Remaining filament measurements
Hi everybody,
This morning I had one of those brain flash moments of clarity, which usually happens when I'm in the shower pondering on a work conundrum, and have to share it. It has no doubt already been thought of, improved and implemented by bigger brains than mine.
Context : I've just started printing a 7.5 hour petg component and am watching the tail end of a spool defy me at every turn. I was convinced that there was hardly any filament on it so I am waiting for it to run out so I can pop the replacement spool on. This spool though has other ideas and is just continuing to prove that it has endless coils of filament remaining.
So, the brain flash : On the inside face of the spool a series of concentric circles could be printed corresponding to the amount of remaining filament - say 10 circles, starting with 'full' and then counting down at regular 1 or 1.5 cm intervals. The diameter of the remaining spool coils corresponds to the remaining length of filament.
There are other variations, circles are one way, radial lines or block shaped markers etc are others. For universal spools the markers could be numbered or lettered and a legend label stuck on showing what each marker means for 1.75mm / 2.85mm /3mm etc filament.
At this point, watching my endless Prusament PETG reel I'm wondering if this has already been done with the perforations in the reel ....
Thx
RE: Remaining filament measurements
Weight is a more accurate measure.
i3 Mk3 [aug 2018] upgrade>>> i3MK3/S+[Dec 2023]
RE: Remaining filament measurements
I understand that, but quite often its just not convenient to mess about with a spool that's in use in order to weigh it. More so with the MMU.
My 7.5 hour print is currently 3 hours in and has approximately 60% of the last coil on the spool still to go. I think I'll monitor the new spool and tabulate the measurements to see if its feasible to knock up a depth gauge that will give a rudimentary estimate of remaining filament.
I have just ordered an analog luggage scale, allegedly with 10 gram precision, so I'll weigh and measure the spool at intervals to get a benchmark.
Thx
RE: Remaining filament measurements
I have seen some spools marked like this, I don't recall looking carefully enough to see if the scale correct, (should be with markings further apart closer to the hub.) But, given how poorly spooled most spools that I've seen, this type of scale can't be accurate.
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