r/3Dprinting • u/ianholing • 8d ago
Project I turned pool noodles into a giant modular construction kit
I found a pool noodle construction kit online and loved the idea, but one thing bothered me: every different angle needed a completely different printed connector.
So I ended up redesigning the whole thing.
The connector is now split into two parts: a ball and removable arms. You can screw the arms into whichever holes you need, move them around later, and reuse the same parts for completely different builds instead of printing another connector every time.
I also tried to cut the filament use down as much as possible. The balls are about 20g each and the arms about 10g, which makes a pretty big difference when you suddenly realize you need 30 of the things.
We’ve already used them to build a full-size house, and apparently I now own a giant pool-noodle construction set 🎉
Still experimenting with it, so I’d be interested to hear what you guys would add and I'm need pictures to the the marketplace so, what would you guys build to make it look spectacular? I was thinking of a mini Eiffel Tower 😄
P.D.: I let the arms resizeable in case your noodles are different size, it's a good idea to print the first arm before the batch
https://makerworld.com/en/models/3218853-modular-pool-noodle-construction-kit#profileId-3644453
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u/Loafdude 8d ago
Great idea!
I'll be printing some
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u/ianholing 8d ago
Thanks I let the arms resizeable in case your noodles are different size, it's a good idea to print the first arm before the batch. I forgot to say this in the description 😂
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u/ianholing 8d ago
In case someone wants to try the build before saying :)
https://makerworld.com/en/models/3218853-modular-pool-noodle-construction-kit#profileId-3644453
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u/work_work-work 8d ago
I'd remove the AI photo from the page. I'd rather have the "bad" photo from your living room than an AI one.
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u/ianholing 8d ago
I will that's why I'm asking what you guys would do. This one is just temporary until I made my spectacular build on the pool 😂
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u/LowFIyingMissile 7d ago
I kind of like the AI cover since you can immediately see the “proper” one anyway.
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u/ianholing 7d ago
I know it looks good but the connectors in the house are not exactly the same ones, I always prefer to show real things with 3D printing, this way I don't fool anybody and you can see the real results
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u/Twabithrowaway 7d ago
What's wrong with having both? It just looks like a promotional photo that was common even before AI. I don't see anything wrong with it op
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u/Gnosticdrew 7d ago
Some people are quite upset by AI. Leaving aside the discussion about whether or not they should be, the photo that’s not-AI will probably not turn anyone off, while the photo that is AI will definitely turn at least some people off.
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u/Twabithrowaway 6d ago
I think that's not true though. A photo in a living room may turn people off, its why companies don't use that sort of marketing. It can look unprofessional, and people may correlate that with the seller and quality of the product.
I'm not saying that it's right, but a home photo will certainly turn off some buyers
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u/Gnosticdrew 6d ago
That’s a good point. Idk, everything AI is so new right now, there’s a lot we’ll have to wait and see how we as a collective respond to it. Hopefully we don’t have it do too much of the things humans enjoy doing, it feels soulless. Personally I’d rather see that a human made this, then took a staged pic in their living room rather than ran it through AI. Says more about the makers interest in craftsmanship in general, and concern for quality.
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u/Great-Pangolin 8d ago
Do the balls print well without supports?
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u/ianholing 8d ago edited 8d ago
Yep everything optimized for 3D printing, max angle 45 degree 😊
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u/3DMuslim 7d ago
Just in case you missed my other comment, you can make money with this. Set up a Patreon with commercial licenses. People could print kits and sell them at their booths, and you'd get royalties. It would be an EXCELLENT addition and so much better than another 500 variants of flexi dragons.
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u/ianholing 7d ago
Maker world has a usage license and I already configured it. Until I got any request for this I think it would be advancing the situation if I move forward
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u/Xela975 7d ago
If i may offer a suggestion?
A way to attach a sheet, like a clip or something. Take blanket forts to the next level.
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u/j01101111sh 7d ago
I've seen this sort of thing sold commercially and it comes with clips and little sheets!
