Glossary

If you’re new to 3D printing, the Manual and Filament Guide use a lot of terms that assume you already know the basics. This page defines them in plain language, grouped by topic. It doesn’t replace the Manual — use it alongside Chapter 1 (Introduction) and Chapter 9 (Print Quality Issues) when you hit an unfamiliar word.

Printer & Hardware

• Nozzle — The small metal tip at the end of the hotend that melts and extrudes filament, layer by layer, to build the model. The X2D has two nozzles (main and auxiliary).
• Hotend — The heating assembly that melts filament right before it reaches the nozzle. The X2D has two independent hotends, main and auxiliary — see Chapter 1.
• Hardened steel nozzle — A wear-resistant nozzle needed for abrasive filaments (carbon-fiber or glass-fiber blends) that would quickly erode a standard nozzle.
• AMS (Automatic Material System) — Bambu Lab’s external filament unit. It holds multiple spools, tracks filament by RFID, and can dry filament automatically. The X2D supports AMS 2 Pro and AMS HT (for high-temperature materials).
• PTFE tube — The smooth tube that guides filament from the AMS or spool holder into the printer, keeping the path low-friction and consistent.
• Build plate / bed — The flat surface a model is printed on. Bed temperature (up to 120 °C on the X2D) affects how well the first layer sticks.
• Chamber — The enclosed space inside the printer where printing happens. The X2D can actively heat it up to 65 °C (“Heat Mode”) for engineering filaments that need a warm, stable environment.
• Purge wiper / purge chute — The parts that clean excess filament off the nozzle during material changes and route the waste out of the printer.

Filament & Materials

• Filament — The spooled plastic a printer melts and extrudes to build a model, most commonly 1.75 mm in diameter.
• Hygroscopic — Describes a filament that absorbs moisture from the air over time. Damp filament is one of the most common causes of stringing, bubbling, and poor surface finish — see the drying notes in Chapter 8.
• Engineering filament — General term for higher-performance materials (PC, nylon/PA, fiber-reinforced blends) that typically need higher nozzle, bed, and chamber temperatures than beginner-friendly materials like PLA.
• Spool — The reel filament is wound on.

Slicing & Print Settings

These terms come from Bambu Studio, the slicer software used to prepare a model for printing — see Chapter 5 for the full interface walkthrough.

• Slicer — Software that converts a 3D model into printer instructions (G-code) by cutting it into layers and generating a toolpath for each one.
• G-code — The plain-text instruction file the slicer generates and the printer reads, specifying exactly where to move, how fast, and how much filament to extrude at every point.
• Layer height — How thick each printed layer is. Shorter layers mean finer detail and a longer print; taller layers print faster with more visible layer lines.
• Infill — The internal lattice structure inside a print, invisible from the outside. Infill percentage trades strength and weight for print time and filament use.
• Supports — Temporary scaffolding the slicer generates under overhangs so filament isn’t extruded into thin air. Removed after printing.
• Brim / raft / skirt — Extra shapes printed around or under the model: a brim or raft improves first-layer adhesion, a skirt primes the nozzle before the model itself starts.
• Retraction — Briefly pulling filament backward before the nozzle moves without extruding, to stop stray filament from oozing out and causing stringing.
• Flow rate / flow calibration — How much filament the extruder pushes out relative to what the slicer asked for. Calibrating it corrects over- or under-extrusion for a specific filament and nozzle.
• Seam — The point on each layer’s outline where the nozzle starts and stops, sometimes visible as a faint vertical line. Its placement can be adjusted in the slicer.

Print Quality & Troubleshooting

For step-by-step causes and fixes, use Chapter 9’s visual index (“Find Your Print Issue”) rather than this page — these are just the vocabulary.

• Stringing / oozing — Thin strands of plastic left between separate parts of a print, from filament oozing during travel moves. Often caused by damp filament, retraction settings, or nozzle temperature.
• Warping — When the corners or edges of a print lift or curl away from the bed as it cools unevenly. More common with materials like ABS/ASA — a heated chamber (like the X2D’s) helps prevent it.
• Elephant’s foot — A slight outward bulge at the very bottom of a print, from the first layer being squished too much. The X2D manual covers this under “First Layer Too Low” in Chapter 9.
• Under-extrusion / over-extrusion — When the printer pushes out too little (gaps, weak layers) or too much (blobs, dimensional inaccuracy) filament relative to what’s needed.
• Bed adhesion — How well the first layer sticks to the build plate. Poor adhesion is one of the most common reasons a print fails early.
• Bridging — Printing a horizontal span between two points with no support underneath, relying on cooling and tension to hold the filament straight.
• Overhang — Any part of a model that extends outward with no direct support from the layer beneath it.
• Layer shift — When printed layers become misaligned partway through a print, usually from a mechanical cause (a belt or a collision) rather than a slicer setting.