Lots of good recommendations here, my usual recommendation is that if you want 3d printing for a hobby to get a Bambu or similar because they just function out of the box for basically all materials. If you want 3d printing to be the hobby then a Prusa or Voron as others have said, way more tinkering to be had. Both are lots of fun though!

Glad to help! Mixing colors shouldn’t be an issue, I have done it in the past, also have mixed PA and PA-CF in the past without issue. I bet you could even find a tent with a window and run a PTFE tube to a dry box outside the tent then you could pull the first color out and put the second one in without having to open the tent.

Also, just to say it out loud I would definitely test the strength of the layer adhesion (especially between the colors since they might have different additives) for anything structural, especially if you might get injured if it fails, just to be double safe heh.

Last, at least where I am, PA is significantly more expensive than ASA or PETG so might be worth looking at those for at least prototypes of the parts. For example, I typically use PLA to prototype ASA parts, has usually been fine to swap it out with just minor tolerance adjustments and it’s way cheaper to print 50 versions in PLA while I’m working out the design and then I print the final ones in ASA or whatever.

I have printed PA and tent idea will probably work but the other person is not kidding, PA is very finicky. Plan on printing PA directly from a dry box as even sitting on the printer will ruin a roll of it if you live somewhere with more than like 20% humidity outside, also make sure your dryer can reach 85c to dry out a spool of PA, even with a dry box I usually dry PA immediately before printing it. As others have mentioned, definitely consider ASA or PETG or maybe even PC (if that printer can print it) where you don’t really need the material properties of PA specifically.

The tent will also probably be important for maintaining temperature of the chamber more than the smell, nylon doesn’t have a ton of odor anyway. You may need to put a blanket on it, you probably won’t need a chamber heater since nylon needs like a 65c bed or more, just make sure to pre-heat the chamber first by turning the bed on, I usually let mine warm for 20 min or more. It is alap important to keep the temps stable as nylon also warps easily which can cause it to pop off the bed while printing too So make sure the tent is sealed and try not to open it.

Sounds like an interesting project though, best of luck!

So I stared at this for a while, particularly the pattern of the seam, I have a few questions. What type of infill are you using? how many outer wall loops? How much infill overlap (or whatever it is called)?

Also what happens if you rotate the part on the bed 90 degrees so the seam is on a different axis? Or maybe 45 degrees? This will make sure it’s not some sort of mechanical issue in one direct that shows up in this specific situation.

I know that all seems random but those are what I would check hah.

I think what that person is saying is that in your example the left part would probably be more durable because it is flexible and that the part on the right is less durable but more rigid, basically saying your result is expected and makes sense if you are wanting durability over rigidity.

I think that the part that is unclear is that OP is using durability, rigidity, and strength as they are defined by material science not in common English and they way they differ in definition makes that comment make sense. I’m not a material scientist though so I could be wrong.

I hope that is correct and makes sense hah!

Make sure your filament roller doesn’t have too much resistance as well. Since TPU stretches linearly way more than any other filament if it does have a lot of resistance then the extruder won’t be able to pull more filament until it overcomes that resistance and the stretch and it ends up physically thinning out the filament. Just a thought, hope it helps!

I agree with the other poster, this is wild. It seems like It is limited to one axis so maybe it’s a slicer or printer bug. Does it do it if you print it out of PLA? PETG is cranky all around but I have never had it do something like that hah. Is this part online somewhere? I can try to slice it and see what happens on my x1, I’m curious now haha.

ETA: you should also open a support ticket, they have great suggestions sometimes.

Yep definitely agree with all of this here, my friends and I have been saying the same things about Prusa too, they need to innovate or drop their prices in 2024.

I am also a big oss supporter but the user experience of the Bambu ecosystem is really great, lately it has basically become the same argument as iPhone vs Android.

To sum it up, I usually tell people that while both work, if your interest in the hobby is in the things that come off the printer then get a Bambu, if your interest is in tinkering and optimizing the printer then get a Prusa or something.

I have a mk3s that is modded and an X1C and I always reach for the X1 because prints basically always work in any material without changing settings beyond infill/strength etc, I don’t even calibrate anything on it anymore, their auto calibrate function is extremely good and I have used it with PLA,PETG,ASA,ABS, PA/Nylon, PC, PLA/PETG/PA-CF, PLA+wood, and even TPU. The Prusa does well but it is definitely more finicky but I’m definitely a core-xy convert now so my next printer will be a core-xy because the accuracy is so much better for tall and square objects especially.