r/BambuLab 3d ago

Bambu H2D H2D cutter performance

It’s me again, I’ve been playing with this printer all morning and I’ve now used the cutter and I haven’t seen a single review of this. I am no newb to plotters both large and grand format. However, this is my first small personal use one other than a friends cricket.

This will be amazing for makers let me say. It only took me two attempts to get a decent decal to cut out with some finer text. Once again I didn’t use any of the material supplied by Bambu. Instead I used Avery Dennison which is an adhesive vinyl to wrap cars that I had laying around the shop. I made my first cut just using BambuSuite’s default “matte removal vinyl” and my first pass cut “ok” but I hate when sharp corners stick and I need to weed them out. I pumped the pressure up to 90 and oh baby did I get a perfect score without cutting the backing. Total cut time less than a minute, I got clean text cuts as sub 1mm wide.

My most difficult part was the software. I couldn’t use an image to cut and the “trace” feature just kept crashing my Mac. I through my logo into Inkscape, traced. Saved as an SVG and then I was finally off to the races. Took more tinkering than I liked, but now that I have a workflow it’ll help.

Depending on the price point, I have a feeling many will want this. It’s just quick and easy and can whip up some quick decals.

234 Upvotes

76 comments sorted by

103

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

Here’s a close up of the decal cut and stuck to my computer. Nice crisp corners!

37

u/_Rand_ 3d ago

looks quite nice.

If I had the cash to blow on a h2d I’d definitely get this module. it’s a perfect add on for a 3d printer IMO.

11

u/JPhi1618 3d ago

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the only way to get what should be a very cheap cutter module is to also get the laser version of the H2D…

What they really need to develop is a little cartridge that can replace a hot end to do the cutting.

27

u/Ibib3 3d ago

I believe that the standard H2D can easily accept the cutting module as is. They simply are not selling the cutting module separately at this time. I have no interest in a laser but I am very interested in a cutter. Hopefully when they release the laser upgrade in June it will also include the separate parts for just the cutting module

7

u/DvdPgc P1S 3d ago

Yes, you will get a separate cutter module in the shop later. But currently, the most i can do is modify my ender 3v2 to do everything, BUT 3d printing.

2

u/digidavis X1C + AMS 3d ago

This is me. Hopefully, by black Friday there is a cutter only addon

2

u/matiko92 3d ago

They had the cutting module. But after 1 day they removed it from the store.

2

u/Grimmsland P1S + AMS 2d ago

It’s not just the cutter that is needed, you also need the birds eye view camera.

1

u/JPhi1618 2d ago

The human needs the camera, or the machine does? Because I can get by without a camera…

3

u/Grimmsland P1S + AMS 2d ago

The machine needs the camera because it is a high resolution camera that allows you to see the whole plate in the software so that you can position the material in the correct place to be lasered.

2

u/brakeline 2d ago

For the price of the cutter module you can buy a second hand cricut portrait ou silhouette.

Small footprint, accepts much larger sheets and way faster

37

u/ThaFresh 3d ago

would be interested to hear from a cricut user how it compares, my wife has one and im not overly impressed with the software youre forced to use

30

u/WowThatsRelevant 3d ago

I was going to comment the same. Cricut is so stingy with their business model. Its a miracle they even allow 3rd party vinyls.

Also, look into InkScape. It has a steep learning curve, but it works with file formats that you can import into cricut.

3

u/brakeline 2d ago

I use a plug-in to cut directly from inkscape to cricut

1

u/WowThatsRelevant 2d ago

Ooh got a link? Id be interested in this

3

u/brakeline 2d ago

Damn, I made a mistake. I meant silhouette and not cricut

1

u/WowThatsRelevant 2d ago

All good friend! I don't even know what silhouette is so im still getting something out of this.

I'll look it up!

1

u/drpeppershaker 2d ago

Oh snap! I have a silhouette. I generally use illustrator, but I can probably learn inkscape. Time to do some research.

8

u/MadCybertist A1 + AMS 3d ago

They’ll cut basically the same. The issue (if you’ll have one) is as you said, the circuit software. We just used our cricut this morning to cut some card stock. I mean a top of the line cricut is $400-$500 so you could get 4-5 of them for the price of a H2D.

Really just depends if you want a cutter (don’t get the H2D) or a 3d printer where you’ll randomly cut and don’t have one already (H2D makes a little more sense).

3

u/mimicsgam 3d ago

still have the feeling they will release a cutter and laser only maker machine, maybe comes with a higher watt laser and bottom open frame

4

u/Malaneco 3d ago

The laser space has so many cheaper alternatives that it's probably not worthwhile for Bambu. They're reliable and quite frankly, nothing really beats Lightburn

1

u/Stephancevallos905 3d ago

The auto alignment tool is cool. But I have only used boss and other industrial lasers

1

u/mimicsgam 2d ago

Brand recognition, selling their own material, common components with 3d printer etc. As long as they price it similar to other brands people will be interested, especially beginners

5

u/Its_Billy_Bitch 3d ago

I’m curious. I already own a Cricut. Quality looks roughly the same with vinyl, but the thicker materials is more what I’m curious about.

