MINGDA AD-F4 · channel letter 3D printer
How much filament does a channel letter use?
No brochure numbers. This is a real job printed in our showroom on the AD-F4, filmed on 14 October 2026, with the filament usage read directly from the slicer. From it we work out what a letter of any size needs — and you can check your own text in the calculator below.
- Unedited slicer statistics for the job in the video
- Filament and print time for one 50 cm letter
- Calculator for your own letters, height and depth
- Layout area
- 600 × 960 mm
- Letter depth
- 60 mm
- Print time
- 25 h 05 min
- Filament used
- 1,292 g
Straight from the slicer
The demo job: table 1
The table in the video holds a full set of letters, 600 × 960 mm, with 60 mm deep returns. The usage below is for the letter walls (outer wall, inner wall and gap infill), exactly as the slicer reports it.
- Layout area
- 600 × 960 mm
- Letter depth (return)
- 60 mm
- Print time
- 25 h 05 min (1 day 1 h 5 min)
- Filament used
- 1,292 g ≈ 423 m of 1.75 mm filament
- Material volume
- 1,017 cm³
- Filament cost of the whole job
- ≈ 25.84 € (at 20 €/kg)
The calculation
From the job to one 50 cm letter
- 1
1,017 cm³ of wall
over 60 mm of height gives ≈ 170 cm² of wall section — about 8.5–11 m of letter contour.
- 2
115–150 g per metre
of contour at 60 mm depth, and 2–3 hours of printing per metre.
- 3
≈ 2–2.2 m of contour
for an average 50 cm letter such as “E” or “A” (outline plus inner counters).
| 50 cm letter | Depth | Filament | Filament cost* | Print time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “I” (simple) | 60 mm | 140–180 g | 2.80–3.60 € | ~3–3.5 h |
| “E” / “A” (average) | 60 mm | 250–330 g | 5.00–6.60 € | ~5–6 h |
| “O” / “B” (with counters) | 60 mm | 300–450 g | 6.00–9.00 € | ~6–9 h |
| “E” / “A” (average) | 100 mm | 400–550 g | 8.00–11.00 € | ~8–11 h |
| “O” / “B” (with counters) | 100 mm | 500–750 g | 10.00–15.00 € | ~10–14 h |
* AdPETG filament at 20 €/kg, excluding VAT. Exact values depend on the font, wall thickness and depth. Several letters are printed at once on the build plate.
Calculator
Filament and print time for your letters
Change the text, the letter height, the filament price or the depth — the filament, cost and print time update as you type. The estimate uses the usage measured on the job above, for capital letters in a standard bold sans-serif font.
Filament
1,302–1,761 g
Filament cost
26.03–35.22 €
Print time
24 h 51 min – 33 h 37 min
| Letter | Contour | Filament | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2.20 m | ≈ 290 g | ≈ 5.81 € | ≈ 5 h 33 min |
| D | 2.20 m | ≈ 290 g | ≈ 5.81 € | ≈ 5 h 33 min |
| L | 1.70 m | ≈ 224 g | ≈ 4.49 € | ≈ 4 h 17 min |
| I | 1.20 m | ≈ 158 g | ≈ 3.17 € | ≈ 3 h 01 min |
| N | 2.20 m | ≈ 290 g | ≈ 5.81 € | ≈ 5 h 33 min |
| E | 2.10 m | ≈ 277 g | ≈ 5.54 € | ≈ 5 h 18 min |
The totals cover all letters of the text, printed together on the build plate. For exact numbers we slice your real file.
Want the exact numbers for your own sign?
Send us your text or vector file. We slice it on the AD-F4 profile and reply with filament, print time and the slicer screenshot — the same way as on this page.