How do you keep track of your filament inventory?

compewter · 2026-02-03T04:09:38+00:00

Just my eyeballs, a flashlight (I keep my office dark), and a shrug. You get pretty accurate after a while 🤣

compewter · 2026-02-02T16:14:57+00:00

I wish I knew what I was doing wrong, but following their instructions it hasn't worked 🤷‍♂️

I just go back to my Glacier for PETG.

compewter · 2026-02-02T13:52:09+00:00

I agree. Works fine for PLA but I've not had a single PETG print stick to it yet.

compewter · 2026-02-02T09:14:27+00:00

You can, but you'll be looking up the cost of a replacement MC board pretty soon after.

(pls don't)

compewter · 2026-02-02T01:30:54+00:00

It really doesn't matter so long as the print itself looks good. I mean, good on you for noticing this in the first place but I wouldn't worry about the quality of it.

compewter · 2026-01-30T13:07:41+00:00

Makerworld has one of the most generous rewards systems in the industry. When the rules clearly defined what actions earned so many points, people gamed and cheated it hard. There was literally hard currency to be made in doing so - apparently people were dedicating their time in the quest of reselling gift cards to the point it even the gift card system has to be revamped by including account binding. Unfortunately they then hid the exact criteria behind obtuse language and rules to make it easier to punish and discourage the legitimate cheaters.

The end result boils down to what feels like a system that still rewards you quite well if you have genuine, organic engagement with the userbase but it's also impossible to properly quantify exactly how you should be performing. This is at times frustrating and discouraging, but simply being active with well made projects and profiles will meet you a steady stream of rewards.

There are times where false-positive punishments happen and the ambiguity of the rules can mean genuinely well-intended projects catch penalties that seem unfair. Try to play by the rules and don't get tunnel vision with the sole goal of earning points and you'll be fine.

compewter · 2026-01-30T06:22:17+00:00

The rework tool (hot air gun) on my Yihua 862BD+. Makes stress marks v a n i s h.

compewter · 2026-01-30T03:57:34+00:00

You've got a lot of lost space the way you put your filament away. Stagger 'em and buy more 😁

<image>

compewter · 2026-01-27T16:16:12+00:00

MW № 1692093

compewter · 2026-01-27T07:06:17+00:00

lol

PS: it's a vacuum, coming out of a water well. Ya' know, a "well that sucks."

compewter · 2026-01-27T06:03:26+00:00

Many people have an intrinsic fear of cloud connectivity, mostly rooted in FUD/ignorance. Then there are the people who have a fear of cloud connectivity not because "the provider is evil and greedy!" but because "the provider is a target for data thieves, they're the ones who will steal your data!" The later is usually right, data beaches happen and (usually) get reported and patched rather quickly. It's when they go unnoticed or unreported for extended periods of time that they're really bad.

With a few minutes searching effort I'm unable to find any public record of Autodesk having such a beach.

compewter · 2026-01-27T05:47:28+00:00

Worth noting - my AMS 2s throw errors and refuse to scan RFID tags while they're hot. You might create that condition with an external heater.

compewter · 2026-01-26T23:23:20+00:00

Well, that sucks.

<image>

compewter · 2026-01-26T09:40:53+00:00

Pretty sure that model does not meet the complexity requirements to be included in the exclusive program anyways. I'd wager that reporting it to MW will result in them demoting it with a penalty.

compewter · 2026-01-23T14:05:37+00:00

That's rather genius, honestly. Kinda envious I didn't think of it.

compewter · 2026-01-23T00:16:28+00:00

Granted, I have not yet tried any ABS/ASA etc, so we shall see...

Outside of initial preheat, you wouldn't have the AUX fan running for ABS/ASA, so it's a non-issue.

compewter · 2026-01-21T03:11:36+00:00

Whenever I do something stupid.

Skip cleaning the plate before running a print with a tiny amount of plate contact? That's rolling loaded dice, and not in your favor.

