Overview
This is an improvement to my first Padel Racket keychain model.
After printing and carrying around the original padel racket keychain for a while, a couple of weak points became obvious. The perforation holes across the racket face were on the small side, which made them prone to clogging with stray strings of filament and hard to clean out afterward, and the flat handle was not the most comfortable or realistic shape to hold. Rather than let those small annoyances sit, I went back into the CAD model and reworked both.
Holes are now larger and the racket handle is circular instead of flat. It should be printed vertically with a small amount of support and a large brim. Printing it standing up on its edge, rather than flat on the bed like the original version, gives a cleaner finish on the racket face and keeps the perforations crisp, at the cost of needing a bit of support material under the overhangs and a wide brim to stop the tall, narrow print from tipping or lifting off the bed.
Printing
| Profile | Settings | Print time |
|---|---|---|
| Stronger PLA | 0.08mm layer, 2 walls, 30% infill | ~1.3 h |
| PLA | HighQuality-0.08mm layer, 2 walls, 30% gyroid infill | ~1.3 h |
Two print profiles are provided, a stronger PLA setting and a high-quality gyroid-infill PLA setting, both landing around the same print time. I would reach for the stronger profile if the keychain is going straight onto a keyring that lives in a pocket day to day, and the high-quality one if it is more of a display piece or a gift where the finish matters more than outright toughness.
If you already printed the original and it has held up fine, there is no strict need to reprint it, but if the perforations ever gave you trouble or you just want the more comfortable circular handle, this version is a straightforward drop-in replacement on the same keyring.
Small revisions like this rarely make for exciting release notes, but they are usually what separates a print you use once from one you keep reprinting for years.
A second pass that fixed exactly the two things that bothered me about the first one.
If you already have the original printed and it is holding up fine, there is no need to replace it; this version exists for anyone starting fresh or anyone who ran into the exact issues I was trying to fix.
Download
The model is free to download and print, licensed under the Standard Digital File License.