For my prints I use Excel to keep track of how much grams I have left for my filament.
Could a option be added where the system keeps track of how much filament is left on a generic spool simply by taking the manual inserted grams/length of a generic spool you inserted and reducing it with the req filament Bambu studio indicates when setting up your print?
If the print would fail it would still know on which layer it stopped and still be able to reduce the “virtual” capacity of that spool.
Example:
I put on a 750 gr spool of PLA and tell Bambu studio that the inserted spool is 750 gr and 251 meter long. This generates a “Virtual spool” in the “Virtual” spool library. I name this spool: “PLA Spool-01”
I send a print job for a model which uses up 50 gr / 17 m .
After the print is finished, Bambu studio reduces the ammount on the respected “Virtual spool” named “PLA Spool-1”.
Technically you get a small library with String = “Spool_Name” + Float = “Spool_Length” + Float = “Spool_Mass”
This way you don’t need QR tags for Generic spools and the only thing you need to do is keep the filament slots in sync with the spools you physically put in the AMS / Non-AMS
Not being rude, but that sounds like a niche feature, for an already niche market. I print too much to worry about keeping track of my physical spools and matching them with a virtual library on one machine. This also is impractical if you have more than one printer and use spools between the different machines.
It’s invalid to say it’s niche for the market if this forum is dedicated for said niche.
That you don’t want to keep track that’s ok but I track my spool usage and time taken to make plannings for later use.
I’m looking for a general approach on how to keep track besides the QR tracking which doesn’t work if there is no filament available of Bambu themself.
Also there is a very limited amount of different filament.
Would be nice if people react with constructive feedback on how this tracking could work and adjust the idea accordingly without shooting it down if you’re not interested yourself.
Your opinion does not invalidate mine. Just because we’re on a forum dedicated to the niche market that Bambu Lab created, does not mean that your feature request is for more than a niche market within this niche. My comment was simply about the impacticality of the time and money needed to add your idea to the program. Don’t need to be defensive about it.
What is the specific use case you are proposing this for?
Is it to track stock on hand more accurately so you can reorder when you’re getting low?
To know if you’ll have enough filament for a specific print?
To figure out what filament your going to print an object in base on filament type on hand?
It’s mostly to track how much filament I have left for a certain print. My prints can be quite big and by knowing how much I used I know if it’s better to use a new spool or use the current and use the the small piece that is left for smaller parts.
And even with smaller parts if you print a lot at the same time you don’t want it to run out and then have artifacts after switching to a new spool.
many filament rolls have a residual weight imprint on the side. you can see from the marking how much weight is left on the roll. print this out as a sticker for your rolls. this should be much easier. if the slizer says it needs 200g in the roll is under the 200g mark it will not be enough … Alternatively a scale will help you if you know the tare weight of the empty roll which is also usually on it
I wouldn’t trust the sticker on the side, but that’s just me.
I think weighing the same brand spool and weighing your current spool is the best option.
I’d love to see a feature like this as there are a variety of Octoprint plugins that do this (which Bambu doesn’t support, obviously), so there’s definitely a want for it. Even if they provided a debug log output from Studio (e.g. the info for each print sent to the printer), it could be created by community developers.
Not all of us keep various quantities of the same filament in inventory or print in quantities that make it not worth tracking. And the way I envision it, it wouldn’t be designed to be highly accurate, just a ballpark so you know “hmm, I think I should use a different filament spool here”. Always a pain having filament spools with a small amount left because you’re not quite sure if you have enough to finish a model.
i would really like this feature too. it would be very helpful to know so that i dont end up with what i assume is a couple meters of filament that i dont use because i dont want to mess up prints and have to change filament
Alternatively a scale will help you if you know the tare weight of the empty roll which is also usually on it