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How the print time calculator works
The throughput method
Print time is filament mass divided by extrusion throughput — roughly 0.05 g/min at 60 mm/s for typical PLA settings (0.2 mm layers, mid-size nozzle). The calculator scales throughput by your speed and material/layer factor. When your slicer's estimate lands far from this number, the usual suspects: tiny layers, slow perimeters, or a mistaken weight reading.
Why slicer estimates drift
- Acceleration modeling: slicers that ignore your printer's acceleration profile overestimate speed on small models.
- Perimeter slowdown: outer walls run at half speed on quality settings — detailed prints take 2× the naive math.
- Infill patterns: gyroid and cubic print faster than grid at the same density.
Long-print strategy
Prints beyond ~8 hours carry risk: power flickers, filament tangles, bed adhesion failures at hour 6. The mitigations: start before bed so failures happen while awake, print a spare part in the same batch, and consider splitting large models — two 6-hour prints beat one 12-hour gamble.