April 3, 2026
Description
This is a miniature of a large industrial ball valve. It was designed as a fun little "model kit" that can be easily assembled and the ball valve can open and close like the real one. It's easy to print and assemble, and assembly only require the printed parts and a little glue, no screws etc.
It's not intended for use with actual fluid, just to demonstrate how a ball valve work.
Use the print-orientation shown on the slicer image, or see the included "AllParts.3mf"
Supports required for the center of "Wheel.stl" that is printed face down, nothing else require generated support.
"Silver_WithSupport.step" come with built-in support, but there's also "Silver_WithoutSupport.stl" as an alternative. Print one of them, not both.
Brim is recommended for "AlignmentPin_2x.stl" and "Shaft.stl".
If a file is named _x2, print two of them. Otherwise just print one.
Really nothing special with regards to print settings, but I would recommend fairly thin layers like 0.15 to 0.20mm and a 0.40mm nozzle, at least for the gear and shaft.
Printing all parts require ~68g of filament and take ~2 hours 45 minutes on my CORE One using the 0.20mm BALANCED profile with a 0.40mm nozzle.
Assembly should be straight forward, especially if you consult the render of the exploded design.
However, a more detailed and animated assembly guide is available here: https://zapador.net/ballvalve
If you have any problems with the design, some feedback or any questions please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll do my best to help you.
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial — Share Alike
Zapador