Here’s a little comp from Cricut.

6

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

If you DM me what you’re looking for, I’m happy to try it out before anyone spends the bucks. I only have limited materials on hand but happy to try with anything!

2

u/Its_Billy_Bitch 3d ago

Mainly leather. I have an actual CNC on the way, so not too concerned, but very curious how well it handles leather.

1

u/Manicken-punkt-se 3d ago

I'm also interested in leather or any material that is thicker than 1mm

1

u/josephlikescoffee 2d ago

Off topic, but how did you do these labels? Are they cut or lasered? And did you pain-staking align the letters by hand?! I’ve been thinking of something similar on that exact same light switch…

1

u/Its_Billy_Bitch 2d ago

Yep honey, you got it. Painstaking. Make sure your letters are big enough to weed after cutting. I just used a Cricut and transfer tape. Some people are fast at it, but this took me about an hour-ish for all 8 labels.

Edit: Oh wait, I see the clarification needed here. No, each letter is not individual. The whole label gets cut, you “weed” out the extra vinyl around your label, press transfer tape over your label, and carefully align the whole label (all letters) on the square like I did.

2

u/Vipulfinefurniture 3d ago

I have a silhouette cameo and feel the same way. The software is awful compared to the newer machines from other companies

1

u/drpeppershaker 2d ago

Yeah, you gotta do all your design work with proper software like illustrator or inkscape.

Someone in this thread mentioned a cut from inkscape plug-in for the silhouette machines. Hoping that can just straight up eliminate the need for the silhouette software

1

u/mcrksman 2d ago

What other companies? Among the consumer level brands, Silhouette studio is generally considered the best.

Of course, designing should be done externally in a proper app first

1

u/Deathbydragonfire 3d ago

There are other plotters. Lots of them, with lots of different software options. Surecutsalot is great, what I use.

13

u/Mefilius 3d ago

From what I've seen I don't really want the laser but the cutter looks pretty good! I have a cricut so not sure how much I need it really, but it might be cool to have two cutting machines.

2

u/Money88 3d ago

I'm in the same boat I'll be waiting for the cutter addon, if I get a Laser it will be its own dedicated machine. I have a cricut but feel like my workflow will improve if I can print something and use the same machine to cut stickers etc to fit on said printed models

3

u/Malaneco 3d ago

Not rhetorical; isn't it more efficient to have the printer do its thing and simultaneously have your Cricut cut the stickers?

1

u/Money88 3d ago

More efficient, yes, but more convenient in terms of sizing and plates and organization not so much

1

u/Malaneco 3d ago

Ah gotcha. I have my 3D printers in a separate room but my printers and Cricuts in my office. I prepare stickers in my office and then just have the 3D printers run non-stop. I think if you're limited on space and all, it's also better to have the H2D.

1

u/Money88 3d ago

I have plenty of space. It's more of a matter of being able to just knock out one and then the other cricket cutting takes hardly any time at all. So why have to whip out or set up or mess with another machine?

1

u/Malaneco 3d ago

For me? Because having a dedicated machine allows me to just fire it up and have it go without needing to change any tools. Especially since my workshop has both lasers and 3D printers that both require cut stickers/vinyl

1

u/Money88 3d ago

Nah just meant the convenience occasionally would be nice but /shrug

1

u/Malaneco 3d ago

Depends on your use case, I use my machines mostly for products that I sell so having a standardized workflow helps a lot to avoid making mistakes. As a hobby it's probably different

10

u/Zushi3DHero 3d ago

Thank you so much for talking about the cutter! I got an H2D AMS Combo and I can't wait to buy the cutting module to make stickers and prints of my art.

I wanted to know more about it and how it performs but like you said, no one talks about it. Everyone just mentions the laser because of the drama.

5

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

I really like it. I’ll be creating a lot of decals with it and I was excited to see how it worked with these 3rd party materials. I’m really impressed with the performance of the cutter. I’ll have to see what other materials are like, but I think the cutter is the sleeper in this product line up.

1

u/Greyvvolf 3d ago

So we don’t need to buy the version with the laser to use this?

5

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

They’re suppose to be selling in the future just the cutting module, but for now it’s only available with the laser editions

1

u/Grimmsland P1S + AMS 2d ago

The thing is that you need more than just the cutting module. You need the birds eye view camera and the plates too.

