Airless Practice Golf Ball – Built-in Supports

A 3D-printable golf ball made for practice – tough enough to bounce, chip and putt with, and it prints clean from the bottom to the very top. Best printed in TPU (95A): it bounces and flexes like a real ball and won't crack. PLA and PETG work too. Why it's tough 252 deep holes (6 mm) on a perfectly symmetric geodesic grid, with a hole-free seam at the equator like a real ball. The holes are funnels: wide at the surface and narrower inside, so the wall between two holes stays 1.2 mm thick all the way down – no knife-thin edges to crack. Behind the holes the ball is solid: your slicer fills the core with infill. No thin struts, no hollow shell. Why it prints clean Hollow lattice balls have a weak spot at the top: the last layers have to bridge in mid-air over the empty inside, and that is where they turn into spaghetti. This ball has no empty inside, so its top prints like any normal top surface. Pick the weight with the infill 15 % gyroid – about 27 g: the practice ball (this print profile) 100 % – about 39 g: closer to a real ball (max 45.93 g). Same file, just change the infill. Built-in snap-off supports Only the bottom of the ball overhangs. 25 thin pins with needle tips (about 0.5 mm) hold it there, all standing on one base plate that also keeps the ball on the bed. After printing, twist the plate off and the pins break at the needle tips (in TPU the pins bend instead of snapping – snip them at the tips with flush cutters). The ball floats 1.5 mm above the plate, so it stays round – no flat spot. What it is for Putting, chipping, backyard and mini golf A golf ball you can bounce on the floor It's a practice ball, not a tournament ball – don't hit it full with a driver. Print settings Easiest: use the print profile – everything below is already set. If you slice the STL yourself (Bambu Studio / OrcaSlicer): 0.4 nozzle · 0.20 mm layers · 3 walls Infill: 15 % gyroid (practice) or 100 % (full weight) Supports: OFF – they're built into the model Brim: none – the base plate holds the ball Orientation: as imported – don't rotate, auto-orient or scale Plate: Textured PEI Material: TPU 95A recommended – use your slicer's TPU filament profile (it prints slower). PLA or PETG also work (PETG is the tougher of the two). On smooth PEI, use glue stick as a release agent – especially with TPU and PETG Time / filament (approx.): 15 % about 2 h 25 min / 27 g · 100 % about 2 h 35 min / 39 g After printing Let the plate cool, then twist the base plate off the ball (TPU: cut the pins with flush cutters) Snip any stub with flush cutters Part of my golf series – see also the Golf Ball Stencil, Golf Ball Liner, Golf Ball Clip and Pitch Repair Clip.