These Squash ball Feet will greatly reduce and dampen any sound, vibrations, and noise that your 3D printer normally passes onto the surface it's sitting on.
Background
In my case that was the Original Prusa Enclosure (OPE) which has the printer touching on a very thin, low mass, medium rigidity plate which is really good at turning the entire enclosure into a sort of loudspeaker for printer noises.
To combat this I first checked out the models by @Osfald . The idea to use Squash balls as feet is great because Squash balls will dampen a wide range of frequencies and turn those into (negligible amounts of) heat.
Why this model?
I decided to make some changes to the design to (prematurely/unnecessarily) optimize the Squash ball feet to my liking.
It now has varying options in 2mm intervals with text indicating which part you have in your hands. The design now also has some extra girth where I think it needed it and will use less material overall when printing the “highest” options.
And most importantly; when you insert the double yellow dotted Squash balls in the correct orientation you will be greeted by a happy little smile on your new happy little feet!
How to use!
Print 4 or 6 feet [see chapters below for print settings and help with choosing the correct “height” of feet]
one for each corner
two are optionally placed in the middle close to the Stepper motors
Get the same amount of Squash balls
be sure to get the “double yellow dot” variant (sometimes also called "Pro) because these ones have the best dampening factor
alternatively some comments reported that the “single yellow dot” worked just fine for them
Push the Squash ball into the cups of the printed parts
be sure to line up the “double yellow dots” just like the image below to reveal the smiley face
it helps to tightly grab/pinch the Squash ball with your thumb and index finger and push + rotate the ball at the same time as if you were screwing in a bolt by hand
note that for some variants that almost completely encapsulate the Squash balls it will be difficult/impossible to remove the balls without destroying the printed part
Place the feet on your Prusa MK4/printer of choice
lift the printer and push the hook (at an angle) inside the 3030 extrusion groove
when the hook is inserted half-way then it's a matter of gently rotating the part into it's final position
this can be assisted by some controlled use of “wiggling”
Enjoy the silence!
or more likely start paying more attention to the remainder of the noise and how the rest of the printer/table is still vibrating at certain frequencies and go into a rabbit hole with a mission to make your printed 100% silent…
no really, the difference should be noticeable without any complex measuring devices - if you don't notice that much either the feet you had on your printer in combination with a very heavy or very stiff surface were already doing the trick - OR there are still other rigid components transferring vibrations to the enclosure/surface (other addons perhaps?) - OR there is something else going on…
Which height feet should you use?!
Squash balls are squishy. Because of this each feet has a range of about 4mm depending on the minimum or maximum weight that is placed on each individual feet.
Thus each model has listed in their name (and embedded as text into the model) the height difference you can expect when upgrading from the standard Prusa MK4 feet.
Examples:
the 4-8mm model will raise that part of the printer by somewhere between 4 to 8 mm compared to the standard Prusa MK4 feet.
the -2-2mm model will raise that part of the printer by somewhere between negative 2 to positive 2 mm compared to the standard Prusa MK4 feet. These feet can actually lower your printer if it's loaded very heavy.
How to interpret this 4 mm “range”?
Do you have a Prusa MK4 with a spool holder on top with two full spool and are you using only 4 Squash ball feet? Then expect the Squash balls to be squashed to the max. For example the 4-8mm model might only raise your printer by 4 mm in this case.
However, do you have a Prusa MK4 in the Original Prusa Enclosure (detached PSU and no spools on the printer frame) and are you also using 6 feet? Then expect the Squash balls to be squashed by only a little. For example the same 4-8mm model from the previous sample might now raise your printer by 8mm in this case.
Still unsure about which variant to choose?
Either print a single one out, measure your frame height before and after mounting it in a single corner and you can likely expect similar values for the entire printer (assuming feet placement is spaced somewhat equally from the center of mass.)
Or just get the 4-8mm model and divide these evenly over your Prusa MK4.
For my specific Prusa MK4 (relatively unmodded, but it is siting inside the OPE thus has no PSU and no spool holder on the frame, I did the following:
2x 0-4mm in the front (this part is super light)
2x 2-6mm in the middle (this is where most of the weight of the printer is)
2x 4-8mm in the back (perhaps due to weight, perhaps due to the bendable nature of the OPE bottom plate I required these feet to be much higher(/Squash more) to keep the printer nice and level.
What print setting would you recommend?
I've added a .3mf file that contains all the models and the print settings that I used, but here are the most important ones for these models in my opinion:
Add Supports to 0 degree surfaces only
this ensure a clean and usable ‘hook’
and makes sure that there is no extra wasted support
double check to make sure there is no support on the inside of the spherical part
3 perimeters (with a 0.4mm nozzle)
this will give maximum strength to the part with fully enclosed loops
while still keeping a small infill buffer between the spherical part and the 3030-wall part
20% Gyroid infill
20% is probably already too much, but it makes me feel safe
and gyroid feels like it would be the best infill type to dampen some vibrations on its own
That's it! Print-like-and-subscribe! Looking forward to seeing your printers become just a little but more sporty, a spark more happy, and a lot more silent!
LEN polygon
