I recently picked up a dirt cheap copy of the Quadrillion puzzle game in great condition for the kids only to find that it was missing a piece. It made the perfect excuse to dust off the 3D printer and flex my programmatic CAD skills.

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Coding began after taking a few quick readings from the digital caliper. The webbed bridge between the balls (meniscus?) was the trickiest part but I think I managed to get a good result with mirrored parametric cones.

Here’s the full code for the piece:

DIAM = 17.75;
RES=64;
R_CYL=4;
DEGRADE_FACTOR=1.042;


module Bridge() {
  for(i=[7:-.5:4]){
    translate([0,DIAM/(2^i)-2,0])
    rotate([0,90,90])
      cylinder(
        h=DIAM/(1.75^i),
        r2=R_CYL*(DEGRADE_FACTOR^i), 
        r1=R_CYL*(DEGRADE_FACTOR^(i+1.5)),
        center=true,
        $fn=RES
      );
  }
}

module P1x2() {  
  union() {
    sphere(d=DIAM, $fn=RES);
    
    translate([0,DIAM,0])
      sphere(d=DIAM, $fn=RES);
    
    translate([0,DIAM*.5,0])
      union(){
        Bridge();
  
        mirror([0,1,0])
        Bridge();
      }
  }
}

union() { 
  P1x2();
  
  translate([0,DIAM,0])
  rotate([0,0,90])
    P1x2();
  
  translate([-DIAM,DIAM,0])
    P1x2();
  
  translate([-DIAM,2*DIAM,0])
    P1x2();
}

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Minor adjustments to the flow rate for the new spool of gold PLA filament and then the 3D printing started.

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Even as a seasoned 3D printer user, I just couldn’t help but stare at the print head for the first few minutes before walking away. Print finished 3.5 hours later, completing the job unattended.

At last, the golden replacement piece feels nice in the hand and fits well on the board. Another successful rescue.

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