Voron calibration cube test

Hi all,

Been lurking for a few and making some posts now. I really want to learn to correctly read these calibration tests. I think I need cheater glasses becasue the detail is getting hard to see, but a lot of times I just can’t tell if the surface is under-extruded vs. over-extruded, or where the print is actually starting to defect in a Max Flow test. Sometimes the difference is imperceptivble (to me). I followed a lot of tuning advice from this thread here: Filament calibration? - granularity

I have calibrated two Elegoo Rapid PLA+ filaments (Black and White) and to me, they seem to be working out ok but I’m not an expert so not totally sure. I printed this voron test cube and wondering if someone could give me some feedback on it. I have uploaded the pics. Very much appreciated, thank you!

PS: If there is a more appropriate place here to ask this let me know!





Here are my filament profile settings, since these shots the only override setting i changed was upping the retraction speed from 30-40 for some of the zits occurring around edges/corners. It looks like there is overextrusion on the edges and under on the surfaces.


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One doesn’t need readers BTW. You actually are doing it the way you should when it comes to critical review of your filament and that is by using your cell phone camera. The camera has the ability to zoom in and freeze imperfections that the human eye can overlook. I have numerous lighted magnifyers that I use but it is my cell phone that is the best tool, especially when I view the pics on a large screen monitor.

To answer your first question. You already have a fairly well dialed-in calibration. I see only one minor nit pick and that is possibly pressure advance setting is a bit too high. But before we go down that rabbit hole, you have to ask yourself what is your goal and weigh that against the amount of time and effort it takes to get there. Sometimes it’s not worth it but I will confess, have the fun is the trip not the destination. :wink:

So in your example, this is the only thing I can see from the photos you supplied so far.

The voron cube or Bambu Cube or Orca Cube are all really designed to try to be a “be all” for calibration. To me, they are a waste of filament because you can achieve better results by focusing on one element of calibration with simpler models you can generate yourself from primitives. Where these models have use is like what you’re using it for now, to give us a reference model that we can all generate to compare our results with yours.

Here’s a trick for Pressure Advance if you really want to dial it in perfectly. Even so, changes in the model such as the letter Y in your case may not fix this, you may just need to change the travel speed for that particular print.

Start off with a simple cube primitive and size it to 50x10x10mm. This will create a rectangular tower that can be quickly printed without a lot of filament so you can run multiple experiments over a shorter time.

Then after you’ve gotten your traditional PA test calibrated, run each cube at a slight variation. Here is an example of what I mean. In this example, the variations were made very extreme to illustrate the impact of each PA change. I strongly urge anyone to experiment in this manner, use extreme values both high and low from your target and you will quickly see what the impact is in each direction. Then it becimes a simpler matter of dialing in smaller increments until you get it to your liking.

So in your case, you might, and the operative word is “might”, get those corner buldges to reduce but then you may also find that it impacts another part of the print. Only you can decide what is worth your while. In my case, I have more than one profile for some filaments. Some I use for purely geometric shapes where I am more concerned about accuracy like when I am making interlocking parts and for others where I care more about asthetics, I use a different profile. I also have profiles tuned for speed, not quality and vice versa.

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Hello and apologies for the late reply! I was sidetracked with other rabbit holes :laughing:. Thank you for this detailed and thoughtful response and confirming I am on the right track!

Really good point about the Voron cube not being a “catch-all” test. To your point, I find myself getting lazy and trying to find an easier, faster way come up with total calibration results. After reading your post, I had to just accept the fact that I needed to take the time out and learn Orca’s calibration tests. That feeling became almost obsessive, tbh. So I have been running my main filament through the traditional avenues in Orca to learn how it works and re-calibrate those filaments I was tuning willy-nilly. The pressure advnce issue was huge and to you point I recalibrated and found out I was a bit off. Max flow rate was also too high - my ego hate that cranked up becasue I wanted to really test this Rapid nature of the PLA. I am pretty sure that’s a lot of marketing ■■■■ and I also saw a post somewhere that in talking to the vendor the guy actually sid the 600mm/s was travel speed and not actual print speed (for quality). Again, I don’t know but the bottom line is NO MORE EGO TUNING (for now) until I get the basics down.

Cooling is whole nother factor - the cooling at different rates, shrinkage, and adjusting the cooling parameters to say, cool more on surface layers, is just wild! Everything goes hand-in-hand in the settings ecosystem and oftern one will affect another, i.e. Flow ratio / Nozzle temp / Max Flow Rate all seem to be affected based on the setting of the other.

I have not had a chance to try your refined pressure advance test but I am looking forward to it - very precise!

So, thank you for you post - it lit a fire for learning. I will post further progress with various profiles as I complete them and share the results for comparison. Right now I am trying to dial in Bambu’s PETG translucent orange - if it was basic PLA I wouldn’t bother but this stuff is tricky! Lot’s of mess even with drying although way decreasd. Seems to be best suited for smaller prints, slower (than normal 200/300) printing speeds.

4 weeks ago, I would not have known a 3D printer if I tripped over it. Now, I am obsessed with calibrations, becoming a recluse until I understand this stuff. I gotta remember I have a wife and kids!

PS: Great how you take saving filament in to account too!