About SpoolGuide

SpoolGuide is a set of calculators and charts for people who 3D print, from the first spool to a small shop. It answers the questions that come up between the slicer and the printer. What does a print cost, and what should you charge for it? May you sell prints of a model you downloaded? How much filament is left, which pressure advance and flow ratio suit a filament, and how hot should you dry it and print it?

What is here

Six calculators work out a number from what you type: the 3D print pricing calculator, the print time calculator, the pressure advance calculator, the flow rate calibration calculator, the E-steps calculator and the filament calculator. Five charts gather values that are spread over many data sheets and forum threads: spool weights, drying temperatures, print temperatures, retraction settings and the filament comparison. Two guides go further. The guide to selling 3D prints checks whether the license of a model you downloaded lets you sell its prints. The filament tracker keeps your spools, takes the grams of each print off them and adds up the cost, and its guide explains what Spoolman and Bambuddy do.

What you can count on

Everything is free and needs no account. The charts keep each maker’s value apart from the others, because two brands of the same plastic often ask for different temperatures. Any calculator can make a link that opens it again with your numbers, for a customer or a friend.

SpoolGuide belongs to no printer or filament maker. The brand names in the charts tell you whose values they are.

If a value is wrong or a spool is missing, the contact page says how to tell us.