Brian Chans plastic fantastic wonder.
Brian Chan's plastic fantastic wonder. Formlabs

Via Gizmodo

Formlabs engineer Brian Chan has designed an acoustic violin that can made almost entirely with a 3D printer.

In a blog post, Chan explains that he designed two other versions of the violin, based on a Stradivarius, before making one that sounded authentic to musicians. The final product is made of white resin and consists of 26 3D-printed parts that can be produced in just four or five overnight printing sessions on a Form 2 printer. "All of the additional hardware, like strings, screws, and carbon fiber rods are easily obtained," he says. You can read more about how Chan accomplished this amazing feat over on the Formlabs website.

The files and plans are available as a free download if you want to build one of Chan's violins for yourself.

Here it is in action:

Purists will likely scoff at this development, but dramatically lowering the cost of violins (bow and strings not included, of course) could lead to a surge in young people picking up the instrument and doing innovative things with it. And it would be very interesting to hear what someone like Stranger Genius Eyvind Kang would do with this plastic wonder.



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