then I had to abandon the idea, since they are too much loud. I live in a multi floor building, and the noise of the Bambulab that spread through the wall would be intolerable for the neighbourhood. When I was in a shop of a reseller, he told me (yes, against his interest) that when he prints at home from his bedroom on the second floor, he can clearly heard the vibrations spread through the walls till in the basement! But he lives in its own house, so he has no problem.

While true, the Bambu is only noisy when printing really fast, like 200+ mm/s.

If you slow it down in silent mode to, ahem... Prusa printer speeds (60-80 mm/s), it's very quiet. I have the Prusa Mk3S+ and the Bambu X1C in my homeoffice room next door and I only hear the Bambu when printing crazy fast.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I really can't see myself going back to bed slingers after the CoreXY experience

I own a Mini+ and am thinking of buying the MK4 kit because I love the whole building process. Let's suppose that the print quality on the MK4 and Bambu CoreXY are the same, why is it a problem to have a bedslinger instead of coreXY? It is the result that counts right?

If you slow it down in silent mode to, ahem... Prusa printer speeds (60-80 mm/s), it's very quiet

Regardless of having the MK4 or Bambu, I would want to use the IS functionally and print crazy fast instead of always slowing things down. So the whole 'Prusa printer speed' idea is outdated as their new firmware already supports IS.

So... if I buy a new printer it really is about

• the building process
• the tinkering afterwards to add mods on lets say an enclosure
• a bigger build volume than my mini
• the idea of contributing to earths sustainability in the broadest sense.

I am really charmed of the looks & completeness of the X1C but I miss the whole Reprap and tinkering feeling I am looking for. A 3D printer for me is more than a goal itself. More than a machine possible to print whatever I need. Not the prints but rather the printing is what makes it a hobby for me. Therefore my heart lies with Prusa, but even so I sense the doubts within myself when thinking about the choice.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I don't own a MK4, but print quality of the Bambu is significantly better than on the MK3S+ at 3 times the speed.

I like the tinkering and building process as well, but right now I would build a Voron 2.4.

Like I said, I really hope Prusa is going this direction as well.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Maybe.  Significantly better depends on how you are rating it.  The Mk3S+ is significantly better in my book than the Bambu in one manner.  If you have to replace a hotend or thermistor, it is a huge pain compared to the MK3S+ in my book.  One of the wires broke on mine and it was not easy to replace the thermistor alone.  

I have to agree that the P1P and X1C are faster but not 3 times in my book.  

Posted by: @mpothmann

I don't own a MK4, but print quality of the Bambu is significantly better than on the MK3S+ at 3 times the speed.

I like the tinkering and building process as well, but right now I would build a Voron 2.4.

Like I said, I really hope Prusa is going this direction as well.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Hello everyone, 

Well, the main issue is that mileage will vary for everyone. Each of us has different expectations and different perceptions of how loud something is and the levels of vibration. Each of us will also decide what is a fair comparison. I, for instance, respectfully disagree with the speed comparison. Is X1's Silent mode comparable with my MK4 or Prusa Mini? No, it is slower (not that it matters, really). Is X1's Normal mode faster than the MK4, even with the latest Input something and Pressure something else? Yes. But not by much. Is the X1C quiet? Not in a million years, is not. 

People like me, and I'm well aware I'm not necessarily the norm, could not care less about mm/s. I only care about the time it will take from zero to ready and the dimensional accuracy of the print while printing in more advanced materials than PLA. I seriously dislike my Carbon, but that's me, and that won't necessarily be your experience. The only real issue I've had with the MK4 has been its filament sensor being finicky. With the Carbon? Well... I've had several more. To give you an example, I printed the AMS Stack Stand on the Carbon, and the overhangs were horrible, and the dimensional accuracy was, well, inexistent. I had to print it on the MK4, and it went perfectly. In both cases, I used the printer manufacturer's brand filament. Out-of-the-box print and go without changing any parameters. But I'm pretty sure somebody got it right on their first try; that person is not me. I don't print bric-a-brac, not that there's something wrong with printing bric-a-brac since it is your printer, your filament, your time. The reason why I mentioned this is because skin layer quality "alone" means nothing to me. 

I won't bother you with my horrible experience printing with a 0.6 nozzle; I will only show you one of the reasons why I respectfully disagree with the "significantly better." At least this has proven untrue for me (my photos, my printer went bananas for no reason and wanted to self-destroy itself while destroying the print):

The above caused no permanent harm to the printer. Still, for a printer that requires more preventive maintenance than a cheap boat at sea, where almost everything is consumable, reliability should be higher. By the way, absolutely everything, including the filaments on my Carbon, is Original from Bambu. Not a single piece is from a third party or a DIY "improvement."

