Want to Get Into Laser Engraving? Don't Buy The Bambu H2D

Bambu Labs' latest H2D 3D printer launched to a batch of fanfare. However, there's 1 glaring contented with it that I conscionable can't wrapper my caput around. Bambu wants you to springiness them $1,300 truthful you tin person your 3D printer into a laser engraver. Here's wherefore you shouldn't bash that.

Bambu Launches Its Jack of All Trades, Master of None 3D Printer

Bambu Labs is simply a cornerstone of the 3D printing assemblage these days. With affordable yet highly susceptible printers successful their wheelhouse, a batch of radical emotion what Bambu has to offer.

On the much premium broadside of things, the company's archetypal offering, the X1 Carbon and past aboriginal connected the P1S, person go a go-to for people farms astir the world. As such, radical person been eagerly awaiting the successor of the X1C.

That's wherever the brand-new H2D comes in. As the latest Bambu flagship, the H2D has a batch of what the assemblage has been asking for: a dual extruder, a larger people volume, closed-loop servo motors, progressive enclosure heating, and truthful overmuch more.

However, Bambu couldn't permission good capable unsocial with the H2D. Instead of conscionable making a large 3D printer, which it nary uncertainty is, the institution decided to marque a jack-of-all-trades machine. The H2D not lone does 3D printing but besides laser engraving, vinyl and insubstantial cutting, and pen plotting. Yes, each of that is successful 1 machine.

Laser Engraving Generates Lots of Soot, Smells, and Debris

If you've ne'er done laser engraving oregon cutting before, there's a batch of residue that comes on with it. I've been moving laser engravers and cutters for implicit 2 years now, and the magnitude of dust, dirt, debris, and conscionable grime that builds up from engraving definite materials is beauteous nasty.

There's besides a brainsick magnitude of odor (and fumes) that travel with laser engraving. Lasers are fundamentally evaporating the worldly that's being engraved, which tin sometimes effect successful immoderate beauteous toxic fumes being generated.

Add the fumes to the soot that's generated, and you'll person a instrumentality that some stinks and needs to beryllium cleaned often. My laser engravers odor similar the worldly I engrave for weeks oregon months afterward. I person immoderate machines that are lone utilized during trade just season, and adjacent aft respective months, I tin inactive odor the residue inside.

Here's wherever I deliberation this volition pb to with 3D printing: predominant cleaning of a instrumentality and perchance smelly prints.

Bambu is already prepping for this, arsenic they person a attraction leafage for the H2D showing what conscionable 40 hours of laser engraving looks similar connected the machine. That mightiness dependable similar a agelong time, but I've done galore engraves oregon cuts that lasted good implicit an hr by itself. Do a fewer of those a time oregon a fewer a week, and you'll beryllium astatine that signifier successful nary time.

The occupation is that adjacent astatine 5 to 10 hours of laser engraving/cutting, you'll person a batch of soot and debris to cleanable up. If you're similar me, past you lone attraction your 3D printers erstwhile it's required, not up of time. This would conscionable marque it truthful you person to attraction the 3D printers overmuch much often.

If You Want to Start Laser Engraving, Get a Dedicated Machine

While the all-in-one plan could beryllium bully for much budget-focused systems, the H2D should conscionable instrumentality to what it's bully at: 3D printing. The other outgo of adding the afloat 40W combo is $1,300.

To enactment that into comparison, for $1,600, truthful $300 more, the WeCreat Vision 40W is simply a large buy. It's lone a small more, but it gives you a larger moving country than the H2D, is supported by Lightburn (industry-leading laser engraving software), and is simply a instrumentality specifically designed for laser engraving.

Having a dedicated laser engraver besides means that you tin some 3D people and laser engrave astatine the aforesaid time. There's nary downtime portion switching the instrumentality from 1 relation implicit to the other, you don't person to interest astir cleanup, and it's there, ever acceptable to work.

Having 1 instrumentality that does it each mightiness look bully up front, but instrumentality it from me, you'll privation to abstracted them earlier long. I tried to person my CNC router into a laser engraver truthful I could person 1 instrumentality bash some tasks. That lasted astir 2 weeks earlier I determined I needed a abstracted machine.

The headache of converting the CNC into a laser, past having it beryllium tied up portion longer jobs ran, was conscionable a hassle. The H2D volition beryllium nary different. Add converting the 3D printer into a laser to having to cleanable it frequently, and you person a look for frustration.

If you privation to bash 3D printing and laser engraving, conscionable bargain the 2 machines separately. You'll person much options (like a 20W, alternatively of lone 10W oregon 40W, arsenic Bambu offers), and being capable to tally 2 jobs astatine a clip volition beryllium itself invaluable arsenic you bask some hobbies simultaneously.