3D Printing free reed music instruments

[Deleted member 48]

New 3D printing developments in the UK, a plastic english concertina prototype was created.
Only the reeds and the bellows are made by hand, but the maker says he is close to also 3D printing the bellows.

A short interview, and a demo video:

http://edwardjay.net/paragraphsView.aspx?siteid=38

 

[Jim2010]

I was curious about how people on the concertina.net might react, so I looked there. They seem genuinely interested in it.

https://www.concertina.net/forums/i...ys-3d-printed-ec/&tab=comments#comment-200087

 

[Dingo40]

Stephen, thanks for an interesting link!

It all looks very promising.

I wonder what the longevity of the plastic is. Many traditional concertinas are in excess of a hundred years old.
It would be just too bad if, by accident, a biodegradable batch were to be used!

 

[jozz]

it should be sturdy:

"No, this is not a toy at all. Every part of it is engineered properly; the stresses and strains, the tension forces...and so on, everything has been accounted for. So it won’t break. This concertina is very solid."

very nice!

 

[debra]

Stephen, thanks for an interesting link!

It all looks very promising.

I wonder what the longevity of the plastic is. Many traditional concertinas are in excess of a hundred years old.
It would be just too bad if, by accident, a biodegradable batch were to be used!

I do quite a bit of 3D printing, for all kinds of things. Initially (that's about 10 years ago) I printed everything in ABS plastic. It lasts forever (they say) but it suffers from shrinking when it cools down, causing larger objects with a flat bottom to curl up as the print cools. It's a pain to get a flat bottom to stay really flat, but it can be done. I read or heard somewhere that Lego is made out of ABS plastic. It sure lasts forever.
Nowadays I print almost exclusively in PLA which is biodegradable. But... at normal temperatures where accordions are used it does not degrade as far as I know. Things for accordions that I make the most are feet and the knobs of chin switches. It's just faster to print new feet than to order them from Carini. It's not that it's a big money saver (except for shipping cost).

 

[TomBR]

The concertina is far more impressive and better looking than I expected.

It's a bit of a pity that he says "But to get a traditional rivet that is neither too loose or too tight is a dark art. So I’ve invented a method that does not require a rivet at all - where the plastic lever is held in place simply using the spring."
Sorry, not invented, that's the method that was used in thousands of concertinas made by Lachenal - far more than the Wheatstones etc with their riveted action.

But that's just a quibble - fair play to him.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Stephen,

Fascinating !!!!! If I can manage to put aside my traditionalist's fear of new technology, I could perhaps accept that a new production method can produce an acceptable instrument.

Mind you, I still love steam locomotives.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[Tor]

Looks like a neat project. Add stainless reeds, and maybe it would be a good option for use in less hospitable climate conditions.

Like Stephen, I still like my traditional materials. Or perhaps it's partially just that I like wood, being a woodworker myself. In any case, aside from the poor environmental condition advantage I'd probably have a harder time resisting an all wood instrument than one like this.