Originally shared by René Jurack What do you think about tennisball-noise-dampeners on a 3D-Printer?

3D Printing
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Originally shared by René Jurack

What do you think about tennisball-noise-dampeners on a 3D-Printer? I want to use dampeners, no doubt, but struggle with which way to go. I thought about using expanded plastic or casting my own silicone-feet when I stumbled upon the amazingly simple idea of using tennisballs. A friend of mine immediatly disagreed and told me that these look “cheap & ugly”. What do you think?

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Just keep yer balls fuzzy! (lol)

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I like the idea of using something so inexpensive and plentiful for this task and I think they look just fine. My only concern would be if the printer would tend to “walk” off of the edge of the table. Maybe handball or racquet balls for a little more grip to the table top?

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Agree with @Alan_Thomason I see if vibrating off the table/ around the floor. You could go grab some plastidip and coat the bottom of the balls with it. Have been wanting to add silicone feet to mine for a while now.

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I use rubber bumpers like these: http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/122/3840/=14pih50

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Go with the tennis balls, but sleeve them so they appear to just be cylindrical posts. That way you get the dampening without looking cheap and ugly.

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@Eclsnowman I do have No.2 (PU-medium) of your link and find them way to hard. What type do you have?

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My printers are bigger so I think the weight helps with the harder durometer. On HercuLien I use: http://www.mcmaster.com/#9540k28/=14pim3e

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Then I can simply 5mm bolt it to the frame with tslot nuts or into the end of the vertical extrusions.

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I have also had good luck printing them in TPU using slic3r to have a modifier mesh vary the infill density. It allows you to have squish where you need it, but then stiff where it bolts to the frame.

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There are a bunch of vibration dampeners on thingiverse. They do add a bit of an awkward look. Personally I would go with what Eric, is recommending. But with that being said, I’ve been using this particular set of dampeners with TPU feet made for 2020 extrusions. The noise reduction is immense.

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my printer is bolted to the table. table was built to hold the printer.

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For privat yes. Looks kinda cool

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If you have sliding issues cut them in half and just use half a ball per leg.

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Depends on the printer design. For some designs like a Prusa i3 frame, any sort of soft feet will degrade your print quality since the printer depends on the table below it for structural support.

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Lose the balls and bolt the printer to heavy metal plate. Structural rigidity increased, vibration eliminated.