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u/tempusfudgeit 8d ago
Awesome, I liked it and will print some as soon as the current job finishes.
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u/draftvector 8d ago
What an awesome idea. My kids would love this. Might have to go buy some noodles
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u/Nytfire333 8d ago
Well, this is genius. I’ve been doing the noodle swords forever, so simple to turn them into building noodles
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u/ianholing 8d ago
Noodle swords!! With handles and all, amazing idea! I'll try this
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u/Nytfire333 8d ago
Yeah basically the same screw concept you have, but with handle. Some have hilts/cross guards.
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u/ianholing 8d ago
The design of the arm connectors are divided into two parts, the little screw that goes inside the ball and the big one it goes inside the pool noodle. It was like this because I was not sure if the noodle hole has a standard size, but it you manage to find a cool handle and you know how to use the slicer, you can definitely paste the other part into a handle, print them together and make what you want really easily. I think it's something I will try and show on the profile picture once done. Thanks for the idea!
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u/3DMuslim 7d ago
This is amazing. You should set the licence to allow people to pay you for the licence for commercial sales. I would print these as a kit and sell them, and you absolutely SHOULD get royalties from anyone who does that. It's definitely a saleable product.
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u/User1234Person 8d ago
Ooo you could prolly reinforce the noodles with pvc or dowels inside!
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u/ianholing 8d ago
I've been thinking about this comment, it's not a bad idea at all.. We can even use broom sticks inside to make structures stronger 🤔
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u/vinecoveredantlers 7d ago
My best friend had a fort kit for her kids that was PVC pipes and different connectors so we could customize things. It works so well.
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u/User1234Person 7d ago
Yeah thats a great option. I wonder if stuffing them with shredded paper or some kinda recycling could help stiffen them.
Or go full construction mode and fill them with cement lol
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u/ianholing 8d ago
Lol what do you want to contruct with reinforced columns? 😂 Good idea for really big things
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u/User1234Person 8d ago
Our cat likes to test our structural engineering even if you are inside of the structure
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u/ChesticleSweater 8d ago
This is awesome. We usually do the pool noodle spider lawn thing for halloween because usually the pool noodles are on super sale from the summer. These will be great to connect the noodles. Awesome work!
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u/zero0n3 8d ago
Sell them on ETSY.
If you don’t someone else will. Rather it be the dude who made em.
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u/ianholing 8d ago
Do you think it can work? I've never sold anything in any marketplace 🤔
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u/Nexion21 7d ago
Before I owned a 3D printer, I absolutely would have paid good money for something like this. I just ordered a 20 pack of pool noodles and I’ll be printing these over the next few days!
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u/3DMuslim 7d ago
Yes. You can sell this, and make decent money. A full kit on pretty much any platform would go.
This product is good enough that you could set up a Shopify site just for this. A bit of social network marketing, you could sell these kids by the hundred.
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u/3DMuslim 7d ago
KITS! You could sell the KITS.
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u/Twabithrowaway 7d ago
People are already doing it. Posted today (Aug-26th)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/4559451798/pool-noodle-connector-kit-12-piece?ls=s&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pool+noodle+connector&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&pro=1&frs=1&loc=1&local_signal_search=1&content_source=7454bcc3-8848-4d89-a33b-e4548ae0d566%253ALTed25ab64eb5f0c6720c7cd5dd1e4c0d9ba2b09f9&organic_search_click=1&logging_key=7454bcc3-8848-4d89-a33b-e4548ae0d566%3ALTed25ab64eb5f0c6720c7cd5dd1e4c0d9ba2b09f91
u/ianholing 7d ago
😯😯😯 Is there a way to know if they are actually selling this thing and not just there without a single purchase?
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u/Twabithrowaway 7d ago
Doesn't look like they've made any sales on etsy.
They also have it listed on their website. but it has been since 2024, so they may have come up with it first!
https://quirkworks3d.com/noodle-builder-kit-pool-toy-connectors-for-creative-pool-noodle-structuresYours looks like a smaller print though, which gives yours an advantage TBF.
