Truncated Icosahedron - Buckyball (Buckminsterfullerene)

thingiverse

I helped construct a couple of soccer robot kits and appreciated the unique 40mm soccer ball included with them. The ball has an interesting surface made up of hexagons and pentagons. A quick search led me to a tutorial on building a Buckyball, or Buckminsterfullerene, in honor of architect Richard Buckminster Fuller. At the core of this object is a Truncated-Icosahedron with carbon atoms at each of its 60 vertices. The Buckyball has a 40mm diameter to match the soccer ball and was created using a MakerBot printer. Here's the tutorial URL (no affiliation): http://www.webdesign.org/3d-graphics/tutorials/how-to-make-a-buckyball.597.html. In SkeinForge, enable 'Support Material on Exterior Only' in RAFT to handle the angle overhang of the Buckyball's base pentagons. The additional support material helps generate and hold the object in place. Afterward, carefully remove the support material using pliers and sand down the remnants with 220 and 400 grit sandpaper for a smooth finish. In FILL, set 'Infill Solidity (ratio)' to 0.05 for a strong object. Note that SkeinForge may report errors but the GCODE output works fine.