June 21, 2026
Description
This is a full-extension AMS drawer to sit your A2L on for a super compact and tidy setup. You might be thinking: what about the vibrations - the bed slinging around is heavy! The drawer is equipped with grippy TPU 90A feet on the bottom and has lips on top to stop the printer sliding off. As for stiffness of the structure, watch this vibration test video (earlier prototype) - the drawer frame will not likely be the limiting factor, it's solid!
This is only compatible with the Bambu Lab A2L and not with the A1, A1 Mini and other printers. (There is a version for X and P series printers (free!). The drawer will fit the original AMS as well as the AMS 2 Pro.
The dimensions are:
Height excluding retention lips: 275 mm
Width: 451 mm
Depth excluding handle: 500 mm
Depth including handle: 541 mm
The back edge of the frame is flush with the back of the printer's base. You will need to leave space behind the frame to allow for the bed and bed cable movement.
This build is mostly printed but requires commonly available 45mm full extension steel slides and self-tapping screws (see below for details).
This project is designed for beginners. It is easy because:
All parts print with zero supports and all overhangs are easy to print
There is minimal post-processing required
There is only one type (and length!) of fastener needed with no heat-set inserts, no glue and no other specialty fasteners.
You don't need "advanced" materials such as ABS
The challenging aspects are:
Large parts, even PLA and PETG parts, can warp and your build plates need to be clean. You may even consider using some glue if you have had issues with bed adhesion before.
You need to be able to print TPU, and to do this cleanly, you will need a filament dryer.
I recommend using:
Frame assembly - PETG or PETG-CF/GF
The front half needs ~850 grams if printed in PETG
The rear half needs ~870 grams if printed in PETG
Slide assembly - PLA, PETG or PETG-CF/GF
The handle needs ~115 grams if printed in PETG
The other components need ~140 grams if printed in PLA
Retention lips and feet - TPU 90A
These parts need ~30 grams
I would avoid using carbon/glass filled materials for the handle.
For mine, I used Bambu Lab PETG Basic - Dark Brown and Prusament PETG - Chalky Blue.
Only one type and length of screw is needed: BT3x14 BHCS Self Tapping Screw. This is a 3mm diameter, 14mm long screw designed for plastic with coarse deep threads that cut into and grip well onto holes in plastic. They are not expensive extremely easy to use as you don't need to embed heat set inserts or seat little M3 nuts. They also make the printed parts simpler and use far less material than using printed fasteners or bowtie joints.
Alternatives:
If you have 12mm or 10mm screws or the socket head style of BT3 screws, they will be OK too.
If Bambu doesn't ship to your country, the key words to search are “3mm self-tapping screw hex socket”. Try to get some without a pointy tip as they have a slightly longer usable thread length and a head height of 2mm or less. I found some products on AliExpress (Listing 1, Listing 2, Listing 3) which look promising, but I have not tried them.
Do NOT use countersunk screws as most holes in the design are parallel to the print bed plane and the screws can split your layers if you're not careful with tightening.
You will need:
25 for the frame assembly
6 for the slider assembly
12 minimum to attach the steel slides to the frame assembly and the slider assembly
4 to attach the AMS to the slider
47 screws total. I suggest buying 80 or so as there are screw points to attach add-ons on the exterior of the frame.
You will also need 400mm or 16-inch nominal length, 45mm nominal width (can be a little wider as there is nothing below the slides), 12.7mm thick full extension slides. Here in Germany, I got Stahlia branded slides direct from their website, also available on Amazon.de. You do not need to get exactly the same one. I took specs from several different brands and accommodated for them all in the design and you just need 3-4 holes that line up. Worst case, you might need to make some new holes but I think that's unlikely as slide manufacturers just copy each other.
