Magnetic fishing rod with fish

This magnetic fishing rod is ideal for little children - it occupies them for minutes, sometimes even for tens of minutes! Those of you who have children know, that “minutes” are a very solid time 😂 The rod with fish are very easy to take out, put away and store - it’s quite minimalistic compared to other similar toys.

The rod comes in two variants - one with a reel and one without it. They both have a magnet in the handle for neater storing - you can attach the hook to the handle, so it doesn’t flop around. The reel is fully functional - it is made out of two parts - the reel itself and a reel handle. The magnets are fully enclosed inside the prints and are impossible to get them out. (Trust me, I tried. I had to throw away multiple magnets during testing 🫠 ) So it should be fine with little kids. Even then be careful, magnets are not a great food. 

When designing the rod and the fish, I took little children into consideration, so its dimensions are adjusted accordingly. This makes it very unlikely that it would pose any choking hazard. But again - always be cautious, I’m just some random person on the internet 😅

Supplies

• All you need is a few meters of filament - PLA works great, but if you consider fishing in actual water, maybe PETG or ASA would be better options;

• A few magnets - every fish needs one, fishing rod needs 3 magnets (two in the magnetic hook and one in the handle)

  • I used 8 (3+5) round magnets with 8mm diameter and 2mm thickness.

  • If you want to use different size of magnet, see instructions below.

• Some twine

Directions and settings

• The magnets are inserted during printing - in your slicer find a layer covering the magnet hole and set an automatic print pause there. When the printer stops, insert magnet in the hole and resume the print.

• NOTE: Orientation of magnets matters only in one case! Magnetic hook has two magnets next to each other. It’s crucial the magnets have opposite orientation, so you can catch every fish no matter the orientation of its magnet.

• I used 0.2mm layer height and PLA filament.

If you want to use different size of magnet, choose models without holes and create one yourself:

• For 8x2 magnet I used round hole with 8.2 mm diameter and 2.1 mm height. I put the holes 1 mm above the base of the shape.

• So for example for 6x2 magnet I would try 6.2 mm x 2.1 mm hole.

• If you want to use a magnet with different height, I would also consider to change height of the fish, so the final magnet is strong enough or has enough plastic material above and below the magnet.

• The rod handle has a magnet oriented vertically, so you need to make the hole square.

• I recommend downloading models with the holes and inspecting them in slicer 😊

Assembly

1. Carefully attach reel to the rod - you may need to gently squeeze the peg with pliers to make it fit into the opening in the reel.

2. Attach the reel handle to the reel. Again gently squeeze the peg with pliers.

3. Thread the twine through the hole in the reel and tie a knot. Then thread the twine through all the guides on the rod. Finally, attach the hook. Make sure to adjust the length of the twine so it’s just long enough to reach the ground, but not longer. If it’s too long, winding it back becomes difficult because it starts to flop around.

Thank you for reading all the way through my description! Please share your prints with me, I’m very curious what colors and materials you will use 😊

Happy printing!