Mini Marble Spiral Fidget

This is a miniature, compact marble run that fits in the hand and is endlessly satisfying! Put a marble in the top and it will spiral around and come out the hole in the bottom. Multiple marbles quickly become mesmerizing, adding to the fun. You can also cover the two holes on the sides and flip it back and forth—the marbles won't come out.

Printing

This model doesn't require much structural integrity, so default settings (2 walls, 10% infill or similar) will be fine. It also DOES NOT require supports; there is sacrificial support build into the STL file, meant to be removed after printing.

If you are planning to leave this fidget in hot locations such as a car on a sunny day, consider printing it in a more heat-resistant material; I have had PLA prints deform in hot vehicles before.

Post-Printing

This marble run uses 10mm ball bearings/marbles , as the holes are designed to be 11.5mm in diameter. This is the same type of ball used in Zach Freedman's Hextraction game, so balls can be repurposed from that game as well.

After printing the model:

- Remove the sacrificial supports built into the tracks on the outside; they are only 1mm thick, so they should come off pretty easily (but please let me know if you have problems!)

- OPTIONAL - use a deburring tool or side cutters to clean up the edges where the sacrificial support was during printing. Standing up is the only reasonable orientation for this model, but it does leave some rough edges where the supports are.

- Post a make if you'd like! It helps me out a lot. Thanks for printing!

Modifying

I have uploaded a STEP file for the design so you can modify it—however, if you would like a different file type please let me know! I would also be happy to make small changes to the design to accommodate different marble sizes.

License

This design is shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, meaning you can share, adapt, and sell copies of this design as long as you give proper attribution . This requires you to include the name of the creator (Ethan Bayer), a license notice, a link to the original material, and, optionally, the title.

Example

“Mini Marble Spiral Fidget” ( https://www.printables.com/model/1722571-mini-marble-spiral-fidget/ ) is designed by Ethan Bayer and shared under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).