The exact print time comes from slicing, but you often want a figure before that: to plan a batch, quote a job, or compare filaments. This estimates it from the plastic used and how fast your hotend lays it down, with an allowance for the rest.
How to use it
- Enter the filament weight the print uses (from a slice, or estimated).
- Set the material so the tool converts weight to volume.
- Enter your effective average volumetric flow in cubic millimetres per second.
- Add an overhead percentage for travel and heating, and read the estimate.
What it does
No slicing needed
For when you have a weight but not a sliced time: a quick estimate from the numbers you already have.
Overhead included
Travel, retractions and heat-up are not printing but they take time. An overhead allowance keeps the estimate honest.
Good for comparing
Two filaments, two speeds, two nozzles: estimate each and see which is quicker before committing a plate.
What people use it for
Planning a batch
A market run of fifty keychains. Estimate one, multiply, and know whether it fits the weekend.
Quoting turnaround
Give a customer a realistic lead time from a weight and your typical flow, before you sit down to slice.
Speed comparisons
How much does a bigger nozzle or higher flow actually save across a job? Estimate both and see.
Good to know
- Effective flow is lower than the hotend maximum: walls print slower than infill, and detail slower still. Use an average you observe, not the ceiling.
- Detailed, tall, or bridge-heavy prints have more travel and slow passes, so raise the overhead for them.
- For a batch on one plate, slice the whole plate once rather than multiplying a single part: shared heat-up and travel change the total.
- If you have already sliced, trust the slicer's time over this. The estimator is for the stage before that.
Questions
How can it estimate time without slicing?
From the volume of plastic and how fast your hotend can lay it down. Filament weight becomes volume, volumetric flow is volume per second, and dividing gives a time, plus an allowance for travel and heating.
How accurate is it?
It is a ballpark, not a slicer. Real time depends on travel moves, retractions and slow detail passes. Expect it within a rough margin, good for planning and comparing, not for a promised delivery.
Where do I get the filament weight?
From a slicer summary, or estimate it from a model's volume. If you have already sliced, use the slicer's own time. This is for when you have not.
What volumetric flow should I use?
Your effective average, not the hotend maximum. Many prints average 5 to 10 cubic millimetres per second across walls, infill and detail. Lower it for intricate prints, raise it for chunky ones.
Also called
Searched as a print time estimator, 3D print time calculator, how long will my print take tool, or print duration estimator. It gives a planning-grade time before you slice.