Hockey Balls make great feet

3D Printer Parts
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One of the “easy” things you can do to reduce 3D printer noise is to acoustically isolate the printer from the surface on which you stand it. As a bonus, mounting your printer on compliant feet can reduce vibration artifacts on your prints.

One popular mod on Thingiverse is to print feet into which you can press squashballs or raquetballs if you have a large heavy machine.

When I went looking for a set of balls for my CR-6 SE, I thought “Wow, those are expensive!” Especially when the balls were only sold in sets of 3 and I needed 4.

Fortunately, that was the day I first heard of “Mini Hockey Balls.” Half the cost for packages of 6, plenty stiff and a good size. Sold!

Here are the files on Thingiverse:

2 Likes
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I’ve heard of people putting their printers on patio stones for the same effect, I like the balls better but wouldn’t it make the printer unstable? I guess wobbly would be a better description.

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Actually, the balls are quite stiff, the printer is not unstable. They do, however dampen vibrations so that the printer does not transmit as much sound to the platform they are on & the frame is not as likely to resonate & transfer vibrations to the print.

Yes, I have seen printers stood on concrete tiles also. I have not done it myself so cannot comment on which is better, but I do like the bonus of creating extra air space under the CR-6 SE, where the cooling fans exhaust. I think it makes the printer less likely to suck dust into the PSU and Controller.

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I use exactly these balls for mine. I found them to work very well. I designed my own cups. I found the balls in some designs fall out when inverted. I decided to print a simple cup and just hot glue it to my work bench that holds the printer and set the printer on the balls. Feet backwards. I have the position aligned to the rails of the printer it was easy in the end.

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Used the racquetballs on my Ender 3, CR10s and my S5. They worked great, doesn’t make the print unsteady.

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I’ve seen the little printed ones, never though of the balls though, next revamp I do Im going to try them out though

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IMG_3991
IMG_39913024×4032 1.95 MB

goofy but it works really well. I just set the printer down on them. I have tried just printer on the balls directly and with a sheet of wood between the printer and balls. It doesn’t seem to make much difference.
Excuse the poor print it came off my X1

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Was thinking of printing ball feet in TPU. might take a few tries to get the right stiffness but still way cheaper

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that’s a pretty ingenious way to mount the balls under the machine

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