Parametric Magnetic Smart Filament Swatches Remixed by SJ

Remixed by

3D Printer>Test Models

Print Profile(1)

All

X1 Carbon

P1S

P1P

X1E

0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 20% infill

Designer

16.6 h

4 plates

Boost

Released

Description

These badass filament swatches are able to pull double-duty as a badge to mark your spools!

I use Collections on iOS to track my filament spools, so I needed a way to quickly bring up details on a given spool, even if it's in my AMS or a dry-box. I found Molodos' smart filament swatch, which was close to what I needed, but didn't have a good way to attach to the AMS or filament boxes. Instead of doing the sensible thing and tweaking that model, I made a whole new one, in the best shape! I just kept the same general elements.

Features

Thin walls test: 3mm, 2mm, 1.5mm, 1mm
Thickness / shine-through test: 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.6mm, 0.8mm, 1.0mm, 1.2mm
Round hole test: 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm diameter
Layer visibility test: 20 layers total
Threaded Hole test: M3, M5, M6, and 1/8 BSP Pipe Thread (What's typically used instead of M10 for PC4-M10 Pneumatic Connectors that are commonly used for Bowden tubes)
Material type display on front and side, included files are listed below
Spot for a 25mm NFC sticker to either store information about the filament, or a link to a database entry
Slot to insert a 6mm diameter x 2mm thick magnet (shamelessly replicated from the Gridfinity Refined bins)
Space for a 10mm x 20mm label (over the little NFC symbol thing)
I guess you could use one of the triangular holes next to the wall thickness test for a keyring?

Dimensions

70mm from point to point
35mm edge
60mm from edge to edge
4mm thick, which is 20 layers at the recommended 0.2mm layer height
Total filament usage is around 8-9 grams per swatch for common filaments like PLA, PETG, TPU, etc. Of course filament weights vary, so this will differ

Important Notes and Caveats

The recommended layer height is 0.2mm. If you want to change it in your slicer, then you should also change the LayerHeight parameter in the included Fusion file. This will adjust the heights of the Thickness / shine-through test accordingly.
The magnet is a tight fit by design, so it can be used without glue. In fact, it should deform the plastic juuuuust a bit, but not noticeably so. You can reduce or remove the MagnetGrip parameter to change this, but if you remove it I strongly suggest using glue to hold the magnet in place. There's a hole on the back which can be used to either poke a magnet out of the swatch, or to insert some glue.
The NFC Stickers are by default not encased, but they can be. I've included files for both encased and non-encased stickers. If you need to, you can change the “EncaseNFCSticker” parameter to 1 in order to encase the NFC sticker, or 0 to leave it exposed. Any other values will wreak havoc on the model.
- I recommend leaving the sticker exposed. NFC stickers have limited read but especially limited write cycles, and if you're using them like I am and writing a new link to them with each spool, they may wear out over time. Being able to replace the sticker reduces waste.
- Not all filaments or printers can handle the stupid-long 25mm bridge though, like TPU, so you should use the encased version for those instead (or use supports, but it's only 0.5 mm deep).
- Though I haven't tested this, some metal-filled filaments will likely require the NFC sticker to be exposed on one side, and may not work through the metal.
- The encased NFC sticker will only have a single layer underneath it, so keep that in mind when printing. See Printing and Assembly below for the stopping point if encasing.
While PVA and Support swatches are included, those are more for filament tracking. I wouldn't advise printing those swatches in their actual materials.
The text on the swatches is also parametric. You will need the ParametricText plugin for Fusion to parametrically change the text. See the linked docs for details, but the items will be in a new “Text Parameters” item in the “Modify” menu.
- About 4 capital letters or 5 title-case letters is the maximum per line for the front text (the face). Any longer than that, and you should add a newline. E.g. instead of PETG-CF do PETG{_.newline}CF.
- For longer words, abbreviate in some way that makes sense to you. In these files, I use Supp. for support and TL for translucent (e.g. “Support for PLA” becomes “PLA Supp.”, and “PETG Translucent” becomes “PETG-TL”)
- The side has a maximum character length of about 10 or so, so I would recommend retaining the same abbreviation on the face and the side.

Print Settings

These are strong recommendations, if not requirements.

Layer Height: 0.2mm. See Important Notes and Caveats if you want to change this value.
Sparse Infill Pattern: Cubic
Sparse Infill Density: 20%
Top Shell Layers: 3
Bottom Shell Layers: 3
Supports not required (though you can use them for the NFC indent if you like)

Printing and Assembly

You'll probably want some NFC stickers. Ensure they're 25mm, but otherwise use whatever works for you. NTAG215 stickers are probably a good choice.
If encasing the NFC sticker, then pause the print at the start of layer 6, or the end of layer 5, however your slicer works, if using 0.2mm layers (otherwise, pause right before the slicer goes over the gap for the sticker). Use caution here! There's only a single layer underneath the sticker.
If not encasing the NFC sticker, then you can carefully stick the sticker in the large indent in the middle of the back of the print once it's complete.
To write data to the NFC sticker, I recommend the app NFC Tools for iOS or Android. The developer apparently makes a version for Windows, Linux, and macOS, but I've never used it.
The magnet, if you use it, can be inserted in the slot in the top edge of the hexagon, above the NFC icon. Push it in partway, then use something narrow and sturdy to carefully force it in the rest of the way.