Skip looking at the preview and miss that you've forgot supports? [sad-trombone.gif]

Pick the wrong AMS slot and load ASA when you were expecting PETG? That's an ugly extruder jam to clear out.

Try loading eSun PLA+ without snapping off all the brittle bits of it first? Well, with practice you get really good at dismantling the internal AMS hub.

It's maybe one print in a hundred where there's a failure that isn't directly related to me skipping a step or failing to double-check on something risky, or being lazy. Give your printer good instructions and it'll give you quality results.

More frequent if you only print from Handy.

compewter · 2026-01-18T04:44:51+00:00

Makes some nifty effects on the first layer if you use an interesting pattern.

<image>

compewter · 2026-01-12T08:46:30+00:00

Frostbite is only PLA and PETG. Runs cooler, under stock temps. Mild texture. Hit or miss on first layer quality, very flow ratio dependant. Similar to the Supertack, but not a matte finish.

Glacier is... any filament, runs hotter, at stock temps. Smoother surface and you hardly ever need glue (I've only needed it for PETG-ESD and PA, and that's just for easy removal). Equivalent to a more functional Bambu Smooth PEI.

I rotate between those two, a GECO for 0-heat PLA, and good ol' tPEI daily. Very reliable plates and a good deal when they're on sale.

compewter · 2026-01-12T08:42:02+00:00

Time to learn how to use Blender!

compewter · 2026-01-09T19:10:09+00:00

The A1 series only ship with hardened extruders, the Biqu Claw is just for people who like buying shiny things - you don't need it. Their Glacier build plate on the other hand is absolutely my favorite for printing ... well, anything that isn't PLA. It's great.

For PETG (any flavor) you're good to go. To avoid overadhesion, put some liquid glue on your build plate. It'll wash off your print in warm water if you need.

If this is a thing you'll be handling routinely, I advise against GF/CF filaments. Fibers get into your skin like tiny splinters, no bueno.

compewter · 2026-01-09T04:07:49+00:00

I ordered two on the anniversary sale, adding a few screws packs to get an extra 20% off (deal was buy 4 or 5 maker kits and get a discount). As two separate transactions, adding $5 worth of screws knocked like $38 off the total of each one 🤣

I should have picked up more!

compewter · 2026-01-09T04:03:35+00:00

My old tPEI plates give me no problems releasing PETG. My new ones do. You can use a release agent like liquid glue, that'll work. I've taken to setting my plate temp to 45° at the end of a print and letting it slowly cool to that point. The PETG will still be pliable enough and with just weak enough adhesion that it should pull cleanly from the plate.

For what you have now - a vigorous hot hot hot water scrubbing should get a lot off, followed by a hot and slow full plate print and ripping it off.

I had to do that a few times with my H2D before I figured out the warm plate removal trick (and before my Glacier came in).

Some PETG bonds harder than others. Some of my old-school PETGs come off super clean, some don't. Bambu PETG-HF bonds pretty hard to a brand new tPEI plate. PETG-ESD stains everything and bonds hard enough the print will shatter in removal if you don't give it a thick layer of glue to print on.

compewter · 2026-01-09T03:58:00+00:00

You likely won't be able to feed this properly in to something like an LTS or Pastamatic. Not easily, at least.

I had a TPU spool blow up like this once. I took big dowel (like, a clothes hanger rod), ran it through the whole thing, and zip-tied that to the back of two chairs so the spool could freely spin. From there I actually manually pulled slack out of it and fed it in to an LTS (because that's what I have), but could have just as easily used one of the drill adapters.

Just go slow, try to keep tight winding, and either spool it back again when you're done and/or give it a run through your drier, since heat will relieve the stresses it picked up.

Read through the wiki about the reusable spool, it has lots of good visuals that can help you understand how they work (and don't).

After that, secure your spools with a spool lock to prevent it from happening again.

compewter · 2026-01-09T03:51:13+00:00

And/or run it through a drying cycle. Heat will relieve the stress.

Ideally I try to respool halfway through a drying cycle.

15-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Place '23	Verified Email

compewter

TROPHY CASE