Can you print airless balls for profit? A deep dive

[@jatin3355]

I respect you touching on legality, I feel like a lot of people overlook that

[@gunsmoke132]

Definitely. It's a reason many people, myself included, refuse to share complex models that many hours were spent making.

[@UncleJessy]

I didn’t realize Ted Lasso was a basketball coach now

[@UncleJessy]

Also, when it comes to selling these, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze imo. But they are a ton of fun to print & play with

[@falxonPSN]

Given the special filament and the amount of time to print in post process, I would tend to agree that this is more of a personal hobby thing than a sustainable business print. Except maybe for those that have a large well-tuned print form that already exists.

[@thezfunk]

I thought the channel had been taken over by a '70s porn star.

[@GeekDetour]

Ha ha ha, yeah! It is so weird right? Sometimes I think of shaving my beard - but I know people get used to a certain look 😂

[@HeathFoster1]

​@@UncleJessyTotally Agree.

[@MarinusMakesStuff]

Michael, please, try this trick first before mechanically removing a stuck print: drip IPA around the perimeter of the stuck print. The IPA will wick under the print over time. Let it sit for ten minutes, occasionally adding small amounts when you start to notice the IPA it evaporating. I've had 100% success with this and never had to damage my plates. Like that one time my TPU seemingly fused with my PEI textured sheet haha. IPA got it loose in no time at all!

[@daylen577]

WD40 also works quite well, just need to rinse the bed (and reapply whatever adhesion medium you use) afterwards

[@TeachingTech]

Interesting, thanks for posting.

[@MarinusMakesStuff]

@@TeachingTech No problem, I usually use this trick to release hot melt glue (also works great for that!) and decided to try it on my stuck prints and it's absolutely magic :) I can only 'spread the word' haha. Have a great weekend!

[@skelingtonrick]

@@MarinusMakesStuff yeah I will confirm this feels like a magic trick when it comes to hot glue, it really does an uncanny job of separating that bond. its clear it is not like dissolving or anything too, it just wicks through very quick and then you can just peel it back.

[@hanswurstusbrachialus5213]

@@daylen577 stop using wd40 anywhere in your life.. its not worth it

[@ArranAsh]

From teaching tech to teaching how to dunk,I'm impressed!

[@falxonPSN]

Especially that signature dunk with the mustache combing!

[@ArranAsh]

@@falxonPSN I'm sure they'll teach that one in schools for decades to come

[@eliasb8]

8:43 Your son is really skilled at dribbling. I am impressed! 😲👍

[@CyberDunk2077]

Glad you addressed the facial furniture at the beginning, I had questions. The dunk while combing the stash was comedic gold!

[@SnoringVids]

I appreciate how honest you are about your relationship with sponsors

[@kesakhan]

"where I comb my moustache" absolutely floored me

[@aaronalquiza9680]

9:42 best technique

[@yeahnah6468]

Headline: "One weird trick the NBA don't want you to know about"

[@mahendradhungel8011]

Like how seamless this video was even though you had stuff sent it all fit into one video nicely 🎉

[@ebonpraetor]

There might be a niche place for airless basketballs that don't bounce well. One of the big pain points in shooting without a rebounder is that the ball bounces all over the gym and rounding them up is a pain. If we are just trying to hit shots without touching the rim, the ball should give one dead bounce and stay relatively close to the rim, which would make them easier to round up and re-rack.

[@ozzytheartist4780]

Nice stash Mr. Movember! :D

[@cj5376]

Your videos are always great and I learn something every time. Cheers from America 🇺🇸

[@aaronalquiza9680]

9:03 lol they did have a go

[@Techpriest1010]

Goat se

[@mururoa7024]

I printed it over the weekend and it came out perfect on the first try! Printed on low temp smooth PEI stock Bambu plate at 40C, with a layer of Dimafix glue and the door slightly open. ALL fans at 100%. Chamber temp was a constant 30C. During the last 10% of the print I slowed down using "Silent" mode because I saw the overhangs curling up slightly, and I was concerned the nozzle would crash into them and cause damage. I don't know if this was necessary or not. Because I used Dimafix glue, the part almost came off the plate all by itself when fully cooled down. I barely had to scrape off the edges of the support to remove it. No wrestling, no sweat. I love Dimafix! 👍

[@gaveintothedarkness]

I suspect this whole video is a ruse to show off your made skills on the court!

[@TeachingTech]

No selective editing was needed, I never missed a shot with this ball!

[@mab4110]

The goats were excited about the test results.

