It’s a stool for elevating your legs and knees, evidently to achieve optimal defecating performance. Science says we’re supposed to squat over a hole in the dirt to make deuce, but God specifically forbids it or something, and squatting over your toilet seat would be real messy. It sits around the base of the toilet, and you put your feet up on it while you go.
It’s my most popular model on MakerWorld, where Bambu Lab hosts people’s printable models, by a wide margin.
I made it because the printable stools I kept finding online often ate around 1.5 kg of filament, which is ridiculous. I wanted to see if a printed one could compete with a store-bought one on value. I think I fell a little short. You can probably still get a Squatty Potty-style stool online for about $9 to $12. But it’s good enough, and depending on where you live, it might be worth it.
It went up in April 2025, when the president was ramping up his trade war, so the listing pitches it as beating the tariffs. I don’t even know what impact tariffs had on the cost of poop stools. It was more of a joke angle than anything.
The hexagons
The hardest part was the hexagon pattern on the surface. Shapr3D doesn’t really have a great way of doing that, so I had to copy and paste a lot of hexagons carefully to build that pattern, and then cut away. That was a pain in the butt.
Then printing. The top boards, where your feet go, can be a pain just because of the surface area and all the different variables that can happen in your printing environment. If there’s any parts that are going to be most likely to warp, it’s those.
The parts
Five unique parts:
- Two top boards, left and right
- One key leg that joins the boards in the middle
- Four side legs, two per side
- Five optional TPU feet for tile and other slick floors
The main parts press-fit. The feet may need a dab of glue.
Not in PLA
PETG only. I specifically said to print this in something like PETG, because that is way less likely to shatter under stress than PLA. PETG is more likely to bend and deform under stress instead of catastrophically snapping, sending a sharp piece of plastic into your foot.
The listing says it’s tested up to 180 lb. I had got kind of hefty. I was up to 180 pounds at that point, and I stood on it with all of my body weight. I even bounced on it a bit. So theoretically, it can take more than 180 pounds. But it stood firm with 180-pound fat me on top of it. That said, it’s not meant to be a standing stool at all. Please do not stand on it. One reviewer’s kid loves it. Please don’t let your kid stand on it either.
- Designer profile: 0.2 mm layers, 3 walls, 15% infill, three plates, about 21 hours total on an X1C
- Feet: separate 2.3-hour TPU profile
Reviews
One person glued the joints because it wobbled, and a couple have hit the top and feet with liquid rubber or Plasti Dip, the stuff people dip tool handles in, for grip.
I do hope to make version two. I just have not got around to it. And honestly, I kind of hoped people would take it as a challenge, and I would see people really trying to design more material-efficient versions, and I think I’ve only seen one so far.