Magnetic Acupuncture Fidget Toys

A printed sleeve for magnetic fidget spheres creates satisfying textures and reduces noisy clacking.
1h 39m
2× print file
0.15 mm
0.40 mm
16.00 g
In the contest Scratchers
34
53
1
507
updated November 28, 2024

Description

PDF

UPDATE: I found that the “nubby” sphere broke too easily when dropped, so I included a few updated STLs with thicker walls. I also discovered how much fun “fuzzy skin” is, so I included a new smooth texture sphere which can be sliced with the fuzzy skin option in PrusaSlicer. I used a thickness of 0.5. I haven't updated the 3mf/bgcode files or the larger version STL files yet, but if there is enough interest I will. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spherical magnetic fidget toys inspired by acupuncture massage balls. There are 5 different textures - wavy, golf, bumpy, nubby and (new!) smooth. There is a larger and smaller version with dimensions noted in each file. There are the following two ways to print:

You can print the two pieces of each sphere individually, insert the magnet after printing, and then super glue the two pieces of the sphere together. 

  • Pros of this are that all the surfaces come out uniform and smooth.
  • Con is that you can see the glue line. 
  • 15% infill
  • No Supports
  • Recommend using a smooth sheet when printing PLA to reduce the visibility of the seams.
     

OR 


I've also included whole part prints in which you can pause the print mid-production, add the magnet, and then finish printing.

  • Pros is no glue seam. 
  • Cons is you will need supports for the base of each sphere causing there to be a texture difference where the supports attached.
  • 15% infill
  • Supports Needed on Baseplate Only


You can use whatever magnets you have on hand. I experimented with the following: 

25mm spherical magnets: https://a.co/d/8ce265w with the larger size prints. These are a bit too big for my liking, but magnets were nice and strong.

20mm spherical magnets: https://a.co/d/bdL9SlV (The image in the listing says 1.26in but that is incorrect.) with the smaller sized prints. Goldilocks! These were my favorite. 

10mm x 5mm cylinder magnets: https://a.co/d/89MrCqJ with the smaller sized prints. These were some magnets I already had lying around. They were too small. 

The magnets are able to roll around inside of the sphere's cavity which makes a bit of a rattle but allows them to spin to make the best contact with nearby spheres. The spherical magnets are a bit quieter, but it is just a personal preference.

If you're interested in making your own textures or resizing the spheres, here is the Onshape link:

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/490c8e355b9a796aa98d80e1/w/4195fd43fae9908dec9e46d8/e/12a0a0784b1e5689798ab792?renderMode=0&uiState=670f2f0cfae8f63b5c747dab 

Tags



Model origin

The author marked this model as their own original creation.

License