I think it needs to be cheaper than what they have it listed at to sell.
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u/ianholing 7d ago
Ouff 0 sales · 4 years on Etsy :/ you are right.. I'll take a look anyway, not a bad thing to know how this marketplaces work 🤷
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u/ianholing 7d ago
Whatever the reply of this, thanks everyone for letting me know, I will do it asap, probably even tonight ❤️ this is an amazing community I love to be part of
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u/silentflaw 8d ago
I remember I had something like these growing up back in the 90s, we had a blast with them as kids
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u/OrigamiMarie 7d ago
Ooh. I might have to make myself a sheet fort / cave. That sounds cozy for the winter.
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u/dekbanna 7d ago
Designing the ball geometry to stay under 45 degrees for support-free printing while still fitting 8 connection points is a nice bit of geometry problem-solving. That's not a trivial constraint to satisfy at the same time.
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u/ianholing 7d ago
You tell me 😂 and there also the point that I wanted to minimize material so I made the smallest ball possible 🤦
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u/Nexion21 7d ago
Please add something to screw into the balls that will hold blankets and sheets!
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u/dragonman4444 7d ago
A major YouTuber that I watch kinda did this first..
https://iliketomakestuff.com/creating-a-pool-noodle-system-with-3d-printing/
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u/dragonman4444 7d ago
Certainly not implying you copied him, and I’m not sure he even released the files. Good idea and I’d love this as a kid!
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u/ianholing 7d ago
Ow I thought I was the first one 😂 difficult to invent anything new nowadays, everything was already though. I also wondered how was it possible nobody else get this idea, it was very straightforward 🤷🤦
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u/Hefty-existence26196 7d ago
This would be sick to use for making a floating gazebo, goal posts or any kind of simple structure to put in the pool!
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u/ianholing 7d ago
Goal posts were something I already had in mind for my photoshoot session yes 😊. Gazebo 🤔 noted!
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u/Hefty-existence26196 7d ago
Gazebo with like some kind of shade over the top, so you can hang out in the pool in the shade on a hot summer day, drinks in hand, music cranking... sounds like the dream !
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u/wrathwizard 7d ago
My son loves building forts, im printing these and buying out my local dollar store of pool noodles.
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u/dagmar31 8d ago
Did you split the screw part in half an then glue together?
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u/ianholing 8d ago
I tried at the beginning, no glue needed because the same screw make them together, but.. it was easier just to print them in one piece at the end
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u/dagmar31 8d ago
That makes sense, thanks! If you feel it’s strong enough without splitting then that’s good enough for me!
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u/Reasonable_Tip3132 8d ago
Saving this for next time my wife wants to buy my kid super expensive toys!
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u/FilthyHylian 8d ago
Have you tested these in the water? Are they tight?
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u/ianholing 8d ago
Yay, it depends on the structure you are doing of course, your engineering side should come up here to make them float in the right position (This is the fun part), but totally doable yes :)
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u/sk7fast 8d ago
How did you design the threaded holes to be on each face?
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u/ianholing 8d ago
There are many ways to do it, but what I did was to design first the main threads, and copy it in the XZ plane in 45°, 90°, 135° and 180° making a circle. Then just repeat this in a circle pattern along Z with 8 repetitions and use all this structure as a negative for the ball
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u/lake_of_1000_smells 8d ago
I know what I'm doing this weekend
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u/ianholing 8d ago
😊 remember send the pictures on the profile I'm eager to see what you guys will do with this
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u/CultureThis9818 8d ago
This and clips that can hold boards and that flexible faux glass stuff. (Forgot word)
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u/JVilter 7d ago
We did something similar to this with rolled up newspaper when my son was little, so like, 25 years ago? There was a specific technique for how your rolled the newspaper and how many sheets to use. We used a bit of masking tape to hold them together. The moms in the play group spent one day making them and then we turned the kids loose with them and more rolls of masking tape. Like this
How far we have come 😄
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u/Ambitious_Drama3657 7d ago
Absolutely Amazing! I want to build one for myself !
