I found this idea elsewhere and loved it, but after printing a few pieces I realized it had a lot of problems. Printing the whole piece every time you want a connector with a new angle is just impractical, so I wanted to make it lighter, cheaper to print and, most importantly, much more modular.

So I redesigned the system around the idea to separate connector balls and arms. I also created a web builder where you can design your builds before making them real and it will tell you how many balls, arms and noodles you need.

Instead of printing a complete connector for every combination of angles, you can now print a collection of balls and arms and combine them however you need. If you want to change the shape of your construction later, just unscrew the arms and move them to another position. No need to print another connector just because you need a different angle.

I also spent some time optimizing the parts to use much less filament while keeping them strong enough for building with pool noodles.

The current parts are approximately:

• Connector ball: 20 g
• Connector arm/tube: 10 g

That makes it much more practical to print a big box full of pieces without using an absurd amount of filament.

The idea is to treat it a bit like a giant construction set: print a bunch of balls and arms once, then reuse them to make completely different structures.

Straight connections, corners, multi-way joints, weird angles... you can just choose the holes you need and build from there.

The photos show a few examples of how the same parts can be combined in different ways.

If you're planning to build something big, I recommend printing several balls and a good pile of arms. Once you start connecting pool noodles together, you suddenly need a lot more pieces than you thought. That's why I also built Noodletron.com, a free browser builder: pick a preset (boat, raft, fort…) or design your own, and it tells you exactly how many balls, arms and noodles you need. Then check the community gallery for ideas — and add yours..

Built something? Add it to the community gallery at Noodletron.com, a Noodle House, a Football Goal and an Octo Ball are already there, and I'd love to see yours. Photos in the comments are welcome too!

I’d love to see what you come up with, so please share photos of the structures and creations you build with it!
 

Website links

• Builder (parts calculator)
• Community gallery

This model is still WIP, I'm listening your comments and concerns and work to fix them. Actual changelog:

• v1.1: Improved strength (Aug 29)