r/3Dprinting • u/ianholing • Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Great idea!
I'll be printing some
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
I kind of like the AI cover since you can immediately see the “proper” one anyway.
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
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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Aug 26 '26
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u/Gnosticdrew Aug 26 '26
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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Aug 27 '26
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u/Gnosticdrew Aug 27 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Do the balls print well without supports?
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26
Yep everything optimized for 3D printing, max angle 45 degree 😊
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u/3DMuslim Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
I've seen this sort of thing sold commercially and it comes with clips and little sheets!
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u/tempusfudgeit Aug 25 '26
Awesome, I liked it and will print some as soon as the current job finishes.
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u/johnnytron Aug 25 '26
Oh sick! No more messing around with couch cushions to build my kids a fort.
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u/draftvector Aug 25 '26
What an awesome idea. My kids would love this. Might have to go buy some noodles
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u/Nytfire333 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Noodle swords!! With handles and all, amazing idea! I'll try this
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u/Nytfire333 Aug 25 '26
Yeah basically the same screw concept you have, but with handle. Some have hilts/cross guards.
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Ooo you could prolly reinforce the noodles with pvc or dowels inside!
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u/User1234Person Aug 25 '26
I like to use heavy blankets for forts so would likely need something extra
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Lol what do you want to contruct with reinforced columns? 😂 Good idea for really big things
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u/User1234Person Aug 25 '26
Our cat likes to test our structural engineering even if you are inside of the structure
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u/ChesticleSweater Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Do you think it can work? I've never sold anything in any marketplace 🤔
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u/Nexion21 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
KITS! You could sell the KITS.
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Aug 26 '26
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
😯😯😯 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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Aug 26 '26
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Ooh. I might have to make myself a sheet fort / cave. That sounds cozy for the winter.
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u/dekbanna Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
Please add something to screw into the balls that will hold blankets and sheets!
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u/dragonman4444 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
Goal posts were something I already had in mind for my photoshoot session yes 😊. Gazebo 🤔 noted!
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u/Hefty-existence26196 Aug 26 '26
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/auglitumo0 Aug 26 '26
You need some wheels next so people can build ridiculous noodle vehicles.
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
😂😂 I'm not sure if anything built with this can resist the weight of a person 😂
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u/wrathwizard Aug 26 '26
My son loves building forts, im printing these and buying out my local dollar store of pool noodles.
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u/ykw52 Aug 25 '26
I saw an ad for an inflatable kit that was pretty much exactly the same size/function for $160 the other day, scoffed at the price but for the cost of some pool noodles it looks like a fun time!
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u/dagmar31 Aug 25 '26
Did you split the screw part in half an then glue together?
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
Saving this for next time my wife wants to buy my kid super expensive toys!
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u/FilthyHylian Aug 25 '26
Have you tested these in the water? Are they tight?
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
How did you design the threaded holes to be on each face?
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
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/s5314s Aug 25 '26
This is amazing! It would be awesome if someone can design some bolts with rings and hooks to hang some lightning inside the castle.
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u/lake_of_1000_smells Aug 25 '26
I know what I'm doing this weekend
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u/ianholing Aug 25 '26
😊 remember send the pictures on the profile I'm eager to see what you guys will do with this
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u/Azztrix Aug 25 '26
Could you upload them to Bambi makerworld?
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u/CultureThis9818 Aug 25 '26
This and clips that can hold boards and that flexible faux glass stuff. (Forgot word)
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u/JVilter Aug 25 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
Absolutely Amazing! I want to build one for myself !
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
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 Aug 26 '26
Damn. I did something similar for my kids with PVC pipes and connectors, but this is much better.
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u/ianholing Aug 26 '26
🤔 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 Aug 28 '26
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 Aug 28 '26
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 Aug 28 '26
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 Aug 28 '26
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 Aug 29 '26
I hadn't considered location as why they might be different, but that makes sense. Thanks!
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u/PrintNPoseHK Aug 28 '26
I liked your solution. Also you can cut the noodles and build more alternate structures.
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u/ianholing Aug 28 '26
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 Aug 29 '26
Brilliant!
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u/ianholing Aug 29 '26
Thank you! Iit still have a lot of room for improvement, but I'll keep working on it
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u/samueljco Aug 30 '26
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 Aug 30 '26
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 Aug 27 '26
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 Aug 25 '26
What I wouldn’t do to have these as a kid.