3D Printing: Bambu Vs. Snapmaker: Final Thoughts

 

We have been recently posting about the difference between our new school machine (Bambu H2D) and comparing its prints to the regular Snapmaker Prints that we have been completing over the last few years (since 2021).

We have been printing identical prints as a comparison in terms of print quality and also print time, and further as is relevant to ourselves as a school ensure that we are printing in a way that is reliable and can be monitored.   As a school while we are very lucky to have staff who are able to unblock and fix machines as the need arises it is not something that we want to spend time doing.

The print shown left has been completed using our Snapmaker printers and Cura design software with a gold filament.   The design was sourced online by a student from a freely available website.   In its current format the print 60mm across at the base and 80mm wide at the top.   The print is 75mm tall and 40mm wide.   The print took one and a half hours to complete on regular print settings.

There was rafting 'waste plastic' underneath the arms and underneath the cloak of the figure.   The rafting was removed using a basic pair of pliers.

The print was reliable although we have experienced difficulties at time with the spool fouling then causing the printer to jam.

The Bambu version of the same print was identical in terms of dimensions, although as can be noted from the pictures has a slightly more detailed finish.   

The biggest differences were in the print times, which was under half and the amount of waste which in this case was minimal restricted to a small amount under each arm and the base of the figure.

The other obvious point of difference is the housing for the PLA which in the case of the Bambu is held securely above the printed and unrolls from there.   We have used the Snapmakers extensively but do have to ensure that the printers are unwinding successfully.    Various features of the Bambu ensure that this should not be an issue.

3D Printed Jewellery Business: Progression

 

We have a School Market Day approaching in October 2025.    As part of the process our students have spent time designing and using our technology to create a range of products.   As detailed previous Market Days can be viewed here.

One of our business ideas was to use Tinkercad to create original 3D Designs which they then could 3D Print.

In the instance shown left the students from our junior school had a discovery time, where they were creating a range of beads and forming a bracelet.  We were able to use the lettering shown left and combine it with the objects and the material that was supplied.

The pink lettering shown in both examples are our students using their 3D Printed Glow-in-the-dark filament.   This provided beads with an additional feature in that it could glow in the dark.

The feedback from the students, in this case junior students (new entrance who are five years old) helped our business students think about design options and how they might improve their product.   They wanted to look at including their own versions of the art blocks (the flowers shown left) that fill out some of the design.   After seeing the examples they again used the scribble option from Tinkercad to create their own take and examples.   These were able to be done quickly and independently by the students concerned.

As shown in the bottom left photograph.   The students also recognised that they could pass on their creations to other students in the classroom who could help with the shapes and the details.  Not all of the designs were able to translate well to printing.

We opted to print in two different colours, using a mixture of red and blue PLA to see which would stand out more.   Some of the designs shown left could be easily recognised, others require more of an interpretation.   The default settings for the printing mean that we are using a regular nozzle etc - but realistically increasing the fine details would not translate to a better print.

3D Printed 'Scribble' Designs: Tinkercad

 

We have discussed in the past how we are looking innovative  and creative ways for our students to use tools such as Tinkercad in conjunction with their use of the iPads.  We have talked about the 'scratch' icon and how we have used it for the ten minute design challenge which has been put towards our junior school students.

We have also been working on our designs for a school award, a combination of the two was required as we wanted to personalise the design with symbols and details that are specific to Auroa Primary School. 

The brief to the students was to use the scribble design tool to create something unique and specific to our school.   In the example shown above the students copied 'Piri the Pukeko' the school mascot and used scribble to create their own version of this.

The scribble design shown left was 80mm long was 30mm high and 10mm high.   With these dimensions the prints took one hour to complete, using the Snapmaker design and completion.

Currently the student could look to add additional features into the design.   The shaded version shown above left has been coloured used the traditional mascot colouring of blue and orange.   The student wants to spray paint the design shown above and look at adding additional details into its presentation.

Another idea was to also look at other features that might then translate into something for our area.   The most iconic feature in our area is the Mountain, Taranaki which dominates our landscape and area and for which our region is named.   This was an early attempt to complete the process - and was quickly produced but the student wants to refine it.

It is currently 100mm across at the base and is 60mm to the top, the design is currently 10mm thick and as a result has a print time of forty minutes. 

The student wants to attend to the features of the mountain, the scale of the peaks relative to its shape and look at revising the design - we also want to make sure the student is aware of their designing and the importance of respectfully and correctly using it as inspiration.

Another student considered the use of 'scribble to completely design a new potential mascot for the school - in this instance the student wanted to look at designing a fox.

The idea behind the animal is that it has several features that stand out and are easily recognisable due to their scale - the ears and the tail in particular. 

In this instance the design measures 60mm across and was 60mm high.     The design was 10mm thick and currently has a print time of ninety minutes (again using the Snapmaker).

The student wanted to look to redesign the facial features of the print as this was the part of the design that the student was least satisfied with, however as they are completing a silhouette of the animal doing so with a combination of the features will provide to be challenging - however the  initial design shown here only took a few minutes to create.

3D Printed Trophy - First Physical Prototype

 

Challenge: As detailed previously in a post on this blog to create a unique trophy given to students during prize giving.

Background: We detailed this on a post previously on this blog. about the creation and intention of the project.    As we noted while everyone in the classroom (twenty five students) created their own version of this print.    Once it had been created by the students using the Tinkercad platform students where then able to use the AR/VR function available with the iPad.  From this point we were able to determine prints that would be potentially viable to print excluding any prints that we felt would not meet the brief.    The person of doing this was to create a physical print that we could then compare and look at improving with some additional details.

