Bambu Lab has spent four years making 3D printers. On September 22, 2026, it announced something that cuts and engraves instead of extrudes: the R1, a 55W CO2 laser cutter and engraver, its first product outside 3D printing entirely.
What the R1 actually does
The R1 works a 600 x 300mm bed and can handle stock up to three meters long if you add the optional Conveyor accessory. It cuts up to 18mm of black walnut plywood or 20mm of acrylic, and engraves glass, stone, coated metal, and curved objects in addition to the usual wood, leather, paper, and fabric. Bambu says cutting accuracy along a printed outline stays under 0.2mm, and with the separately sold Vision Encoder, motion accuracy holds within 0.1mm across a 600mm pass.
A few features are clearly inherited from the printer side of the business. Vibration compensation, the same kind that keeps a Bambu printer’s corners from ringing, is here to stop jagged edges after a direction change. The TriSense system stacks a wide-view camera, a toolhead camera, a pinpoint marking laser, and a distance-measuring laser so the machine can locate material, focus itself, and track position without a human squinting at test burns. Auto Laser Alignment uses motorized mirror actuators to align the beam in about a minute on its own.
Software runs through the same MakerWorld account and Bambu Suite app (Windows and macOS) that printer owners already use. Whether that shared ecosystem turns into real convenience or just means one more login screen to manage probably depends on how well file handoff between a 3D model and a laser cut actually works in practice, something no one outside Bambu has tested yet.
Price, safety class, and what ships when
The R1 costs $2,499 in the US (tax excluded, shipping included) and 2,499 euros in the EU (tax included, shipping excluded), so the two prices are not quite comparable despite the matching number. Pre-orders opened September 22 through Bambu Lab’s own store, and shipping starts in October.
One detail worth noting if you are shopping for where to put this thing: in standard enclosed use, Bambu classifies the R1 as a Class 1 laser product under IEC 60825-1. Add the Riser Base or Conveyor accessory, and it becomes Class 4, the same category as open industrial cutters, which changes the ventilation and eye-safety precautions you need around it.
The timing nobody at Bambu is explaining
The R1 landed five days after a Texas jury ordered Bambu Lab to pay Stratasys $27.6 million for patent infringement tied to its 3D printers. Several outlets pointed out the gap between the two stories without finding anything that ties them together. A laser cutter takes a lot longer than five days to design, tool, and bring to a global pre-order launch, so reading the timing as a reaction to the courtroom loss does not really hold up. It is probably just one week where two unrelated stories about the same company happened to collide.
What is still unknown
Bambu Lab followed the R1 with a second step outside 3D printing: the S1, its first 3D scanner, teased for a November 2026 launch. Nobody outside Bambu has had an R1 on a bench yet. Running costs, exhaust and ventilation requirements for home use, real-world material list beyond the official one, and how the Class 4 accessories perform in practice are all still open questions that will only get answered once the October shipments start landing. If you already own a 3D printer and have been eyeing a laser for the finishing touches, our laser engraving guide covers the material and safety basics that apply whether you end up with this machine or something else.