Quote Originally Posted by curious aardvark View Post
lol why don't people check how much filament they have BEFORE starting a print ?
The slicer tells you how much you'll need. It's not rocket science :-)

These days I don't get snags or snaps - you just need to buy the right filament. Had a few when I was starting out.

Never run out of filament - 'cos i check before starting a print.

But there are going to be alot of people who don't take sensible precautions and if you've got a bunch of machines going, a sensor might be a good idea.

I would be grateful if you could tell me how to do that.
I know that software like S3D tells you how much filament you will need but lets say for example it says I need 2500mm of filament. (random number)
How do I know I have at least that much and not 2400mm ?
Would I have to take it off the spool and measure it?

I wonder if you could use something like this (if you made a groove to guide the filament) ?
It would be even cooler if you could set it to count DOWN from the total length of the filament on the spool backward to zero. :-)
Provided there's accuracy.
0-9999-9M-Mechanical-Length-Counter-Meter-Rolling-Wheel-Z94-F.jpg_350x350.jpg