Further details of this print are available in the previous post.  This was completed using the Bambu H2D printer.  We had previously created a sport specific trophy in this print from 2015.

Size: As a prototype we wanted it to be as close to the size of the original as possible.    The print measures 120mm across at the base of the print and is 120mm long.   The height of the main section of the print 110mm at its main point.   

Timeframe: Using the Bambu H2D print three and a half hours, the Snapmaker version was predicted to take double this.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:

The students design with the name of the school needs to be balanced so both of them stand out.   The four corners of the design are currently pyramid shaped - one of the students has already stated that these could be modified to represent the mountain which is a local Taranaki landmark - Mt Taranaki.

The back of the design features the symbol for the school is on the reverse of the school name plate it has specific symbolism to the school, it is three feathers which are then intertwined.   This could benefit from further detail and development.    

3D Printing Bambu Vs. Snapmaker V2.0

We are continuing our process of looking at ways to develop and improve the students ability to create and produce projects.    We have recently been very, very fortunate to purchase a Bambu H2D Printer for our projects to use and have started producing work with it.   

We are also continuing to use our Snapmaker machines to produce products and have looked at comparing the two, as we did with some of our recent prints.   We need to be reminding ourselves that the Snapmakers are machines that we are comparing are now four years old - against a new machine.

In this example these are two of the name plates are are being used as part of the Minecraft Nightlight - this is to address the personalisation of the design.     Again as with our other recent examples the two key comparison points for the designs are the print time and the rafting.    Both prints in this case were started at a near identical time - however the Bambu print was completed when the Snapmaker version had only completed 40%.

In the Snapmaker version shown left the rafting in between the lettering is close and dense.   In our experience particular care has to be taken to remove the internal rafting to ensure that the lettering itself is not removed, this is particularly challenging when dealing with fine details like the e and c.

In the Bambu version - shown as it was removed from the print bed there is much less rafting and what there is, such as the trees that are holding up the 'l' which form the second and third letter is able to be removed with a small pull using fingers rather than a specific tool.

3D Printed: Non Printing Design and AR/VR

Challenge: Set by the Principal for the students (Juniors) to create a suitable prize giving award for students at school.

Background: This challenge was set by the Principal of our School, following up from the paperclip challenge from the previous week.   This challenge was detailed on this blog, which you can view by clicking on the link here.

The challenge was created by our Principal who wanted a miniature trophy to be created by the students.    For the end of year prize giving our students are awarded a number of trophies, the idea is for students to keep the miniature version as a permanent reminder while the larger version could therefore remain in possession of the school.   The specific brief for the students was to feature the name of the school, and also have suitable details that were authentic to the school.

We provided with students to complete this task a physical example - that was a trophy created on Bambu Printer specifically for the 2025 School Step Master Dance Machine Competition.  This allowed our students to compare their AR/VR designs with an original design so they could compare the designs viability and composition.

In this instance the dimensions of the prints will mean that not all students projects will be printed.   We are going to allow the Principal to judge the competition on the basis of the virtual design and then select three to five designs to undergo the printing process.    This allows the class of twenty five to be all involved in the printing process, to refine their designs, share their designs and then complete the process.

We have documented a slideshow of ideas based around the use of projects that involve creation and design which is located on the tab here.

Size: Although this has not been completed yet - print wise, having the physical example present has been an excellent way to reinforce to the students about the exact potential measurements of their designs and print.   Tinkercad has the ability to do this accurately using the 'ruler' option.   The prints will have a base in the region of 80mm square and the disc with the heading and details will be 100 mm across.   These dimensions will obviously change on the basis of the final design.

Timeframe: Depending on the final design we would be anticipating the print time for this project would be four hours for the Snapmaker and two hours for the H2D Bambu.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: While this project is not yet completed it is dependent on the guidance from the person who set the challenge.   Once the best designs have been selected and printed this will provide feedback to the entire class.   One of the issues that would be potentially the importance of the local story local aspects to our trophy - rather than have a generic mountain for instance in the base to have something specific to our locality.

3D Printing Bambu H2D Vs. Snapmaker

 

We are experimenting with using our new Bambu H2D printer and comparing it to the other machines that we have at our school, which is the Snapmaker.

As a disclaimer straight away the Bambu is brand new where-as the Snapmaker are now four years old.

As shown left the student design recently featured on this blog we made the decision to use this as a test print to compare the two prints and see what they have offered and how they might differ or what we might consider moving forward.

The design was created by a Y4 student, who is eight year old, inspired by the movie Monsters Inc.   She designed this using Tinkercad from scratch using the movie character as the inspiration.   The first significant difference between the two designs is the print time.   The design shown left has a print time of just under seven hours, including the rafting as shown, prior to its removal.

In the Bambu H2D printed example here shown left the print time was three and a half hours.   The rafting shown here is considerable less than its Snapmaker comparison.

While it was not particularly visible from the two photographs when the two prints are compared side by side there is clearly superior finishing shown from the Bambu printer.   There are also some additional features with regards to the Bambu set up and dispensing of the PLA which is superior in terms of the 'fouling' or jamming of the PLA.    The Bambu also has the ability to have remote camera viewing the print in progress.   We have had the Snapmaker housed in our library on a desk for the students and staff to use.    The size of the Bambu means that this location will not work for the printer and we will need to organised a dedicated location.

The biggest apparent difference between the two machines is the print quality but in particular the print time, which at this stage appears to be twice as fast by using the Bambu printer.    Less PLA is used for the Bambu version as the rafting is reduced.