How To Quiet Down Your 3D Printer

When I first got my 3D printer, I built an enclosure to protect it from dust, maintain a consistent temperature, and minimize noise. I was surprised to find that the enclosure didn’t reduce noise that significantly. I then placed a patio paver under my printer, which made it noticeably quieter, but it was still audible from other rooms in my house.

Recently, I found the most effective noise reduction solution: squash balls. These balls are designed with varying bounce levels, indicated by colored dots. The “double-yellow dot” balls have a very low bounce, making them ideal for dampening vibration, which is the primary cause of printer noise.

I found an existing design for squash ball feet, printed it, and hot glued them evenly under my patio paver. My current setup includes the enclosure, patio paver, and squash balls under the paver. Now, the printer is so quiet that I actually can’t tell if it’s running, even when I’m in the same room.

Occasionally, I will hear the stepper motors, but that’s rare. Most of the time I need to open the enclosure to make sure it’s still printing.