[@edudeveloper]

As Brazilian it is so nice to see you wearing Senna’s Tshirt

[@phizc]

16:24 Sneaky selling a license to print 1,000 balls. At 50 hours per ball, thats 2,083 days to print, or a little over 5½ years, 24/7. That said, $100 isn't incredibly expensive when factoring in that the filament would be around $50 per ball. I doubt many of the licensees would use up all their production runs though 🙂. The $5.5 per month is more expensive. If you print 24/7 for a month, you could make around 14 balls (per printer), so the license cost around $0.40 per ball.

[@T1gdr]

You can print multiple at a time with a print farm tho

[@kimmotoivanen]

Designers can pretty much tell their price for their work 😉 You could cover the cost with few sold balls. But, as ordinary basketball can be had from Amazon for $10 US (1/5 of the filament cost), how many would one expect to sell?

[@lassikinnunen]

​@@kimmotoivanenlook its the same problem as with early mobile monetization. The creator has no means to audit the resellers.

[@AshrafMujahideen]

Damn! I noticed something he is talented and a good father. 😅

[@babylonfive]

Really great vid, as usual, mate.

[@woofguy]

you rock the mustache! keep it!

[@Boz1211111]

Detailed video and i like it!

[@Coltography]

the signature dunk while combing the mustache killed me

[@JimPudar]

Great mustache, looks fantastic on you

[@MakerBees333]

Super Troopers took over the channel 😊!

[@WhiteG60]

I don't want a large Farva! I want a litre of cola!

[@falxonPSN]

"What's a literacola?"

[@owenconnolly4652]

Awesome content again!

[@TheCatFather01]

Love your content, bro!

[@Reavenk]

Any chance it could multiprint with a dissolvable support filament?

[@Advil1024]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Either dissolvable support material or just some other filament that isn't compatible to the base filament. It seems like a lot of youtube makers that FDM print stuff forget about soluable support filament and it's been around for a while now.

[@davydatwood3158]

I think a big takeaway from this video is: don't try to sell something you don't know how to use. I'd never have been able to test the performance of any of these balls and wouldn't have know there were issues with some. Also, as a Canadian: whilst I appreciate you remembering that there's more to North America than the US, I need to point out that Canadian Thanksgiving occurs in October, and also that a CFL football is bigger than an NFL football. So that segment wasn't really for us, it was just for the Yanks.

[@tride.design]

Awesome ball amd mustache!

[@MariglenMusko]

The stache caught me off guard 🤣😁😁

[@sergeantsapient]

Not many people can rock a classic mustache. I'd say keep it.

[@michaelbuddy]

Super useful video, thanks!

[@macombiam]

Im quite inclined to try and print this but with PETG as support. Would you think it'll work? I've been printing PLA with PETG as support but only with regular PLA filaments.

[@VoxelWorks3D]

Love the content, rocking a ‘stach!

[@radish6691]

Cryogrip plates are incredible!

[@R_mix19]

Can you try this plate on the a1? I cant get a good first layer on it. Works great in my p1p but not the a1

[@cursedvoid]

I would say you would want to pick up a disolvable support material or possibly use PETG as the support so you dont have to deal with the supports sticking to the bottom like that then you can both sell at more reasonable prices and not do so much post processing overall.

[@GarethLewin]

Obviously it would take a lot longer, but how would the end result be if we used a support material? PVA or even PETG. I have a Prusa XL and I'm considering giving it a try.

[@TBooneFisher6931]

How about slightly increasing the Top Z distance in the support section in the Bambu slicer? This might make it easier to remove the support from the bottom of the ball.

[@redheadsg1]

18:09 You forgot tax if you sell that as company.

[@UKCM]

70's prn 'tache for Movember ........ lol Good Luck

[@josefsteiner9401]

like the stache

[@FlesHBoX]

I feel like for long distance throws, these will under-perform inflated basketballs due to the aerodynamics involved (as you noted on the soccer/foot ball). There's much more surface area to cause drag on the ball in flight. And I suspect the loss of control by adding spin is a result of the broken Coandă effect. I don't see this replacing inflated balls for pro play.

[@martinpirringer8055]

I'd have other uses for it - what IDK atm is at what temp does it start to deform 40c like regular pla or can it go higher?

[@snerttt]

I would like to try the basket ball on my A1 but idk if it'd work? Would it be different to the basketball?

[@TeachingTech]

My last test was on the A1 and printed well. No reason a Bambu Lab printer is needed for these. Any printer that can do flexibles a with a 0.6mm nozzle is fine.

