How to build a filament profile from scratch?

Bambu Filament and Accesories
1

I’m on a P2S and “want” to build a proper filament profile from scratch for a third-party material (Sunlu PLA Meta — there’s no P2S profile for it in Bambu Studio).
Goal: load-bearing parts with a clean, matte surface.

I’m not asking for magic numbers. Temperature, flow ratio and max volumetric speed depend on my filament/spool, so I’ll calibrate those myself.

What I’m after is the workflow …

So I’d assume I start from a Generic PLA profile (or is Bambu’s own PLA profile the better base?) and enter the manufacturer’s values where available?
One P2S-specific thing I already keep in mind: the softening temperature field has to be ≤ 50 °C, otherwise the airduct switches to heating mode instead of cooling (aux fan).
Are there other Bambu-gotchas like this I should watch out for?

1. Order.
What sequence do you actually run?

My understanding is: temperature (temp tower) → Flow Dynamics / Pressure Advance → Flow Ratio → Max Volumetric Speed → then the process settings (walls, infill, speed).

Is that the right order, and is anything missing before or after?

2. Stop criterion per step.
This is the part I never find documented: how do you decide a step is “good enough” to move on?

  • On a temp tower — do you pick the lowest temp with clean layer bonding, or something else?
  • On Flow Ratio — what exactly are you looking at on the print?
  • On MVS — how do you read the failure point?

3. Per spool or per brand?
Do you re-run Flow Ratio / PA for every spool, every color, or once per brand-material?

4. First layer.
Do you calibrate that separately, and at which point in the sequence?

_

I’d rather learn the method than copy someone’s numbers. If you have a checklist or the order you personally follow, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

Coming from an A1 Mini where I never had to do any of this — so assume it’s my first ground-up profile.

Thanks for your help and insights.

2

Building filament profiles is a little bit of trial and error. What I always do is start with a bambu PLA profile, and see how it prints. Of course, the first thing is to change the nozzle temp adjusted to the filament and brand. Usually, I get great results just adapting the temp. Next thing is speed (usually the spool also says it), but I rarely need to change it. If there are obvious over/under extruding I do the flow dynamics calibration and pressure advance. I have never needed to change anything else from the profile, just changing wall loops, top/bottom layers and infill for print strength or weight

3

Thanks for your reply! Much appreciated.
(and I am happy that one might not need to overcomplicate things)
Regarding nozzle temp: Do you have a tendency related to the manufactures recommendations? The lower or the upper end or in between to start?
I hope I got you right that you do NOT start from generic PLA, but Bambu PLA settings?

4

Yeah, I usually start with bambu profiles. I usually start with a low/middle temperature, but you can try printing a temperature tower from makerworld to see the exact temperature for your filament.

5

Step 1: see if someome else has already done the work.

6

Basically you are right and that seems to be the most easy way.
But :wink: as my main objective is to understand what is going on and maybe some day in far future also what I am doing …
Hope you get my point.
Thanks nevertheless for the link and your post. Much appreciated.

7

Totally understand your point, and I’m surprised that there isn’t a wiki article on the subject on actually creating a whole new filament profile from a dialing in standpoint - only how to do the Save As part.

My approach is always to find the most similar filament from the standpoint of “heating and cooling behavior” and do a Save As from that. If we’re truly talking in abstract, it doesn’t have to even be the same filament type, just the most similar.

8

I found this video on calibration very helpful. Step by step in the proper order and what to look out for when examining each print. In Bambu Studio, enable Developer Mode to see the calibration prints.