3D printing starter kit
A printer that calibrates itself, dry filament, and the three finishing tools you'll actually use. Printing in 30 minutes.
3D printing stopped being a hobby about the printer in 2023, when Bambu Lab shipped machines that level, calibrate and tune themselves. In 2026 a beginner spends $220–550 and is printing reliably within half an hour of unboxing. The rest of the money goes to filament, keeping it dry, and finishing tools.
Decide two things: open or enclosed, and single or multi-color. Open-frame A1s print PLA, PETG and TPU; an enclosed P1S/P2S or Prusa Core One adds ABS, ASA, nylon and polycarbonate. Multi-color (AMS) is fun and roughly doubles filament waste; it is easy to add later.
Pair this with the electronics bench and you can design, print and wire enclosures for your own projects.
The kit
P1S Combo (enclosed, multi-color), a four-spool dryer, spare plate and nozzle. Handles engineering plastics.
Budget is our editorial estimate (USD, Oct 2026) from the sum of items you keep. It is not an Amazon price; check live prices on Amazon.
- 01 · Printer$$$
Bambu Lab P1S Combo (enclosed CoreXY + AMS)
Enclosed and fast: ABS, ASA, nylon and polycarbonate become possible.
The P1S is the outgoing model after the P2S launched in 2026, which makes it the best deal in enclosed printing while stock lasts. CoreXY speed, an enclosure for engineering materials, and the AMS for four colors or a dry spool feed. The P2S ($549 bare) adds a better camera, touchscreen and AMS 2 Pro with drying.
The A1 Combo ($470) is the open-frame alternative if you only print PLA/PETG and want the larger bed.
- build
- 256×256×256 mm
- enclosure
- yes
- materials
- PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, PA, PC
- 02 · Filament$$
Bambu Lab PLA Basic, 4 spools (with RFID)
RFID-tagged spools the AMS recognises automatically. The most predictable filament.
Buy three or four kilos of PLA and one of PETG to start. Bambu's own filament has profiles baked in; Polymaker PolyTerra is the matte community favorite; Elegoo and Sunlu PLA+ at $13–15/kg are fine for prototypes once you know what you print.
Three kilos of PLA, one of PETG.
Find on Amazonpaid link - 03 · Filament dryer$$
SUNLU FilaDryer S4 (4 spools, feeds an AMS)
Wet filament strings, pops and prints weak. This dries four spools while you print.
PETG, TPU and nylon absorb water in days. The S4 holds four spools and can feed an AMS directly so you dry while printing. The Creality Space Pi is the $60 single-spool budget version; EIBOS Polyphemus is the forum favorite for high-temperature materials. Also buy 5–10 lb of rechargeable silica gel and some cereal containers.
Find on Amazonpaid link - 04 · Finishing tools$$
Finishing tools: flush cutters, deburring tool, needle files, digital calipers
The $10 deburring tool and good cutters handle 90% of post-processing.
Bambu includes a basic kit; upgrade the cutters and add 150 mm digital calipers (iGaging or Mitutoyo), because measuring is how you design parts that fit the first time. Isopropyl alcohol at 91%+ keeps the plate sticky.
Find on Amazonpaid link - 05 · Sparesoptional$
Bambu Lab Spare textured PEI plate + 0.4 mm hardened steel nozzle
A second plate means the next print starts while the last one cools.
Swap plates and go; pull parts at leisure. The hardened steel nozzle is required before you print carbon-fiber or glow-in-the-dark filaments, which chew through brass.
- 06 · Air qualityoptional$$
Levoit Core 300S HEPA + carbon air purifier
PLA is low-emission; ABS and ASA are not. Filter the room you print in.
ABS and ASA emit styrene and ultrafine particles. Print those in an enclosed printer, in a room with a HEPA-plus-carbon purifier running, ideally with a window or an inline duct fan. An AirGradient or Qingping monitor tells you whether it is working.
Needed if you print ABS/ASA indoors.
Find on Amazonpaid link
Skip this / common mistakes
- !
Don't buy a sub-$200 bedslinger clone to 'learn the basics' in 2026. You will learn to repair, not to print. The A1 mini is $219.
- !
Don't make an AMS combo your very first purchase if money is tight. Multi-color doubles filament waste; add it later.
- !
Don't print ABS or ASA on an open A1 in a bedroom.
- !
Don't leave PETG, TPU or nylon on the open spool holder for weeks. They are sponges.
- !
Don't buy 10 kg of mystery-brand filament before you know what you print.
Questions people ask
A1 mini or A1?
A1 if you can picture printing anything bigger than a mug. The 256 mm bed is worth the $80, and the A1 Combo adds multi-color for the same price as a mini Combo plus a bit.
Do I need an enclosure?
Only for ABS, ASA, polycarbonate and nylon. PLA and PETG print fine in the open. If you want engineering plastics, buy an enclosed printer rather than adding a tent to an A1.
Bambu or Prusa in 2026?
Bambu for price and zero fuss. Prusa for repairability, open-source firmware, no cloud account and the best support in the industry. The Core One is competitive on speed; it is simply pricier.
P1S or P2S?
P2S if the budget allows: camera, touchscreen and the AMS 2 Pro with built-in drying. The P1S at $399 (Combo $549) is the best deal in enclosed printing while it lasts.
Sources
Heads up: links to Amazon are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing and does not change which products get picked. How this works
Pairs well with
Raspberry Pi & electronics bench
A Pi 5 that doesn't throttle or brown out, a Pico for the bare-metal stuff, and the iron and meter that outlast every project.
Your first custom mechanical keyboard
No soldering. A hot-swap kit, switches and keycaps you chose, and the three tools worth owning.
Homelab starter kit
A sub-20 W mini PC running Proxmox, a NAS for the data, and a UPS so a power blip never eats your drives.
Readers of this kit also open
From a $800 Mac mini to a 512GB Mac Studio: the hardware that actually fits the model you want.
A sub-20 W mini PC running Proxmox, a NAS for the data, and a UPS so a power blip never eats your drives.
No soldering. A hot-swap kit, switches and keycaps you chose, and the three tools worth owning.
Monitor at eye height, a chair that fits, a desk that lets you stand. Buy those first; cheap out on the rest until it bugs you.
Spotted a better part, or a price that moved? Tell us. Every kit is re-checked when the hardware changes. All kits.