This is an awesome project David. Was wondering if I could chat with about a project I'm working on, sort of similar to this one.

Mike, absolutely! I'll shoot you an email.

David P! We're looking for amazing Fusion examples for our corporate show-real. Want to collaborate on doing do a sequence of this guy going from model to prototype?

Yeah...maybe in the future! For now we're stuck doing it the old fashioned way--your mom makes you do it... :-)

That is awesome David. Now if I could only 3D print some musical talent! :/

I forgot to update you all! You can watch a video of me playing the FFFiddle and also access the design files and documentation here: http://openfabpdx.com/fffiddle/

Thanks David

You bet, Colin, and thanks! I started a fresh print this morning. Out of town all weekend but should have another prototype early next week. This time I'm ready with an amp, too.

Also, for those of you in Portland, I'll have a booth at the Portland Mini Maker Faire! The fiddles and their design process will be on display (and plugged in for playing) and I have plans for a few other fun activities. Check it out September 14th-15th!!

What a great project David! Please keep us updated as you progress.

Incorporating structural members and electronics etc. into the build is the "next great wave" of additive manufacturing. I'm working with people who are integrating all kinds of things into AM parts. All it takes is the right tool path software and some ingenuity.

Right on! I'm not convinced that jamming a metal rod in the body will solve my problems long term. Great suggestion about the carbon fiber, sounds like that would do the trick! I like the concept of integrating the structural members into the body, as opposed to the metal rod which feels more like brute-force. If I could install the carbon during the print process and avoid having to use epoxy...

David, most unreinforced polymers exhibit creep under load. To combat this usually a glass fiber loaded resin is used for injection molded parts. In your instrument you might consider turning your instrument into a composite structure by epoxy bonding unidirectional carbon fiber
pultruded rods into channels on the tension side of the structure... maybe multiple parallel rods 2-4mm in. diameter (available from your local RC hobby shop for reasonable coasts) Then you can work on the compression side of the structure to make sure it is below yield stress levels. This approach has work well for me on UAVs. Might be a good time to visit the simulation side of Fusion. The reason wood works so well with musical instruments is that it is a composite structure composed of lignin polymers for glue and cellulose fibers for tension members. Great project you have going!

Not yet. Turns out that it warps over time when under full tension, only takes five or six hours to warp beyond playability. I've got some 8mm rod kicking around, so I'm turning a quick redesign to incorporate that, then the first thing to do is make a video!

That's awesome! Do you have any recordings of the violin online?

Whoa, those guitars are amazing! They've done a really good job of achieving aesthetics that show off the manufacturing process, love it. You hadn't mentioned that you were a musician, that's rad--musician geeks, unite!

I assembled Rev 2.0 this morning and it works! I'm proud to report that Bill Cheatum may be the first tune played on a full size FFF printable violin! I'll get an amp here in short order and we'll see how she sounds when amplified.

That's very cool... let us know how version 2.0 comes out. I'm very curious about the sound quality. Not sure if you've seen this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWa8sEgpOrM Although the guitars focus more on the aesthetic part of the design, it makes me think of how different patterns/structure in the cavity can be modified to create different sounds. Not sure if I mentioned this to you, but I'm also a musician. I play the drums and I designed a bass guitar for my undergrad thesis :)

Thanks, Alex! Sadly, no, this revision is not very playable. The strings are way too far from the fingerboard and the bridge is too flat. I'm also not getting a clean signal from my electronics.

Rev2 prints this weekend and has far superior electronics. It will be interesting to see what the sound is like. I'm printing 20% infill, so there's really a substantial amount of air in which sound can bounce around. My guess is that we'll get a sound that's a bit warmer than a true solid body, but not nearly as warm and full as an acoustic or acoustic-electric instrument.

Very cool, David! Can you actually play it? How do you feel that the sound varies from a wooden one?

Thanks, Stan! This is all printed with PLA. In particular, I'm using MakerFarm's black. I've been really happy with the quality from MakerFarm.

I think this is very cool David. What material did you print with

Hey you wanna grab lunch later this week? Keith and I were talking about your project. We'd love to run some ideas past you if you've got time. You around? :)

Yeah dude, let's see this guy in action.