This blog post will walk you through how to print, process, and prep Modular Fiddle parts to build the ultimate go anywhere, do anything 3D printed durable violin. Before you do anything, you should know that this is hard. Printing the body with scaffolding well enough is hard. Keeping the neck straight during and immediately […]
Musical instruments are extremely sensitive to very small changes. Naturally then, your materials and print settings are super important for making a great Modular Fiddle! In this post, I’ll go over the materials and print settings that I use, having printed, built, and played dozens of Modular Fiddles. Note: links I provide to Proto-Pasta materials […]
The 3D printed Modular Fiddle provides a platform for experimentation in violin design. Any part can be changed in about ten minutes, but only one part can print in six minutes, install in three minutes, and change the instrument’s sound entirely. The bridge! If you’re a luthier, you already know that small changes to a […]
The ideation phase of product design is too often glorified. You’ve seen it — the beautiful sketches, the compelling imagery — the fake stuff. Don’t get me wrong, this is a fun and important stage, but a pretty sketch is meaningless if not supported by logical, critical, and thorough analysis. That kind of analysis — […]
I recently completed my first project with a new client — Dana of Spectrum Acoustics. Folks like Dana are my ideal customers — passionate about their work and determined to improve their product with new technology. Dana approached me with a labor-intensive part that he’s been manufacturing with a table saw for his speaker systems. He hired me […]
You don’t need to be a master craftsman or an industry expert to make something new and exciting. If you are willing to try and fail (repeatedly): you can make anything! Before I made the F-F-Fiddle, I’d never made a musical instrument. I started playing the violin when I was in grade school, and I’ve […]
Where the soft calls of ocean mammals meet carefully extruded polycarbonate plastic, high-performing and beautiful surfboard fins are born. Boardshaper Roy Stuart has combined two things that will save the world: biomimicry and 3D printing. [I wrote this blog for product design blog, Solidsmack. It’s re-posted here with permission.] Most surfers these days ride with […]
It smells like fall outside, and it smells like melting sugary plastic inside! Tonight, kids in all neighborhoods will make the rounds, collecting candy and showing off their costumes. It’s a golden opportunity to squeeze in a little STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) excitement! For Halloween, we’ll be giving away 3D printed figurines with […]
3D printing is the fastest way to go from CAD model to physical part. 3D printing also allows the designer to break many of the rules that apply to subtractive manufacturing techniques like CNC machining. With these powers combined…3D printing is awesome! But it’s not a free ride, to make great products you have to learn how […]