Nothing helps the production of 3D filament-printed parts quite like having a uniform diameter filament to feed into the production extruder. To achieve this goal requires attention to the melt temperature, the cooling rate and the drive speed of the spooler. Trial and error is the most often used technique. Where the spooler is started up and by taking successive snippets of the resulting filament and using a micrometer or some other gauge, the diameter is measured. Depending on whether the filament is over- or undersized the speed of the spooler will be adjusted and another sample taken. This is repeated until the diameter of the filament is correct and the filament is fed into the take-up spool.
But there is a simpler and more accurate way, with a big reduction in scrap. The Filameasure accessory is the perfect tool for perfect filament. Just remove the filament guide from the standard spooler and replace it with the Mitutoyo micrometer-based measuring head. Watch this video for reference and see how easy it is to install the in-line micrometer. And by the way, the display is solar powered, so ambient lighting is enough to activate the LCD display and it doesn’t require a separate power source. Once the Filameasure system is in place you can quickly get set up to start producing very precise filament spools. If you want to achieve the added quality control step to record this measurement for SPC purposes, a software package is available that connects between the gauge and a windows laptop or tablet.
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