IMPORTANT: If you are using soft-close slides, check that they are truly full extension and extend 400mm. Many 3-section slides that are labelled “full extension” are not really full extension, particularly some of the soft-close ones. Slide designers, when taking their regular slide and making a soft-close version, need to decide whether to reduce the load rating of their slide or reduce the extension to try to fit the extra mechanisms into the design. Some brands have lowered weight ratings (say, 35kg down from 45kg), some reduce their travel.
You will need a longer PTFE tube than typically supplied with printers (or a coupler to connect two shorter ones) as the AMS travels forward and back. The length needed depends on how you route the tube. I used a 1060mm tube to go from the AMS to the built-in coupler on the A2L with no AMS warnings. If you usually print short objects, I suggest using a shorter tube to reduce friction and load time. If the tube is brand new and tightly-wound for shipping, they will need to be relaxed to form gentle curves. Don't get the "star shaped" tubes, that's a gimmick.
You may also need a longer 6-pin AMS connector depending on your AMS arrangement. The standard cable that comes with the AMS 2 Pro is long enough to go from the printer to the AMS and allow the AMS full 400mm movement.
A Bambu Studio print profile is provided with A2L settings.
Note that this is not tuned for speed - I have slowed down some of the speeds and accelerations for surface quality. I think this is a fairly well balanced profile but you may want to slow down the outer wall speed even more for a more consistent gloss-level between overhangs and other surfaces.
You may be tempted to combine some of the plates but I suggest keeping them separate to maintain print surface quality.
Flow rate calibration is highly recommended for every spool you use! Many clearances in the design are 0.1mm. For proper fit, the parts should not be under or over-extruded.
Dry your filament (especially PETG and TPU but even PLA) to minimise risks with dimensional accuracy.
If you use a printer with an aux fan, then turn it OFF. Don't worry, all of the overhangs are super easy.
Print outer walls slowly (70 mm/s, 2000 mm/s²) and inner walls not too fast (150 mm/s, 4000 mm/s²) for a clean print with sharp corners.
Pro tip! If you're running out of a certain colour but you have 2 nozzles, you can dump a different colour into the infill of a compatible material to save your main material:
As all screws are the same, this is quite straight forward. Just one thing to note: screws can get hot while tightening; tighten them most of the way and give them a minute before final tightening.
Assemble each half first. Use 8 screws to attach the front and rear pieces together. Press them together while tightening. Attach the TPU parts - they are press-fit and should stay-in firmly without glue.
Remove the inner part of the slide and attach to the frame using at least 3 screws.
When tightening, push the slides up to the flat parts on the frame - this ensures that the left and right slides are parallel and level.
Repeat for the other side and put the two halves together using 9 screws.
Assemble the 4 slide assembly pieces using 6 screws. (You don't need the paper towels; they're in the photos so that you can see the parts clearly.)
Attach the inner slides using at least 2 screws on each side.
When tightening, try to get the two inner slides parallel. You can look at the unused holes to determine the positioning.
Now slide this into the frame.
Place the printer on top (to provide counterweight for when you attach the AMS) and make sure the printer feet sit inside the retention lips. Then pull out the drawer.
For some versions of the original AMS, there are some small pieces of plastic that need to be trimmed. This is not necessary for the AMS 2 Pro and some original AMS variants.
Use 4 screws to attach the slider assembly to the AMS transit screw holes. Check that the AMS is roughly centered on the drawer before final tightening.
Connect the 6-pin connector through the back of the frame. Connect the PTFE tube as shown (you can choose a different route, as you wish). Ensure that the curves are very gentle to minimise the feeding resistance.
And finally, post a picture here so that I can make a gallery of cool colour schemes!
There are several screw holes on the exterior of the frame for custom attachments. These could be hooks for a poop bin, nozzle holder, tool holder, etc. A STEP file with external surfaces showing the screw points (hardpoints) is available (pictured below). Feel free to use this to design your own attachments and upload them as original creations!
This was a tonne of work! If you make one, please share a pic on social media! Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, whatever! It really helps me out.
This was a 100% human project (no AI).
Original release
License:
Standard Digital File License
7
KYZ Design
