News from the workshop.

I just uploaded a new design: the Long Ball.

This one grew out of the Slime Ball. That model still feels like liquid running through your hands, and it is still one of my favorites, but it was always a hard print.

The Long Ball is my answer to that. It sits in your palm as a closed sphere, and when you lift it, it keeps going and going, way longer than the ball has any right to be. Let go and it collapses back into a sphere.

It prints in one piece.

Thanks for your support, and have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

I just uploaded a new design: the Squared Circle.

The name is a little joke. Squaring the circle is the old Greek problem of building a square with the same area as a circle, using nothing but compass and straightedge. People chased it for over 2000 years until it was proven impossible in 1882. Ever since, „squaring the circle“ is what you call a task that simply cannot be done.

So I built one anyway. Mine does it with hinges instead of a compass.

It starts as a round disc that sits flat in your palm, and with one motion the whole shell folds through itself into nearly a square. Push it the other way and you are back at the circle. Both shapes hold their form, so it stays a satisfying flip instead of a floppy chain.

Print the Squared Circle

Thanks for your support, and have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Squared Circle →

I just uploaded a new design: the Stretch Ball.

A few days ago I teased a new mechanical ball. Here is my first version of it.

It starts as a compact sphere that sits in your hand.

Pull it, and it unfolds into a long, springy helix.

Push it back together and it becomes a ball again.

Print the Stretch Ball

This one is all about the transformation. Satisfying to stretch and weirdly calming to collapse back into a sphere.

I printed mine in a sunset silk filament. It looks especially good with color-changing or dual-color PLA.

Print settings and assembly notes are in the model description.

Curious what colors and filaments you throw at this one.

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Stretch Ball →

Hey, I am currently working on a new mechanical ball for you.

The mechanism is coming together nicely — surface is still in progress though. Curious what textures, patterns or finishes you’d throw at it.

Let’s make sure this one ends up with some proper Bals.

Ruven Bals

I just uploaded a new design: the Pin Cube.

It’s based on the Flexi Grid, but completely redesigned in my new style. It’s a modular fidget toy made of decorated pin-shaped cubes that you can stack into all kinds of shapes. There’s also a gigantic version.

The faces have those geometric diamond and arch patterns that look especially good in multicolor or silk filament.

I went through quite a few iterations to get the proportions and the pin fit just right — solid enough to hold together, but still satisfying to take apart and rebuild.

Thanks for the continuous support — it means a lot.

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Pin Cube →

It’s been a while. I stepped away from regular updates, but I never stopped designing.

During that time I dove deep into a geometric programming language, sharpened every skill I already had, and kept pushing ideas further in the background. The result? Everything feels stronger and more precise than before. You can already see my new style in the latest Slime Egg version I just uploaded.

Starting now, weekly uploads are returning.

I’ve also brought on a colleague. He’s already taking a real load off my shoulders so I can focus on the work that matters most. One of the biggest reasons I hired him: I simply have too many ideas. It would be a shame if most of them stayed in the sketchbook.

A few completely new mechanisms have already emerged from this period — things I haven’t shown anywhere yet. I’m looking forward to introducing them to you soon.

The future is wide open and more exciting than it’s been in a long time.

Glad to be back.

Ruven Bals

I just uploaded an updated version of my Slime Ball.

The original is a very difficult print, and I wanted to give a few more people that had trouble the opportunity to get this design into their hands.

You can get the file by redownloading the original, which is free if you already downloaded it, or by downloading the new design.

So it is a free update if you already downloaded it.

It took me over 50 different versions to arrive at this. I truly hope this gives you guys a higher success rate.

I have some exciting stuff to come in the future.

I’ll be exploring mechanical animals and, of course, Fidgets!

Thanks for your overwhelming support!

Have a lovely day.

Ruven Bals

Slime Ball 2.0 →

long time no see.

I’ll tell you about my best recent work, what’s next, at the end of this Email.

But first my

1:

First off, my latest work. The Gear Fractal.

You may already know the Sierpinsky Octahedron. It’s one of the most popular 3D models period, and I uploaded one a while ago.

It occurred to me the other day that I can combine it with my usual mechanism and make it mechanical.