[@aarongriffin667]

Can you just reprint the basketball in a #5 soccer ball size for better feel and bounce?

[@milkhbox]

Woah, didnt realize teaching tech got a new host. He sounds really similar to the previous guy.

[@PJ-oe6eu]

For the supports, if you go to support painting, then pick fill then press the checkmark that says something like show over hangs then tune the overhang slider you will only be able to paint the red overhang parts not anything else.

[@marienspek812]

That's true, but wouldn't have helped with the first situation, since the inside of the ball would've still been considered an overhang by the slicer...

[@PJ-oe6eu]

@@marienspek812 Yea I realized after but I think it would still work as long as you only use fill and only on the underside. Since the overhang on the bottom and the top aren't "connected" the fill would only paint either one.

[@marienspek812]

@@PJ-oe6eu fill might have worked indeed, still I do like the approach TT took here as it might help in other scenarios and I wasn't aware of that particular feature yet 😄

[@PJ-oe6eu]

@marienspek812 Yea it's also something I'll be keeping in mind.

[@fernandoestrada5938]

Michael, could you try using a multimaterial printter like Prusa XL or BX1C to print the 13 version, but using a ridgid material for inner walls, and TPE or TPU for external Walls, I dont have a multim material system to try, but i think it can improves resistance and improve bouncing effect. Greetings from México.

[@Shaggywasntme27]

Will you be doing more SV08 videos?

[@TeachingTech]

Absolutely. They just take time.

[@DanielSanPedro]

Buckets on buckets on buckets 🎉

[@Frakag]

Nice job, vintage pоrn star 😅

[@eternalannex-JTG]

i printed overtures airless soccer ball with Kimyas PEBA s filament, the ball bounces but not like a regular soccer ball, and its because its missing the double layer structure like the airless basketball. Using a double layer ball it could do really well. The ball is however very tough which is good.

[@BrickaLot_YT]

Can you print it on a standard Prusa printer?

[@sackville_bagginsess]

I'm after a ball my dog can't pop. Would this hold up?

[@TeachingTech]

From popping yes, but if your dogs are like mine they will gradually rip bits off to eat. So supervised play would be good but I wouldn't leave it around the house/yard.

[@sackville_bagginsess]

@ I’ll give it ago. He pops them so quick my boys don’t get a chance to have a kick around

[@garagecedric]

How about taxes/VAT on the sold parts? It would significantly add to the end user price, at least here(25%), which would make it more difficult to sell.

[@Dtr146]

You can sell any 3D print for profit as long as it's not licensed solely as private use. Like say for instance you go to cult 3D and you download a file But you notice that it has a licensing agreement Saying that you cannot sell it Dove simple, you can't sell it But if you download something off of a like tinker cat or something Yeah, you could sell it as long as you give them credit. While also explicitly stating that the design is not yours.

[@efremtommasi1387]

Next video: 3D printing moustache

[@GLHerzberg]

AUGH, How could you NOT notice there's a huge caterpillar on your face!!!

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

The funny thing about the licenses on the sites that say "not for commercial use", when you look at the definition of the terms on the site, more often than not that's for the model itself and not what you actually print with it; while it is a bit lame to exploit that loophole and still sell stuff (which is why it's nice to have some kind of donate button; it does rely on an individuals own good will, but it definitely raises the chances of someone giving a part of their profit to the original creator since it's so convenient), it is still a loophole that's present, so if someone with that tries to hand another a lawsuit, it might not get very far. This is also why Gabe says once you post something online, even if it's a paid download, as soon as someone gets a hold of it, it's gone. Just some awareness for those who may not know

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

The main issue with models is it's hard to know if the person that posted it is actually the original model creator, since people repost stuff sometimes without giving any credit whatsoever (even if the original model actually says to), so it's just kind of a mess.. which also goes back to what Gabe says ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@SippoCoffee]

electricity ? Well yes, but what about printer parts, you work your printer to death, a lot of parts like the belts are consumables

[@BouncingBallGames]

Love the tash 🥸

[@trt969]

That glacier build plate is better for ABS than the normal PEI anmd what about nylon?

[@bobbydigital9323]

Could you use a different material for the support so its easier to remove?

[@321tryagain]

I think this would not work because the filament isn't compatible with the AMS

[@bobbydigital9323]

@321tryagain ohhhhhhh yeah. I forgot about that part!

[@TeachingTech]

I would like to get some more pla hr and experiment on the XL with another material for support. That would get the cost down and let the support be really close to the bottom, improving the surface quality.

