Have you ever wondered how to measure the quality of your personal 3D printer’s output? Now there’s a standard way to do so.
MAKE magazine has published an extensive series of print tests that you can easily perform. The series of tests involves printing specific test objects and performing measurements and analysis on the printed results.
There are eight tests in total:
- Bridging Test
- Dimensional Accuracy Test
- Fine Positive Features
- Negative Space Tolerance Test
- Overhang Test
- Xy Resonance 1.0mm Walls
- Xy Resonance Test
- Z Resonance Test
MAKE is collecting data for a larger analysis to be published in the future, but these tests can easily be used by anyone on any 3D printer to test the above characteristics.
Note, however, that you’ll need to print with identical settings and identical filament to ensure the set of tests are consistent. It’s quite surprising how dramatic prints can be affected by the quality of plastic filament.
These test objects can be used to compare the quality of different filament samples and also to diagnose issues in your 3d printer that may gradually arise. It may be a good idea to run a set of test prints periodically and compare them to previous test sets. You may notice changes that indicate tuning or maintenance is required.
Via Thingiverse and YouMagine