The most interesting thing about this is that the mechanism can also be fractalised. Like this:

Hopefully some future civilization can build this thing. I’ll try to build this in a less complex, motorized version and post a video on YouTube in a little while.

2:

The Hinge Ball:

I’m not sure why, but this is my favorite design of myself. It’s a Ball that changes shape and colors midair when you throw it. It’s also very easy to print and put together.

3:

The Color Switch:

I was on a quest last year to find a color changing mechanism. Well, this year I finally found it. This Model uses a mathematical transformation to change colors. By now, I already know of 2 more mechanisms that can change colors.

What’s Next?

I’m currently working on nothing less than turning a Sphere inside out. My most ambitious project, jet.

I am also going to post a lot more content on social media in the near future. Educational videos on who my stuff works and how I build it.

I’ll start with a video on Jacobs Ladder, how it works, and if I can make an infinitely long one, next week, on YouTube.

That’s it for this post/email.

Thanks for your continuous Support!

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Gear Fractal →Hinge Ball transforming →Colour Switch →

My last massage was quite a while ago, but I haven’t been lazy.

Some of these are my best works so far.

Let me introduce them one by one:

The Gear Tentacle is the newest addition to the club. It’s a spiraling chain of Gears that I came up with. By far my most complex model in terms of math used so far.

The Magic Cube may be my best Creations so far. This thing switches colors. This was mew to me as well. I didn’t plan that. By the way, this was a collaboration with the genius Keishiro Ueki. He invented the transformation behind this toy. I just made it physical and discovered the color switch.

The Gear Blob. This thing came to be accidentally. I was prototyping something new and randomly pinned gears on a heart, and the result was quite cool.

A few things also changed behind the scenes. I can now design even more stuff for you (sorry mom). But I’m still a one-man army.

What next?

I would love to tell you about future Ideas. The thing is that there are too many and if I tell you I’m a little obligated to do them. So instead of teasing you, I can only tell you that there are more Fidgets in the works. I also want to do more actual products. Stuff that has a function that’s not just „being cool“. For example, I’m thinking about making a purse and a modular Shelf. Hopefully, I can find the time for that. I really need to split in 2..

Have a lovely day and thanks for your continuous Support,

Ruven Bals

Gear Tentacle →Gear Blob →

I have not been lazy the last 2 weeks. This time I have a Gear Ball update for you and 3 new designs, but let’s approach everything in order.

The Gear Ball Update:

I wanted to make a few changes to my most popular model for a long time. Here is everything I changed.

• It’s smaller.
• It uses the best connectors that I designed so far, and I slowly standardize everything to only use those.
• It has a comprehensive troubleshooting folder. If your Ball is too loose or too tight, you can fix that from now on.
• There is a tool to help with assembly.
• There are now numbers on the heart that indicate where to put the gears.

The original Version is still online if you want to print that, but a free redownload is definitely worth it.

The Gear Kaleidocycle:

That’s the model on the left. This is one of my original inventions. Its a Variation of the small twister I already made.

The Gear Linkage:

This is an invention by a Genius College of mine. Henry Segerman. He invented this and made a great YouTube Video about his Creation. I made this model because I wanted to figure out how it works to be able to make some variations of it in the future. Please note that you can not sell this since he used a non-commercial License and I respect that. I got his approval to post this. Definitely make sure to check out his YouTube Channel if you like my Creations. He is a true Genius.

The Infinity Cube:

I’m pretty sure most of you already know this Model. It’s one of the most famous 3D-printed fidget toys. Again, I’m going to make Variations and wanted to be needed to make the original first.

I hope those 3 Designs will bring you over the Holidays.

I’m already with my family.

I post Updates and Prototypes on there as soon as possible.

I wish you all lovely Holidays, and thanks for your support,

Ruven Bals

Gear Ball →Twister →Gear Linkage by Henry Segerman →Infinity Cube →

This week, I have a new Gear Fidget for you. This one turns inward and is Closely related to the Brain Gear.

If you have missed it, last week I uploaded the Final Flexi Grid variation called Twisty Grid.

