Emmett Lalish’s 3D printed Gear Cube, first published in 2011, was one of the creations that originally made me realise just how incredible 3D printing could be. Despite how fascinated I was by it, I never actually attempted to print one myself because of its size and apparent complexity.

Years later, I decided to reverse engineer the original concept and redesign it into a more beginner-friendly version that is easier to print, assemble, and enjoy.

This redesign features a smoother and more optimised gear profile for improved turning performance, along with a completely reworked clip system that is easier to print, easier to assemble, and uses less material. I also added bevelled edges to help disguise seams and give the cube a cleaner, more refined appearance.

Printing:

Printing is simple and requires no AMS — just choose one of the two included print profiles and press print.

Each profile has been carefully tuned with optimised layer heights, infill settings, and print speeds to produce accurate, reliable parts on almost any 3D printer.

Assembly:

Assembly is relatively intuitive, connect the smaller gears to the smaller, triangular faces. Connect the larger ones to the larger, hexagonal faces. When assembling, ensure you do so so that all teeth interlock in the cube formation