I recently got my first 3D printer to my place just a couple weeks ago! I thought it would be really nice to keep a small sample of each of my filaments printed out so that I have a readily-available example of what each actually looks like.
Does anybody else do this? If so, which part(s) do you use? I spent probably 15-20 minutes looking for a nice, small, low-poly object that I really liked.
Those are the worst looking d20s I’ve ever seen.
;-)
Doing the same with almost all my filaments. I picked the Cali Dragon model since it also somewhat benchmarks the filament and printers. Basically a nicer Benchy
I use benchy for it!
Benchy also verifies your print settings are correct. Not as great as a temp tower/retraction test, but decent at detecting major setting problems
I use something like this to keep an example of filaments I have used. It is customizable to you can add your own text.
Nota bene that author asks that folks use the printables link so they can earn filament from the downloads. It’s linked in that thingiverse entry but here’s the direct link:
I’ve been trying to figure out how I’ll keep track of which filament corresponds to which egg in the future when I have a lot of them. Yours takes care of that. Solid choice
I use this one. There are probably better ones, but now I have holders and cases for them, so there’s no going back now.
I always print a low poly cat I found years ago on thingiverse, you can see it on this timelapse video, there are also a handful of the other ones I’ve printed at the end.
I do the same thing with low poly brains (and a swatch card). I’m tempted to order one roll of each filament I used before starting this, but that would be hard to justify. My collection shall be forever incomplete.
Yes, with https://www.printables.com/model/272073-dachshund-low-poly (printed at 50% scale)
I just use boring old XYZ calibration cubes.
They kinda look like Easter eggs that didn’t render properly
Still waiting for the texture pop to hit
Nice, I like this too! I wish I had thought of the keyword “swatch” when first thinking about this
You can see what the filament looks like by looking at the filament.
Having samples makes it easier if you have a lot of filament, and in my case I have a bunch of cards in a box I can easily carry with if I get a request and want to show them their options.
I use this one. They’re cards, you can print a box to hold them, they have text easily editable with OpenSCAD.
The swatches have been the most common answer so far, I think. I’ll likely switch over to something like that in the future and use the eggs for some other decoration or whatever
I do, but with a temperature tower. You get top and sides, curves and spanning, and, well… temperature. _
Can’t you just look at the spool?
Some filaments look much different when printed than they look on the spool. Matte, shiny, multi-colored ones for example.
I do a benchy whenever I get new filament. It’s relatively small and since it’s technically a torture test it lets me know if there are any potential issues to look out for with that particular one.
Can’t knock that. I of course knocked out a benchy when I first started out, but I figured I’m not much of a boat guy haha
And to solve your filament label problem, although clunky, you can use some masking tape and a sharpie
