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Hungarian here! The Gömböc is awesome, I have a small aluminium one on my bookshelf. You can get one here, I think they (I'm not affiliated) ship international

Hungarian here! The Gömböc is awesome, I have a small aluminium one on my bookshelf. You can get one here, I think they (I'm not affiliated) ship internationally: https://gomboc-shop.com/ https://gomboc-shop.com/

gregoryl 5y ago
The Gömböc business has quite the margin. 290 euro for an aluminum one. Plus shipping!
- Cthulhu_ 5y ago
  Only a matter of time before Chinese manufacturers start making these en masse as desk toys, they just need a spurt of popularity.
- epivosism 5y ago
  Have 3d printed ones shown up yet? Can't wait, would love to play with one. Searched for this a few years ago but with no luck.
  - bitexploder 5y ago
    My wife printed a few. They have to be relatively precise and it helps for them to be heavier than plastic so they react better. It is mostly disappointing and does not work without a lot of tweaking.
    - skykooler 5y ago
      I suspect these would work much better on an SLA printer, as the result is a) homogenous/solid and b) much smoother than something off an FDM printer.
  - cshimmin 5y ago
    I would think the print layer resolution would spoil the effect since it would produce non-convex regions and extra equilibrium points. It could be smoothed by post-processing, but presumably polishing/sanding would get you into the same trouble. The article goes into how the shape "almost doesn't exist", which would seem to imply great precision is required. I'm wondering how they manage to machine the shape in metal..
    - bitexploder 5y ago
      Large print size helped. Highest resolution. We filed down a few imperfections very carefully with a lot of testing as went and got one that worked well. It has to be very precise.
  - holistio 5y ago
    They have plastic ones now for 79 euros. I would have probably bought one of those had they appeared earlier.
  - ur-whale 5y ago
    >Have 3d printed ones shown up yet? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985100 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985100
  - microtherion 5y ago
    There are a few models on thingiverse, and one of them comes with some interesting claims: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10190 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10190 The model's creator says his design was essentially eyeballed because (at least in 2011) there existed no peer reviewed publication describing the actual shape of the Gömböc, making this more of a commercial enterprise than a mathematical discovery. He also appears to have had some dustups with the Gömböc discoverers over his claims who did not appreciate him posting his model. It was not clear to me from the Wikipedia page what the real situation is. Is there currently a published description of the exact shape of a Gömböc? It would indeed be curious if there were not.
- drakonka 5y ago
  Looking at the webshop, I don't understand how they can justify these prices. Yes the object is cool, but in its physical form as sold here it would pretty much function as a fidget toy. Is it somehow expensive or very difficult to manufacture with the required balance attributes?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
radarsat1 5y ago
From the video on that site: > "People from the western world always ask first what this is good for, but eastern people appreciate the beauty itself, and they want to understand the philosophy rather than the purpose of a shape like this." As someone from the "western world", I suddenly don't want to buy anything from this guy, as amusing and interesting as his product may be. Insulting half your potential audience is not a great way to make sales.

gregoryl 5y ago

The Gömböc business has quite the margin. 290 euro for an aluminum one. Plus shipping!

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
Only a matter of time before Chinese manufacturers start making these en masse as desk toys, they just need a spurt of popularity.
epivosism 5y ago
Have 3d printed ones shown up yet? Can't wait, would love to play with one. Searched for this a few years ago but with no luck.
- bitexploder 5y ago
  My wife printed a few. They have to be relatively precise and it helps for them to be heavier than plastic so they react better. It is mostly disappointing and does not work without a lot of tweaking.
  - skykooler 5y ago
    I suspect these would work much better on an SLA printer, as the result is a) homogenous/solid and b) much smoother than something off an FDM printer.
- cshimmin 5y ago
  I would think the print layer resolution would spoil the effect since it would produce non-convex regions and extra equilibrium points. It could be smoothed by post-processing, but presumably polishing/sanding would get you into the same trouble. The article goes into how the shape "almost doesn't exist", which would seem to imply great precision is required. I'm wondering how they manage to machine the shape in metal..
  - bitexploder 5y ago
    Large print size helped. Highest resolution. We filed down a few imperfections very carefully with a lot of testing as went and got one that worked well. It has to be very precise.
- holistio 5y ago
  They have plastic ones now for 79 euros. I would have probably bought one of those had they appeared earlier.
- ur-whale 5y ago
  >Have 3d printed ones shown up yet? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985100 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1985100
- microtherion 5y ago
  There are a few models on thingiverse, and one of them comes with some interesting claims: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10190 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10190 The model's creator says his design was essentially eyeballed because (at least in 2011) there existed no peer reviewed publication describing the actual shape of the Gömböc, making this more of a commercial enterprise than a mathematical discovery. He also appears to have had some dustups with the Gömböc discoverers over his claims who did not appreciate him posting his model. It was not clear to me from the Wikipedia page what the real situation is. Is there currently a published description of the exact shape of a Gömböc? It would indeed be curious if there were not.
drakonka 5y ago
Looking at the webshop, I don't understand how they can justify these prices. Yes the object is cool, but in its physical form as sold here it would pretty much function as a fidget toy. Is it somehow expensive or very difficult to manufacture with the required balance attributes?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

radarsat1 5y ago

From the video on that site: > "People from the western world always ask first what this is good for, but eastern people appreciate the beauty itself, and they want to understand the philosophy rather than the purpose of a shape like this." As someone from the "western world", I suddenly don't want to buy anything from this guy, as amusing and interesting as his product may be. Insulting half your potential audience is not a great way to make sales.