Morton’s Rolling Knot
This nifty knot has some funky dance moves! No real purpose to this other than fun to look at and play with. Especially if you are a cat.
See here for video: https://youtu.be/Ob6gPMotD48
This is a type of knot is known as “tritangentless” because there are no planes which are simultaneously tangent to three distinct points on the curve. Being tritangentless means that the curve can never have more than two points touching the flat surface at any given time. This is what makes models of tritangentless knots roll.
The knot can come in different shapes and proportions, but this model minimizes the vertical variation of this center of mass making it the best proportion for rolling.
The model is provided in a “textured” and “plain” version. In the “textured” version there is a small point of contact where the knot crosses, making it strong enough for your kids or cat to play with.
Interested in learning more? Start here: https://archive.bridgesmathart.org/2020/bridges2020-367.pdf


























sorry mistake
h
He has some comments on the YouTube video that explain his support choices
Agreed with @aalbright, please include your print settings
Do you have recommended print settings for this? Kind of seems like it need both supports and a raft?
Edit: For anyone else looking at this, on the linked YouTube video he recommends raising it 3mm of the build plate and generating tree supports
Edit 2: Ok got this to print very nicely using Cura 5.2.1, raised 3mm off the build plate and using tree supports with the following settings. Support Settings - Touching Buildplate only Tree Support Branch Angle: 50 Tree Support Trunk Diameter: 3.0 Tree Support Branch Diameter Angle: 3.0 Support Overhang Angle: 75
This can probably be improved upon as I think you could get it to generate less support in the center crossover part as it was a bit difficult to remove but not that bad when printed in PLA.
Thanks so much for sharing this! Great advice :)