[@miserablepile]

Coming from someone who has only played basketball in gym class - because these aren't as loud, is court awareness more difficult?

[@macrumpton]

I wonder if using some of these filaments with carbon fiber or fiberglass particles would offer more bounce and durability.

[@kendokaaa]

If they're airless, where does the vacuum pump go?

[@mururoa7024]

If you use something like Dimafix on the bed, it acts like glue that improves adhesion during printing, and acts like a release agent after it's cooled down. I never have to break sweat.

[@TeachingTech]

I used that with the carbon plate in the first instance and it wasn't effective. Normally a big fan of it.

[@mururoa7024]

@@TeachingTech Hmm, perhaps that resin on top of the carbon ins't very good then. I've even printed ABS on a bare metal plate using Dimafix w/o issues because I didn't have a spare PEX sheet.

[@MyFirstHandle]

Try using pla as a support instead of bq if it works and easier to remove.

[@atnfn]

Don't care about the baketball but that filament could be useful to have. I've watched quite a few attempts of people trying to print this, and no filaments could handle it at all. So this filaments ought to useful for other stuff.

[@wartywarthog1235]

Ive been wiating for someone to release a Airless Handball for a while now, could you release the files even though you say its not great!

[@markjacksmarkjacks]

How about printing them in halves or sections and then using solvent adhesives to attach them. I realize it will take some technique to get them to bond just right but if it works you could eliminate most of the support problems if not all of the supports.

[@JJFX-]

It'd be tougher than you'd think with printed parts without it affecting the behavior but I suspect this is how China will eventually start mass producing them... or something close enough.

[@hankmyers2422]

Where you from?

[@Alchemistake]

goats were getting serious xd

[@CrudelyMade]

I bet bringing 10 of these to an in person show / craft show would get them all sold, with people being able to try them right there. assuming young people and not knitting crafts. :-D

[@michaelpiper8198]

Heh let’s go didn’t know this was new when I clicked

[@nemorianderson]

Henry Kavil looks gorgeous today

[@kaistutz7067]

What about the costs of scaling this up? You will need quite a bunch of printers to print 1000 of them. If you buy, let's say, 100 printers how much money would you have to sell each ball for to come even with your investment and make some profit? Energy costs might play a significant role on that scale as well.

[@kimmotoivanen]

Who are your customers and how many, realistically, would you expect to sell at profit including your own time, taxes etc? Basics of business 😉

[@daylen577]

For amateur use these balls are fine, they're way more expensive even if you print them yourself and by the time it's done printing you could've walked to the ball factory and bought a real one, but they do the job in a pinch. For anything above amateur use they're useless though, plenty of videos on KZbin showing even the very well-engineerd airless balls out there and they all suck compared to a real ball. Just can't replace the springiness of air under pressure with the tension of a thick layer of rubber around it with just some springy plastic.

[@JJFX-]

Yeah they're just a marketing gimmick by Wilson, they never actually intended for this to replace professional balls despite all the influencers they got to promote it. The only use case that might have value eventually is marketing it as a practice ball since it's not as loud to bounce around. I wouldn't put anything past Silver at this point but the most I could see happening is a new version getting used for the all star game since that's a joke now anyway. Once the novelty wears off I doubt anyone will even be talking about these and I wouldn't put it past China to find a way to mass produce something similar. Cheap rubber balls work great for schools and such and likely hold up to more abuse than these could outdoors.

[@Penguinishy]

I feel that anything that takes more than 6hrs to print isnt really worth it when it comes to print for profit. Unless you have a substantial fleet to generate many of them in the 50hr tool time. Otherwise if you're a 1-5 printer shop your holding up 50 hours of tool time on that machine for basically only $1.60 per hour in tool time after materials, and before "labor." just like those 30hr flex dragons people print and sell for $35 holding up a machine for that long is COSTLY.

[@Jon.S]

Michael are you legally required to have that moustache to warn the local children? 😀

[@mahendradhungel8011]

Should check if this bed sticks to Hdpe or pet ? It would be unique content compared to everyone printing pla and petg on it.

[@pakoki3142]

Still waiting for sv08 toolchanger vid

[@Shaggywasntme27]

yes me too hah

[@bo0tzz]

It'll be worth the wait ;)

Time is far from free, in printing business, as for profit, this is usually the highest cost.

