We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Printed violin

And by that I do not mean that someone has merely been printing stuff on a violin. The violin itself was made by a printing machine.

Here is a video of the violin not only being enthused about but actually played, by Simon Hewitt-Jones. To whom many thanks for the email that alerted me to this amazing object.

12 comments to Printed violin

  • Rich Rostrom

    I was at an SF convention last month, where a friend had a small 3-D printer set up and working in a party suite. He manufactured a pair of 2″ high plastic Tardis models as a demo.

    What’s really amazing is that most of the parts of the device can be made with the device.

  • Bruce Hoult

    Yes, getting as close to 100% self-manufacture as possible — with the remaining parts things you could buy in any hardware store — is the aim of the Rep-rap project.

    Unfortunately, that makes it very difficult to get one if you don’t know someone else who has one already.

    The Makerbot project takes the alternative tack of making plans available on the internet for wood parts that you can get made by anyone with a laser cutter, something that is becoming quite commonly available.

    Many of the other parts, such as electronic control boards, are used in common between both projects.

    A lot of rep-raps have been made from parts printed on a Makerbot 🙂

    You can download plans for everything for free from the Makerbot company, or they are happy to sell you any or all of:

    – printed circuit boards, already assembled or not
    – extruder kit
    – stepper motors and other parts
    – complete assemble-it-yourself kit with all necessary parts
    – ready to use, assembled machine.

    I’m part of a group that got a complete kit for US$1300. Paying an extra $1200 to get an assembled one didn’t seem like a good deal. It took about 20 hours to put it together.

    I only put in NZ$100 (US$70ish) myself and have had a lot of fun making things, some from designs downloaded from the net (thingiverse), some things I’ve designed myself.

    One of mine, poodle-shaped cookie cutters:

    http://yfrog.com/gz5liuzj

    The machine, and some things I printed.

    http://yfrog.com/h34m4kyzj

    The reels with the blue/green/black etc plastic (PLA) filament were printed on the machine itself, in 11 parts which dovetail together very nicely. See:

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10219

    A friend wrote up something he made on our machine:

    http://toxaq.com/index.php/2011/08/making-it-real/

  • Dirk Gently

    Hey, perhaps the government can use these machines to print money!

  • What’s nice about this is that the classical musician is not saying, “this new technology can never sound as good as the traditionally made version; down with this sort of thing.” Which is what I, probably unfairly, would have expected.

  • Laird

    It probably never will sound as good as the traditionally made version, because it’s plastic, which doesn’t resonate the same. That said, it looks like a terrific way to make very cheap beginner violins (sort of like buying a plastic recorder before investing in a higher-quality wooden one). There’s a huge market for that.

    My question about these 3D printers is whether they can produce something using multiple materials. Or must it be limited to solely one thing (plastic powder or whatever)?

  • Laird,

    Contour Crafting, Reprap.

    Change the extrusion heads and add manipulators.

    Contour Crafting intend to print an entire custom designed house, plumbed and wired.

  • 'Nuke' Gray

    Well, as an inventor, I am, naturally, worried about making patent infringements easier. Especially as my nearly-finished invention is supposed to be made from plastic!
    Still, as I explained at the Von Mises site a few weeks ago, people will simply rent plans for things they want- why keep your computer memory filled with things when you can download from a central design store, paying a small ‘hire’ fee for the knowledge, and then clearing your limited computer memory for other stuff? We who invent should be able to still live off our efforts.

  • MajikMonkee

    @Laird

    Depends on the materials and system. Using laser metal deposition (my line of work) you can produce multi-material components, depending on the chemistry, so you can print a titanium femoral hip implant with a zirconia head or a steel component with copper cooling channels.

    Selective laser melting is the most common technique for industrial purposes as the REPRAP Makerbot kinda stuff doesn’t really have good enough tolerances yet, and is more for hobbyists. SLM can do metals, plastics and ceramic but it can only produce components from a single homogeneous material. If you send a CAD file to shapeways they will print it off for you using this tech.

    There are a few 3D printers that can do multi material prints in polymers like the Israeli company Objet. You can do say a wheel in hard plastic with a rubbery tyre.

    If you wanna find our more about the subject, potential investments etc

    http://www.wohlersassociates.com/

    This is the man to listen to!

  • Robert Dammers

    Also relevant is this article(Link), which describes the re-creation of a Stradivari instrument using scanning, and automated carving of wood selected to match the pattern of density of the original. There are still significant differences that can arise through the use of different glues and varnishes, but this looks interesting.

  • Laird

    Thanks, MajikMonkee, that is precisely what I was asking about. I’ll have to spend some time on that website.