I’m apart of a student design team at Carleton. We build UAV’s for competition and do a decent amount of 3D printing. The school has printers we can loan however we want a printer that we can have permenantly in our lab. So far from my research it’s between the K1 series and a P1S. The P1S is a better piece of hardware however this whole Bambu debacle has made me think twice. We have a budget of around $1k and I was wondering what your thoughts were on the best printer we could buy or build.
Hi Lucas, if you need large prints go for K1 Max, for precision and multi-color/material go for P1S.
Key differences of K1 Max and P1S.
-Build Volume: K1 Max is larger 30x30x30cm
-Speed: Both are fast, but the K1 Max is optimized for large projects.
-Automation & Advanced Features: P1S has more fine-tuned, automated features for accuracy.
-Multi-color/material up to 4 to 16 capability for P1S with AMS(auto material system).
-Target Audience: P1S targets precision users, while K1 Max leans towards users needing large format and speed.
Here is a reference site that you can read.
Creality K1 Max vs Bambu P1S: The Differences - https://all3dp.com/2/creality-k1-max-vs-cambu-p1s-differences-comparison/
I work in a university as well. We have a number of printers and a couple of labs with multiple machines.
The Bambu is questionable under pipida. Our pipida officer feels digital files should be considered personal and covered and protected under Canadian laws. Uploading them to China is not legal if they are correct. It is a grey area but that was our call.
This also applies to Creality.
You also need to verify electrical certification. Creality for a while came with bogus certificates. Clearly fake illegible garbage. You would need to be certain they are inspected and have paperwork to demonstrate that.
I would suggest a Prusa. We have a fleet and they are rock solid and reliable. The fact as new tech is released they can be upgraded and do not require hours of service makes them far cheaper in university setting where time is valuable and at least most places everyone is under staffed.
I would look at the core 1 if I could wait. A xl if I could find the budget.