Bambu Lab makes good 3D printers — very good 3D printers. There’s a motive that they now dominate the market, in any case. However “simply working” comes at a value and the worth is a principally proprietary ecosystem. There have been many software program and firmware initiatives through the years that opened issues up a bit, however Bambu Lab tends to subject updates that, deliberately or not, make these initiatives much less helpful or altogether ineffective. The issue is that the {hardware} remains to be proprietary, which is why Jón Schone of Correct Printing fully unproprietarified his Bambu Lab X1C.
Earlier than we go additional, I need to say that this type of factor is usually for only for kicks. Most Bambu Lab homeowners don’t care concerning the proprietary nature of the printers and people we do care can be higher off merely buying a Prusa or one thing. That mentioned, that is nonetheless spectacular, as a result of Schone managed to interchange all the things proprietary within the X1C with an open supply various.
To check the waters, Schone began with a easy mod: changing the X1C’s scorching finish to simply accept E3D V6-style nozzles. That’s genuinely helpful, as a result of it signifies that customers can substitute a nozzle with out changing your complete scorching finish. Doing so requires the modification of a knockoff Bambu scorching finish block, drilled out and tapped for the V6 nozzle threads. A hoop heater replaces the everyday cartridge sort. That even made it attainable to make use of a large 1.8mm Volcano nozzle, which is absurd in one of the simplest ways.
After that, the challenge obtained much more difficult. To condense a protracted video into one thing rapidly digestible, the essential gist is that this: Schone changed nearly the entire digital elements with open options. For instance, he switched the Bambu Lab management board and touchscreen out for a BigTreeTech SKR3 and TFT50.
Schone actually solely saved the mechanical elements, just like the body and movement system, and {the electrical}/digital elements that weren’t proprietary, just like the stepper motors and energy provide.
However one difficult exception was the extruder, which has its personal management board that communicates with the first management board by way of a CAN (Controller Space Community) bus. It might need been attainable to reverse-engineer that communication, however it merely wasn’t well worth the bother. As an alternative, Schone changed your complete extruder meeting with an Orbiter v2.0. That’s compact, lifeless easy, and matches properly within the unique extruder’s location.
With RepRap firmware put in on the BTT SKR3 and configured to match the {hardware}, Schone was capable of begin testing. There have been some minor hiccups, reminiscent of by chance connecting the extruder motor to the Z axis output, however ultimately Schone achieved success.
The open Bambu Lab X1C prints properly and even makes use of options just like the nozzle wiper. And should you’re one of many few folks on the earth that wishes to transform your individual X1C, Schone’s information can be found on his web site for the nozzle improve, the controller mod, and the extruder mod.