From the Loftsmith Workshop

Filament swatch card with layer steps and pin-fit holes

A credit-card-sized swatch for every spool you own. It has five stepped squares in different thicknesses, so you can see how light shows through, plus a row of small holes to test how a pin fits. Change the pin size and the temperature to match your filament.

1 part · 10 g · 86 × 54 × 3 mm

by Loftsmith Workshop

Flat teal card with five stepped squares, a row of small holes and raised numbers, with a hole in one corner
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No adjustable sizes

Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.

Change it in the Studio

Parts

  • card · The filament you are sampling (PLA by de · Flat, label side up, as modelled

    85.60 × 53.98 × 2.00 mm body. At the defaults the five windows are 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mm thick (2 to 6 layers at 0.20 mm). The five holes are 2.9, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 mm, each with its size centred under it. About 10 g.

  • lettering · Any contrasting filament (slot 2) · Printed in place on top of the card

    Raised 0.60 mm (3 layers at 0.20 mm), starting at z = 2.00 mm, for 2.60 mm total. Material name 7 mm tall, temperature 5.5 mm, size labels 5 mm, all in a bold sans font. Print it from AMS slot 2, or add a pause or filament change at 2.00 mm. Turn off 'Raised two-colour lettering' to engrave it inste

Print settings

Layer height
Set the 'Layer height' slider to the layer height you will slice with (0.20 mm by default). Use the same value for the first layer, or the thinnest window will be off by the difference.
Walls
2
Infill
15%
Supports
None
Notes
About 10 g and 17 minutes at 2 walls and 15% infill on a Bambu A1 at the defaults. 3 or 4 walls give the same figures. For a two-colour label, change filament at z = 2.00 mm (the start of layer 11 at 0.20 mm). Turn off adaptive layer height so the step thicknesses stay exact.

Hardware

  • Gauge pin, 3 mm (dowel pin, drill shank or similar) · Optional. Any straight pin of the nominal size, used to feel which hole gives a tight or sliding fit.
  • Split ring or swatch ring · Optional. Goes through the 5 mm keyring hole to keep cards together.

Assembly

  1. Set the 'Layer height' slider to the layer height you will print with, pick the material and nozzle temperature for the label, and set the 'Nominal hole' slider to the pin size you care about.
  2. Print the card flat with no supports. For two colours, use AMS slot 2 for the lettering, or add a filament change at the height in the lettering notes (2.00 mm at the defaults).
  3. Hold the card up to a light to compare translucency across the windows.
  4. Try your pin in each hole. The smallest hole it goes into by hand shows how this filament prints holes on your printer.
  5. Put a split ring through the keyring hole to keep a set of swatches together.

Good to know

  • The card is 2.60 mm thick in total at the defaults (2.00 mm card plus 0.60 mm raised lettering). At 0.08 mm layers it is 2.80 mm, and at 0.28 mm layers 3.08 mm. That is much thicker than a 0.76 mm bank card, so it fits card sleeves and swatch boxes but may not fit a tight wallet slot.
  • Window thicknesses are exact in the model. The printed thickness depends on your first-layer height, flow and squish, so measure with calipers if you need real numbers.
  • The hole row shows how this filament prints holes on your printer. It is not a full clearance study; use the Tolerance tester generator for press, snug and sliding fits.
  • The size labels are 5 mm tall in a bold font, with no stroke under 0.4 mm (one width of a 0.4 mm nozzle), checked in the Loftsmith engine. With a larger nozzle the small digits may blur.
  • The label shows one of nine material names and a nozzle temperature from 170 to 320 °C. There is no free-text field.
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