Cheers! 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I own a Mini+ and am thinking of buying the MK4 kit because I love the whole building process. Let's suppose that the print quality on the MK4 and Bambu CoreXY are the same, why is it a problem to have a bedslinger instead of coreXY? It is the result that counts right?

I switched from a Mini to the MK4 kit. To be honest, the Mini would have been enough for me too. But I was attracted by the set-up and the better mechanics, load cell and nextruder of the mk4. And I am very satisfied. The print results are first class and are hardly inferior to a Bambulab within reasonable limits.

Yes, a Corexy has advantages when it comes to fast printing. Especially if you take advantage of the print volume. But the question is whether you want to print that fast. There are reasonable limits for everything. If I want to print speedbenchy, the best way is with a small Corexy.

A Corexy also has disadvantages, just like a Bettslinger. For me, the advantages of the latter outweigh the disadvantages.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

A Corexy also has disadvantages,

Such as?

RE:

A Corexy is more complicated to maintain, repair or troubleshoot. With Bed Slinger all axes are separate.

The belts are relatively long. More expensive to produce. Relatively heavy head with direct drive which partially reduces the advantages of the corexy. The x axis must be included in the calculation.

It is also a personal attitude. Is the additional effort proportional to the result? Or can I achieve 90% with the bed slinger  with much less effort?

For me personally I had the choice between a Voron or MK4. To be honest, the effort required for the Voron was too high for me. I don't print very large parts. The printer is in a printer cabinet. So I don't need a closed printer.

The Mk4 is fast enough for me. A Bambulab is out of the question for me. Apart from the fact that I absolutely dislike the company, I also don't like the mechanical structure. The lack of repair ability also bothers me.

But everyone has to decide that for themselves.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I am (will be) all new to 3D printing, so I had no bias. I investigatedand decided to go for a Prusa rather than for a Bambu for 3 reasons:

1. I am European and wanted to put my money where my mouth is. I think 3D printing will be big (did I hear someone say "AI"?) and we need to keep that tech here.
2. I will not be printing cutting edge technology but I see no reason to share my data on a server in China. 
3. I like the approach of public design and standards and persistence of support by Prusa themselves or by whosoever takes over should they fail. 

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

OK boys, I have both -Prusa I3 MK4 and Bambu X1C. I can compare them - so printers out of the box:

1) Prusa is sligltly better in print quality

2) Bambulab is a bit better in speed

3)Bambulab has AMS multicolor system well working , Prusa´s MMU3 is not finished yet

4)Prusa is little bit cheeper.

5)Prusa has this forum - of course Bambulab has its own forum, but this one is better in solving problems.

But - both printers are excellent and will do their work.

RE:

That is fair.  The speed is print-dependent in my book especially when using the Alpha firmware.  I am not even sure if they have progressed to beta yet (outside of the Mk4).  

Posted by: @jokerit

OK boys, I have both -Prusa I3 MK4 and Bambu X1C. I can compare them - so printers out of the box:

1) Prusa is sligltly better in print quality

2) Bambulab is a bit better in speed

3)Bambulab has AMS multicolor system well working , Prusa´s MMU3 is not finished yet

4)Prusa is little bit cheeper.

5)Prusa has this forum - of course Bambulab has its own forum, but this one is better in solving problems.

But - both printers are excellent and will do their work.

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

Since 2 years I´m using the MK3S+ and 2x Creality CR-6 SE with satisfaction. Since 3 days I´m owner of the MK4. But reagding these thread I´m thinking about buying a Bambu XC1. Adding the MMU3 to MK4 I have to pay about 1600€. For that cost I will get a XC1 Carbon. I don´t believe that Prusa will refund the MK4. But the XC1 Carbon sound really really good!!! I will think about it, so I can print multicolor parts in a easy way with high quality....

RE:

Posted by: @jokerit

 

1) Prusa is sligltly better in print quality 

I never got this kind of print quality on my MK3S+. This was printed on Bambu X1C using Polymaker PA6-CF. Maybe Mk4 is a lot better. Ironically it’s MK4 parts for a friend. 😉

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MK4 Display backside in PA6-CF. This is Markforged print quality. 😉

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

I have any compare between MK4 and X1C.... even I have no MMU3. My MK3S+ does have a MMU2.

My Filament Guide was printed 2x with PLA, perfect quality in both MKx. Unfortunately I had to remove some material from the bracket below the screw in order to be able to mount the guide. Someone didn't think or measured incorrectly!!!!

RE: Prusa MK4 vs Bambu?

What is PA6-CF, expensive?

RE:

Posted by: @mrpresident

What is PA6-CF, expensive?

Carbonfibre reinforced Nylon. Really great stuff. 55€ per 500g.

https://polymaker.com/product/polymide-pa6-cf/