To be honest, I wanted to let this model be, but somehow I came up with the best variation so far, and I had to post that. Here is a Picture:

What’s next?

I currently have around 5 very good Ideas, but they all touch new territory, which means they might take a while. I think I’m going to update the Gear Ball next week and everything that also uses 8 gears. I have a few quality changes in mind. Let’s see, maybe there is a smaller model as well next week. Those sometimes materialize in one day if I happen to have a good Idea.

I already ordered a Bambu lab A1 to my Families home because I’m going to spend Christmas there, and I cannot be without designing anymore.

I wish everyone a happy pre-Christmas time,

have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Gear Ring →

This week, I have a new Fractal for you.

I couldn’t find a name for this one, so I named it.

Let me introduce to you the Dual Hexahedron Fractal. (Green)

Great name, I know. xD

You can find out in the Model description why it has that name. 😉

I did also make a new Flexi Grid variation this week. It seems to become the best one so far, but there are still prototypes printing as I am typing this.

I hope you enjoy this one.

Have a lovely Day,

Ruven Bals

this week I have 4 Stars for you, that make great Christmas decorations.

I used to make stuff like this when I was a child, and without them the Gear ball probably would have never existed.

I’m currently figuring out this new mechanism. There are a few interesting geometric constrains I need to work around. It’s always a balance between printablitly and simplicity. For example, I know there is a working version that uses 100+ pieces, but nobody, including me, wants to put that together.

Thanks for your continuous support!

Have a lovely Day,

Ruven Bals

This week I have 3 Models for you.

They are all Variations of the Free Flexi Grid Fidget toy I uploaded last week.

All Print in Place and easy to make.

What comes next?

I’m currently finishing a new Star Lamp. It’s a 2D star that can also act as a Christmas tree topper.

I came up with a new mechanism that allows me to make an object that entirely changes color. But that could still be far in the future.

I’m still working to make a modular Jacobs Ladder, but that proves to be quite hard.

The mechanical lamp collection is also still in the making.

Exiting stuff in the future!

Thanks for your continuous support,

Ruven Bals

This week you get 2 models.

The first one is the Flexi Grid. It’s a fidget toy that has been very popular in the last few months. I am already working on a few interesting and never seen before variations of this concept. Those will follow in the next weeks.

The second model is a demo of tow Elliptical gears that mesh with each other. It was quite the challenge to make these. There is also a very interesting application for them that I hope I can make work in the following weeks.

I hope you are going to have fun with these!

Thanks for your continuous support!

Ruven Bals

Sorry, I’m a little late, but this Fidget was difficult to make.

This time I made a 3D printable version of Jacob’s Ladder. A fidget that is hundreds of years old.

I used a special linkage to accomplish this. I explain the journey

a little more in my social media post.

These days, it’s difficult to come by a good print in place opportunity. Most of the cool stuff that can be printed in place has already been done. So I had to be the first to make this when I finally found the linkage that can make this model work.

I hope you are going to enjoy this print.

Thanks for your continuous support and have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Jacobs Ladder →

This week, I have tow new models for you.

One is a Sierpinski Fractal Pyramid and the other one is a new Lamp.

I decided to make a free model from time to time. Those free models are always unoriginal. That means the initial idea is not my own and can be found somewhere else with a cc license. I mainly make those to enhance my skills and be able to apply the underlying concepts in the future at original models.

Don’t worry. I’m still going to make original stuff for my members every week. The free models are just a side project with less priority.

The Sierpinski Fractal is such a model. It’s a very interesting object. Fractals are self repeating patterns that can have infinite detail. You are probably going to see more in the future 😉

Thanks for your continuous support!

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

This week I have a Gear Orb for you.

As far as I know, this is something entirely new.

Thanks for your support!

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals

Gear Orb →

It’s finally time to announce my collaboration with Kekrations we made a Gear Skull together.

This idea was in my head for ages, but I’m just not a sculptor. I think this model is definitely in my top 3 of coolest files. It’s also the highest quality I ever had. If you watch the Assembly video and the troubleshooting video, you basically cannot fail at painting this.

Thanks for your continuous support everyone!

Have a lovely day,

Ruven Bals