Your workshop. Your data.

Slicer estimates versus actual print results

A slicer predicts a print before it happens. A recorded value describes something you observed afterwards. Both are useful, provided you keep their meaning clear.

Compare like with like

If your slicer estimates 120 minutes and you record 135 minutes, the difference is 15 minutes, or 12.5% of the estimate. Before adjusting future quotes, check that both figures cover the same period. Did your timer include warm-up, calibration, a pause or cooling? Record that boundary with the result.

One longer print is not evidence that every future estimate should be increased by 12.5%. Collect several comparable jobs before choosing an allowance, and keep the original estimates so you can review the pattern.

Material cost depends on what was consumed

At CHF 20/kg, 100 g estimated costs CHF 2.00. If total recorded consumption is 120 g, material cost at that same price is CHF 2.40. Weighing the finished model alone can exclude supports, purge and other waste. State what your measurement includes.

In BenchTare, record filament and elapsed time on the run. Use purchase-price costing to value recorded consumption; the original slicer estimate remains available. A partly recorded project combines recorded values with remaining estimates. Do not call the entire total measured while some parts are still estimates.

Failed prints are separate attempts

Keep the failed run and the replacement. Record the failed attempt’s known consumption and time. Unknown is not zero. Printing another copy adds a run; correcting the estimate for an existing run does not.

Stopping at layer 140 of 400 does not establish that 35% of the filament was consumed. Layers can have different areas, infill, supports and heights. For example, Prusa documents variable layer heights. Use measured consumption where available; a calculation from the executed extrusion path would still be an estimate. BenchTare does not currently derive failed-print usage automatically from the stopping layer.

What an import can tell you

Importing a sliced file reads the values stored in that file; it does not verify a finished print. A geometry-only 3MF may contain the model and settings without sliced G-code. Export a supported sliced print file, review missing values, and keep manually entered assumptions visible.