As I was cruising ebay I found this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wire-Measuring-Machine-/331157067818?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d1a7fd82a And looking at the design I thought “Why cant we make an active filament measuring device similarly?”. This design would use a spring, 2 x 623vv bearings, a sliding pot, 3 x m3 screws, 1 x m2 screw, and the rest printed. Alternately a second axis, turned 90 degrees, could be added. Calibrate distance from the filament to the nozzle and away we go. My issue is this: my Arduino skills are non-existent. That and lack of firmware support which falls back on my issue again. I made this in all one part with enough space .1mm for each item to be separate. I exported to .stl and cura separated most of it except the top bearing. Any thoughts, ideas, help?
I like the idea, not as much for counting the length of filament used but rather as a mechanism to sense that the filament stopped being pulled by the extruder thus signalling a printing issue…
I remember @Thomas_Sanladerer was working on a diameter measuring device using read switches and mechanical relays (if i recall it was for his filament maker.
Interesting idea, but the linear pot is nowhere near sensitive enough. To measure down to 0.01 mm would need mechanical amplification, perhaps using voice coil type sensor.
But the main problem is that measuring one or even two diameters is only reliable if the filament is perfectly round.
