Temperature & Flowrate Scales

thingiverse

I use these indicators to determine the optimal print temperature and flow rate for new rolls of filament. They take about an hour to print and cost only a few cents worth of material, but they save me a lot of time, guesswork, and failed prints. To create the temperature gauge, I slice it in Cura using vase/spiralize mode, setting the first couple layers to print at my typical settings. At layer 3, I use Extensions>Post Processing>Modify G-Code>TweakAtZ to lower the nozzle temperature to 180C. At 10mm height, I raise it again to 185C, then to 190C at 20mm, and so on until the top. After printing, I inspect the piece by attempting to crush the lower end of the column where it has printed colder. It's generally easy to find the point where the layers start to adhere well together; then I look toward the top end for any signs of overheating. Choosing a print temperature near the middle usually gives me the best results. The flow rate scale works in a similar way, except instead of changing the print temperature every 10mm, I choose the ideal temp determined previously and adjust the flow rate accordingly.