Can a Violin be created not of wood but of plastic and, instead of being injection molded, be built up layer by layer by a 3D printer. A designer named Brian Chan from FormLabs took on the challenge. He used a FormLabs 2 SLA printer to design, iterate, and create a 3D printed Violin. My task was to print his design not on an SLA printer but on a FDM printer in the most common plastic filament, PLA.
Check out Brian Chan’s original blog post for all the details on how to build your own.
If you are in the position that I am, where you cannot afford an SLA printer, and only have a small FDM printer you can still create your own violin! You just have to do more work…
The .stl files posted online mostly fit in the print area of my Printrbot Play except for the pieces for the body. The body pieces are originally five pieces 2 for the top and bottom and one for the middle. the aft and fore pieces were cut into 2 and the middle was cut into 4. The cuts were strategically placed to retain strength and allow for easy printing. Cutting the pieces decreases the strength, this was overcome by adding extra alignment tabs and supporting the joints with superglue impregnated fabric.
The main project specifies musical grade carbon fiber supports but since they are expensive I was able to find cheaper supports an Amazon that are smaller than the specification but work just as well. The aft portions are joined together via steel pins and the carbon fiber bars were inserted and glued down. the mid section was then slid on the the bars and the plastic joints were glued by wicking glue into the seams.
The scroll and pegbox was attached to the neck with the supporting carbon bars. The bars prevent the neck from bending but are not quite strong enough it turned out.
To reinforce the joints a modelers trick was used, where small strips of tissue is laid across the joint and superglue is liberally applied so that the tissue becomes a cheap version of fiberglass. The gallery below shows how the technique looks as the glue dries. It becomes very stiff and strong allowing me to successfully join the parts together.
The final product is shown in the picture below. I chose to use a commercially produced tail piece and fine tuners on each string. The rest is 100% printed. The pegs are reinforced with bent steel rods and the end pin is reinforced with m3 screws and an aluminum standoff that is used to assemble drone frames.
The Violin is tune-able but it does not stay in tune for very long, this is due to the neck being too flexible and the pegs slipping too easily in the peg box.
Conclusion
You can in fact create a full size violin with a 3D printer, but is no replacement for a true violin. This 3D version still creates wonderful sound and due to plastic being light, it has good vibration. To date this has been my biggest 3D print so far and it definitely took a few weekends to create.
This just shows you the power of 3D design and printing! Go out and print fun things!