[@delxinogaming6046]

Maybe temporarily. If they could be made for profit in the long run, the filament companies would be doing so…

[@dev-debug]

I have no interest in printing these but print farms take orders to print customer supplied stl's. I wonder how that plays in to licensing, what if someone wanted 100 of them printed ? Just curious since the print farm is charging for it's service not the ball. Seems like things could get vague.

[@capitalinventor4823]

If you print something then you need the license for it. Not that vague. If I were to order 100 of the balls printed in order to sell them then it's obviously for commercial purposes and I would need a license to sell them. The license is to sell the balls, not to print the balls. The print farm can't conceivably verify every model that comes into them to see if there is a license violation. First of all, a file could come in where the person does have the valid license (either for personal or commercial use) and the customer would just be upset if the model wasn't printed or they were asked to prove that they had purchased the license. Secondly, I could download a model, change it just enough so that it would not match the original model, and the print farm would not be able to know that I should have a license or not. Of course, it would be different if one ordered the prints directly from the website that one viewed the model on instead of downloading a file and then sending the file to the print farm. Then asking for for more than a certain number of copies of a model would probably trigger some event that forces one into a license, depending on what the creator desires.

[@dev-debug]

@@capitalinventor4823 That's kind of what I thought, thanks for clarifying it.

[@faokie]

Regular PLA doesn't work, but how about PETG?

[@SaitoGray]

people have tested everything. The only filament that work is the one in the video

[@HM-Projects]

You're a Dwarshuis doppelganger 😂

[@Donorcyclist]

A cost not considered is the wear of the machine. How many balls could be printed before you've worn out your printer? I don't think selling these would be profitable, in the end.

[@capitalinventor4823]

You wouldn't wear out printer all at once. Different parts of the printer would wear out at different times. Plus after certain number of hours of printing, or a certain number of spools printed, maintenance would need to be done on the printer to keep it in working shape. Generally, if one were to be doing this professionally, one would work out the approximate costs of running a printer over it's estimated lifetime, including the purchase price, maintenance, electricity, any consumables and time spent working on it, and then divide that total cost by the estimated total number of hours the printer will operate. That would give one an estimated hourly cost of running that specific type of printer and a percentage would be added on for contingencies and misprints. From the slicer one would know approximately how much filament would be used and may calculate the cost of the filament. The slicer will also give the approximate time to print which allows one to calculate the cost of using the printer when using the hourly rate calculated above. Add on the time for setting up the printer, post processing, and order handling at the hourly rate one values one's own time (I don't agree that it's free as per the video) and one may get the total cost for making the printed object. The question is whether one may think the objects may be sold at a high enough price (after any fees are paid to a hosting company such as Etsy) to warrant the going through everything to make it worth your while. One thing to think about is if one only have one or two machines is if one wants to (hopefully) tie them up producing products and not have access to the printers for their own use like before.

[@Donorcyclist]

@capitalinventor4823 Right.

[@danh6720]

Today was more a Nigel Mansell shirt day.

[@Jimbojenkins]

Airless? I see it's not a vacuum and the holes allow air into it!

[@rosly_yt]

unfortunate that it can't be used with an AMS because the ability to print supports in a different filament - usually quite wasteful with a single head multi color system - seems like it'd work wonders here, better surface finish, easier post processing, and less waste of a very expensive filament. I wonder if it's possible to print with support filament first, then swap to the BIQU and print it on top. A dual-head system would be able to do this no issue, of course.

[@marc_frank]

the ams can be modded to use tpu

[@allthegoodnames.aretaken]

Yeah I want to attempt this with my Prusa XL and wonder if anyone else has done the same. Swapping the nozzles on the XL back to 0.6mm and redoing the calibration is going to be a pain though.

[@gilbycoyote]

Thumbnail looked like it came from the 70s

[@strykervalkyrion]

I want an airless triangle

[@BraxtonMeyer]

Your look now reminds me of rollie williams

[@casperdegohst6492]

Baba Booey!!

[@HextorBane]

Technically speaking these balls aren't "airless" but full of air. The correct name should be unpressurized ball.

[@stevato0449]

🤓 ☝️

[@AlbaderBohamad]

They don't contain air because they don't act as a container for anything. So they're airless.

[@leeburrowdotcom]

They also aren’t a ball because there technically is no inside or outside. The correct name should be unpressurised sphere like web type structure. USLuuTS 😂

[@leeburrowdotcom]

Goats FTW!

[@2Soy]

Ummmm actually! 🤓☝️

[@wage4598]

130$ for 50 hours of print time is insane, i would never go that low. Thats a $3-400 print all day