* Make sure wall generator set to Arachne *

Summary

As someone with the attention span of squirrel in a trail mix factory I’ve always loved fidget toys but also can get a bit caught up in the rhythm of them which leads to pointless and unnecessary anxiety, I end up focusing more than I should on the repetitive fidget action which pulls my attention away from reality, kinda defeating the entire purpose of a fidget. That’s where the Wiggle Wheel steps in, I’ve bought and printed countless fidget toys and don’t think I’ve come across one like this (if I’m mistaken feel free to correct me, I am but a mediocre human) the predictably unpredictable automated nature of the the motion let’s my mind wander as the motion is pushed along by nature and only partially in my control.

*Boo can be printed without MMU/AMS*

Edited 10/30/2023 - Added 1/4x1/8th version and updated some of the other models with improvements

Options-

• Small/Coin - 22~ 6x2 magnets this model differs from the others in that it uses 8 mounted magnets (stack of 2 6x2mm magnets for each slot) rather than 4, if you’re trying to save magnets or don’t have enough, 4 will work but won’t give as satisfying of an effect. Two versions will be included, I personally prefer the star but the concave gear is nice too. (6x2 magnets tend to actually measure 1.6 or 1.8 in reality and these models reflect that, the large variance will fit 2 1.8mm wide magnets and the normal 2 1.6mm)

• Medium - 8 10x3mm magnets (10x2 will work but will require superglue to keep them steady) this is my favorite, the magnets are strong for the size and yet the small dimensions and shape make it easy to hold and use with one hand.

• Large - 10 10x20x5mm magnets, this was actually the first iteration, I was using rectangular magnets so I could easily embed them into the model during printing. There’s only one pause necessary and the tolerances is such that no super glue is required. If you have the magnets laying around I’d say go for it, but otherwise id start with the medium

• Mario 64 Boo Halloween theme - Over a couple weeks of using this fidget I couldn’t help but always be reminded of the noise Boo makes in Mario 64, obviously the pitch is no where near as high but the rhythm is pretty spot on in my opinion, so when I saw the Halloween contest it gave me an excuse to run with the idea! I’m going to be uploading two version, one with a raised face and one with an embedded face although I still have to fine tune the embedded face. The raised one requires a finely tuned printer in order for the center to print without warping the edges since it has to be oriented face up, also I’d recommend putting a tiny bit of support just to make sure the center is flat rather than having a small warped spot where it super thin. Instructions- just add pauses for each feature and be sure to take note of the order so you get the colors right - it’s tuned for .1 layer height. If you have MMU/AMS this will be much easier because you can just print as normal. I’ll include the features separately for easy painting.

• I’m also eventually going to be uploading some miscellaneous models that will be described by their file name, these may be different shapes, spacing etc
  

Material -

PLA- pla is probably best, it seems to be the hardest and therefore makes the most satisfying sound and tactile feedback

PETG- Petg works fine as well but you may need to scale the mode to 101%-103% due to the expansion causing the magnets slots to be a bit small and not allowing the two halves fully meet

Directions

• Print at minimum .2 layer height and 2 perimeters. I prefer gyroid because it gives good support at a low percentage but any infill should be fine.
  
• Cut the model in half with magnet slots face up, you can separate the center from the rings for printing or leave in place as long as your printer is tuned well. After print sand or debur if you want to maximize smoothness (a little texture feels and sounds satisfying, just get rid of imperfections) magnets orientation should be 50/50 like a pizza one half with positive facing inwards and one half with negative facing inwards. Just to be clear for the 4 magnet rings this would be +, +, -, - and for the 8 magnet ring it would be +, +, +, +, -, -, -, -, Orientation of the center magnets doesn’t matter, just stack the individual magnets until it’s as many as you can squeeze it then proceed

• Tolerances are tight to make this easier but if the magnets are jumping before you can put the top on just go slow and use some superglue. You can also scale the model by ~2% and it won’t ruin the ring tolerances. If it’s a tight fit the ring doesn’t really need superglue but the center will need a decent dab before placing the top half on MAKE SURE THE CENTER IS IN ITS POSITION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ASSEMBLED RING BEFORE GLUING TOP ON.

*EACH HALF IS IDENTICAL* (other than boo version)

Small Novela (entirely unnecessary)

This project actually started as a bit of a happy accident. I was messing around with magnetic orientation, and accidentally put them in my model the wrong way and ended up really liking the effect. This went on to turn into 50 prototypes, an annoyed girlfriend, 3 sizes and even a Mario 64 Boo themed Halloween version (I know it’s not the prettiest, I’m far from an artist)

You may be wondering how such a simple fidget toy required so many iterations, which is valid because I’m still wondering the same thing. Originally it was just about perfecting the distance of the magnets in the ring from the center, too close causes them to stick and give no wiggle effect where as too far just makes it far less satisfying of a feel. I also tested out various center magnet lengths, too long and it requires too much force to trigger, too short and the wiggle is barely noticeable. The mechanism at hand is simple, the magnets are positioned in such a way that the attraction and repulsion forces are playing tug of war, when positioned correctly the ring magnets shouldn’t align with either pole but rather lie in between. Due to this there’s only one position the magnets can remain at rest in and therefore when you manipulate or wiggle the ring it will always “spring” back to its rest position giving a satisfying wiggle and sound.

After honing in all the magnets and overall dimensions I started working on grip, I prefer to be able to mess with a fidget using one hand and for that to be feasible with this model I needed to add some grip, how I added grip for the center varied based on how much space the center magnets took up but I think what I ended up with for each works pretty well. As for the outer grip there’s quite a bit of difference between the models each of which was settled on through trial and error. The small coin model has pretty weak magnetic forces and therefore only needs some minor grip to easily allow you to spin it, where as the stronger magnets in the medium model were much easier to control with edges that act as handles to flick/pull the ring around.