It’s kinda obvious to me now that full-colour change on some of my work is eating too much filament, even with some things I was advised to try in another forum. Most of the comments I’ve seen put this down as the main issue with my models, and I want to reduce the filament waste for them all.
The current suggestions are (and I have tried all of these):
Flush into objects infill, or supports if it has them. (This is no good if I use transparent filaments, but otherwise, it seems sound.)
Ensure alignment of colour layers, such as having no more than 1 colour change per layer if a change is needed. (This is very difficult to achieve without making the model look like Neapolitan ice cream!)
Reduce the objects’ infill density to compensate for purged filament weight. (I really don’t like going below 15% on my stuff, because the way I’ve seen people handle flexi/articulated models I just KNOW they’ll break them at lower infills. The lowest I’ve tried is 13%.)
Use 0.20mm Standard instead of 0.16mm Optimal to reduce the number of layers (I haven’t noticed any change in waste doing this, to be honest, I have noticed that I don’t like the finish when using thicker layers though.)
Is there a better way to reduce waste during colour changes? Or is the X1 just a filament eater?
I did not see it in your list, but I set my Flushing Volume to .6 instead of 1.0.
This still gets the color change done without mixing colors and saves some waste.
in combination with what I learnt reading on what kshrum1 and jj.weidner posted, this has been a HUGE improvement in the slicer already. I’m just running a test print now, and it’s looking great so far. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
EDIT: The test print came out AMAZING. There was no bleeding, and the amount of waste had been reduced by more than 50%. It even shaved off 1 hour of print time too. (apologies for lighting, bad weather for photos)
@Chris1974
I do appreciate a voice of reasoning, but striving for efficiency and partially doing Bambu Lab’s homework is far from pushing the limit or cutting corners. - Getting the flushing volumes right is just a no brainer from my point of view.
@Quietman
When it comes to simple slicer settings, there are indeed a lot of videos out there.
When it comes to the calibration of flushing volumes, not much is to be found and the amount of “just reduce the multiplier to 0.x” recommendations is…
Going even further to modified G-code, just that big 60% claim seems to be promoted.
@all
Just because it fits and itches me at the moment:
I am no different to the next guy in thinking my pile of dirt is the finest in town, so I do have no clue why my uploads of premade calibration prints and a more efficient filament change G-code are that overlooked. My stuff is online since July (V1 on Printables), predates a lot, is available here on MakerWorld as well (V1 & V2), is a topic in this very forum. But it seems to go surprisingly unnoticed by the inclined users, even the copy cats and skim offs reach more people it seems. - Is it the naming, not enough click bait, are my uploads just bad, others are simply better, … what is it?
this issue is the same as what model makers deal with; algorithms just outright SUCK. They favour those who are using it efficiently, rather than what is actually best/correct, or what came out first.
Sadly nobody who knows the algorithm or how to work it will share their knowledge because sharing won’t benefit them. This issue is for a different topic though.
Thanks everyone for the help. Recurring test prints have been successful. I just need to figure out the best way to share this information with those who started my pursuit of this optimisation in the first place.
more pics of final prints (not testing for bleed now):