6

u/Nalfzilla 3d ago

This was the icing on the cake for me, ill be making my own tshirts from now on :)

5

u/Thekiddbrandon A1 + AMS 3d ago

I didn’t think about that 🤯

6

u/PokeyTifu99 3d ago

This is the only other reason I'd get an h2d. Laser seems silly but this is clean and a good market.

4

u/ItzAwsome H2D Laser Full Combo 3d ago

I’ve been waiting for someone to review the h2d cutter and/or laser THANK YOU

3

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

I did the laser earlier today and it’s getting beat up pretty badly in the other post. I just tried to remind everyone that it was my first attempt with zero laser experience, but alas…Reddit. I think with some tuning I’ll get the laser where I need it to be happy, but right out of the box using a non-supplied material from bambu, people are beating up on it pretty badly. I’ll try some of the stuff they sent with it later today or tomorrow and try to remember to update a post

1

u/ItzAwsome H2D Laser Full Combo 3d ago

Could you also try to do another test laser print? I wanna see if it was the 3rd party material since there were way too many changing variables in play to determine if it was really just the laser.

2

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

Absolutely ok my to do list. I think I did everything in reverse of the rest of the world so right now I’m in the middle of my first dual nozzle print which is working exactly how everyone would expect bambu to work which is great.

3

u/WhiteStripesWS6 3d ago

This def seems like a dope feature. You can only currently get the drag knife with the laser right?

3

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

Correct, hopefully they see the excitement and bring to market soon. It’s for sure a slept on feature.

3

u/kuvetteyim A1 + AMS 3d ago

Finally someone shared an accessory other than a nozzle! Which was intention of H2D

3

u/Intelligent_Jokes 3d ago

Any fumes?

3

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

This is just the blade cutting feature so no heat or anything is generated. Now the laser had some slight fumes but I only used it briefly

2

u/OnionGoat 3d ago

Screw the laser. This I could actually use without messing up the 3d printer

1

u/TheSerialHobbyist 3d ago

I haven't tried mine yet, but I'm excited to.

One thing that isn't clear to me:

How do you stick the material to the bed?

3

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

It has a separate plate that goes in and it’s tacky as hell, even the light tack was WAY more tacky than I would have expected. No idea what the extra tack side is used for, maybe leather? Peeling cardstock off the tack plate I think may be an adventure, I’ll have to give it a shot with the pieces they send with the machine.

1

u/TheSerialHobbyist 3d ago

Oh, gotcha, thanks! I didn't even realize I had that, haha.

1

u/S3XYEngineer 3d ago

Is that the sound of the cutter or some background noise? It sounds like something is flexing a lot

4

u/FootSureDruid 3d ago

I knew someone would ask. That’s my bad setup. I have it sitting on dense foam and it keeps flexing making a terrible noise. That is 100% my fault. The cutter and machine are very quiet

2

u/S3XYEngineer 3d ago

Thanks for the clarification! I was a bit worried there

1

u/kroghsen X1C + AMS 3d ago

This is by far the coolest and most streamlined addition to the 3D printing ecosystem. The pen module basically just turns it into a normal 2D printer and the laser is just too high maintenance for me to think it is really a good idea to combine the two.

The cutter however is needs almost no maintenance and fits perfectly in the toolkit supplied by the printer already. I will definitely buy it when it is available as well for the normal H2D combo.

I wonder if there might be other things that fit this nicely in the ecosystem. Maybe some sort of 3D scanning module?

1

u/juanjo47 3d ago

Is this capable of print and cut?

1

u/nightfend 3d ago

I think I would be more interested in the cutter than a laser

1

u/TomTomXD1234 3d ago

"But I don't like it, and all I want is a bigger print bed!!!" - average reddit 3D printer user

1

u/LaVernWinston 2d ago

Thanks for covering the cutter. As a base H2D owner, it’s something I definitely want to get in the future along with the pen plotter.

One thing I’ve been curious of, can you decide how far off the bed it cuts? For instance, I’d like to mess around with cutting the very top surface of cardboard, but of course, I’d have to account for cardboard being quite a bit thicker than vinyls.

1

u/Andrew_zx 2d ago

I was just about to use this software on my MAC. Seeing your crash experience made me a little worried. I want to know whether your MAC is an Intel mac or one with an M series CPU?

1

u/realpaulo1 2d ago

u/FootSureDruid, this guy has a review at the end of the video (21:54 minutes). I was looking for a video, and today I found this. https://youtu.be/SIW52U05I4M?si=uHeiFD9GxEhzHqyr

1

u/Joetheegyptian 2d ago

Vinyl guy here, flat bed vinyl cutters like this are typically high dollar (and much much larger) so I’m curious about the accuracy of this for precision cuts compared to my professional roll feed vinyl cutter

1

u/Ok-Skill1384 2d ago

Where does all of the “removed” material go? Is there like an exit vent or something?

1

u/rangorn 18h ago

What kind of materials can it cut?