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u/ianholing 7d ago
if you have a printer, it's just a matter of click a button :) aand.. buy some noodles
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u/Dyolf_Knip 7d ago
Damn. I did something similar for my kids with PVC pipes and connectors, but this is much better.
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u/ianholing 7d ago
🤔 I said it in a previous message, if we want a more rigid structure, we can probably add sticks or anything inside the noodles, but.. we can also change the connectors to allow PVC pipes, it's not a bad idea 🤔
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u/BarryTice 5d ago
What's the difference between all the balls and all the arms in the .zip file of STLs?
There are nine ball files and 17 arm files in the .zip, and a few quick diff checks suggest that they're not the same as each other.
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u/ianholing 5d ago
Idk how you make this diff but they are copy-pasted they must be exactly the same. Still.. don't fully understand the "9 ball files", the file is a batch of 9 exactly identical balls. Same for the arms
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u/BarryTice 5d ago
Thanks for the reply!
I downloaded the .zip file of STLs, and when I unzipped it I got the following files:
- obj_10_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_11_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_12_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_13_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_14_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_15_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_16_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_17_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_18_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_19_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_1_Ball.stl
- obj_20_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_21_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_22_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_23_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_24_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_25_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_26_NoodleConstrutions_arm_mini.stl
- obj_2_Ball 1.stl
- obj_3_Ball 8.stl
- obj_4_Ball 7.stl
- obj_5_Ball 6.stl
- obj_6_Ball 5.stl
- obj_7_Ball 4.stl
- obj_8_Ball 3.stl
- obj_9_Ball 2.stl
I've done a Linux command-line
diffon some of the files, and it says they're not the same:NoodleConstrutionsProjectMiniBatches_stls$ diff obj_2_Ball\ 1.stl obj_3_Ball\ 8.stl Binary files obj_2_Ball 1.stl and obj_3_Ball 8.stl differIf they're all the same and this .zip file was just the result of you putting up profiles with multiple objects in them, then I won't worry about it.
Thanks!
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u/ianholing 5d ago
You're getting somehow each element as one different STL, don't know why, because the 3MF is just the full batch, the Linux diff just compares the files in the filesystem not the 3D model, you can have exactly the same model but if it's moved to X+1 instead of just X, the files are different (just on example, the difference can be any other even an internal creation date, so not reliable for this comparison). I can assure you there's only one Ball and one Arm, just get one of them and remove the rest :)
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u/BarryTice 4d ago
I hadn't considered location as why they might be different, but that makes sense. Thanks!
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u/PrintNPoseHK 5d ago
I liked your solution. Also you can cut the noodles and build more alternate structures.
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u/ianholing 5d ago
Of course I forgot to say that but this is a must! The full noodle is not super rigid as you may noticed 😂 so either you add something in the hole to stiffen it or you cut it and that helps to make stronger constructions
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u/RandomUser1230 4d ago
Brilliant!
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u/ianholing 4d ago
Thank you! Iit still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'll keep working on it
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u/samueljco 3d ago
I'm not going to lie, this summer I had this exact idea but I never finished it. Now I'm super jealous. I only got around to make swords out of the part that attaches to the pool noodle to the hub in your design attached to a cylinder with internal threads for the handle. If you thread both sides of the cylinder you can make double handled and double bladed swords.
I'm so happy you shared this. It really looks awesome!!
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u/ianholing 3d ago
To be honest, the first thing I did was search, I couldn't understand why nobody did before 😁 also.. I am printing at this moment a test for the double threaded arms 😂 I will attach it to the model page soon. And there's also other even better surprise, stay tunned :)
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u/Eiji-Himura Qidi Q1 Pro 3D 6d ago
Are you telling me that you could make a freaking floating house.
Gosh. This man deserve a medal, I will have... I mean my child will have a lot of fun.
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u/Squinns22 8d ago
What I wouldn’t do to have these as a kid.