A quick way to gauge how long a print will take when you do not have a slicer preview handy — useful for planning a print queue or deciding whether a job will finish overnight.
How it works
The estimate is built from layer count and extrusion path length.
Step 1 — Layer count. Divide the object height by the layer height and round up:
layers = ⌈height ÷ layer height⌉
A 60mm object at 0.2mm layers is ⌈60 ÷ 0.2⌉ = 300 layers.
Step 2 — Path per layer. The perimeter path you enter is the outline at 0% infill. Infill adds interior travel proportional to its density:
path per layer = perimeter path × (1 + infill ÷ 100)
Step 3 — Extrusion time. Total path divided by print speed:
extrusion time = (path per layer × layers) ÷ print speed
Step 4 — Overhead. A travel-overhead percentage covers non-printing moves, and each layer change adds 0.4 s for Z-hop and carriage settle. A one-off first-layer allowance is added too (first layers usually print slowly for adhesion):
total = extrusion time × (1 + overhead ÷ 100) + layers × 0.4 s + first-layer extra
Example
A 60mm tower, 0.2mm layers, 400mm perimeter path per layer, 60 mm/s, 20% infill, 20% overhead:
- layers =
300 - path per layer =
400 × 1.20 = 480 mm - total path =
480 × 300 = 144 000 mm = 144 m - extrusion time =
144 000 ÷ 60 = 2400 s - with overhead and layer changes ≈
2400 × 1.20 + 300 × 0.4 ≈ 3000 s ≈ 50 m
Notes
Treat the output as a planning figure, not a guarantee — accuracy is typically ±15-30%. For an exact number, slice the model: the slicer traces the real toolpath and accounts for acceleration, retraction, and per-feature speed overrides this tool cannot see.