The rumours seem to be true: Bambu Lab just announced a new desktop FFF device, the X2D.
This is the first “X” series machine announced since they discontinued the X1 series not that long ago. Rumours had been rampant that an “X2D” was to be announced, and indeed it was. However, the details were a bit leaky as Best Buy apparently popped up the X2D on their website a bit before the official announcement.
The other week we were speculating about the next machine to come from Bambu Lab, and it did indeed turn out to be the X2D.
This is quite an interesting machine. It clearly inherits some of the X1 series specifications, particularly in size, build volume, and overall appearance. However, inside the machine, the technology is quite different, even from the more recently announced P2S.
X2D Main Features
The big feature on the X2D is that it is a dual nozzle 3D printer. That’s why they added the “D” on the name, for “dual”. The intent of the second nozzle is NOT for multicolor prints, but instead for using soluble support material.
Soluble support is a material that does not chemically bond with the main material, making it very easy to pull off when finished. If you can’t pull out the supports, perhaps because they are deeply embedded inside a structure, they are soluble: just dump the print into a pail of water and wait for the supports to dissolve on their own.
This capability opens up the opportunity to more easily print highly complex 3D structures that would otherwise be near impossible with conventional support structures.
The other major change on the X2D is that the chamber is actively heated up to 65°C. This means that the thermal gradient between freshly extruded material and the surrounding air is far less, which basically eliminates warping.
Another change is that the main extruder uses a servo motor, rather than a stepper motor. This provides additional controls and monitoring, which translates into smoother and more reliable extrusion.
Finally, they’ve made a small innovation to the cooling system. Fresh, cool air is brought into the build chamber from two sources, one on each bottom side of the X2D. The exhaust is at the back after it goes through a three-stage filter. This ensures that cool air goes around BOTH sides of the ongoing print, unlike systems where the cool air is only on one side. This move should increase print quality that might otherwise suffer from a droopy “hot side”.
Putting all these together, you have a machine that should be able to easily print highly complex, dimensionally accurate parts. In fact, Bambu Lab’s X2D page has numerous short videos of parts fitting perfectly into each other. That’s something that most 3D printers cannot easily do, especially on the first attempt.
Advanced Features on the X2D
There’s more. The machine includes a webcam that, combined with onboard AI, can detect various types of print failures on its own. This may also be used in the Flow Dynamics Calibration feature. This feature automatically compensates for flow issues while prints take place. In other words, if the situation is not consistent (e.g. worn nozzle, filament diameter varying, etc.), the machine can compensate and you end up with perfect extrusions even though the inputs were bad.
Bambu Lab says the X2D includes a huge 31 sensors of various types, all designed to ensure the print quality is top-notch. For reference, the P2S has “only” 20, while the H2D has 36.
With all these features, it would be easy to suggest that the X2D would be an amazing engineering machine used by professionals. That may indeed happen, but it appears that Bambu Lab is targeting the machine at prosumers instead. The X2D page is covered with instances of home 3D print operators using MakerWorld to print sculptures, for example.
In addition, the X2D:
- Has a low sound level <50Db, “quiet enough for overnight printing”, which would matter only in a home.
- “Emission certified. Designed for your home”.
- Filtration is certified only for PLA and PETG, the typical materials used by home 3D printer operators.
Bambu Lab is clearly making a huge step directly into the consumer market here. I’ll have more on this idea in the coming week.
Meanwhile, you can actually order an X2D right now. Bambu Lab lists the price as US$649 for the machine itself, and US$899 when combined with the AMS filament swapper. It’s slightly more than the P2S, but a far more advanced machine.
Via Bambu Lab
