Dodecahedral Joint / Connector for 3D Spool Reuse, Dodecahedron

cults3d

Dodecahedral Joint / Connector for 3D Spool Reuse With 3D printing, we end up with a lot of spools. As a STEM educator, I've long wondered how to play with the 3D filament spools before recycling them. Yes, kids might make a big toy car. However, I wanted to build something more mathematically appealing. Here's a dodecahedral joint or connector, with the right dihedral angle, that can be used to build a huge dodecahedron using 12 spools. Most spools have a flange with a raised edge. So I decided to take advantage of that to design a joint with a groove (8.4 mm wide) that can snap onto the spools and slide around. The joint curves are designed with respect to a spool with a 100-mm radius. As shown in the pictures, it works well. With the empty spools on hand, I was able to make a half-dodecahedron. About the Files and Assembling Joints come in various sizes and groove depths (5_4 means 5.4 mm in edge thickness). Please try a bigger size if you want to move the joint freely around the spool. Joints with a shallower groove are easier to snap on. To remove a joint, please use a screwdriver to pry it off the spool edge. As the dodecahedron gets big, please ask for some helping hands. Please try ABS filament if more strength is desired; some gorilla glue might also be used. It's helpful to mark off 72 degrees around the spool using a protractor or the figure provided. Please try it out before printing a large number of joints. Obviously, it takes 20 joints to connect 12 spools for a whole dodecahedron. Once connected, the structure is really stable. If necessary, please try using some bolts and nuts. Have fun!