Because I plan to print music instruments, I try to find the best material for this.
So I printed a Pan flute with 30% wood PLA and Bambu lab PLA basic. (0.6 nozzle identical settings)
I thought instruments are made out of wood, so 30% wood couldn’t be wrong.
But the PLA Basic sounds more clear and bright than the wood PLA. Not huge, but even I can hear a slight difference.
Does anyone have some experience in printing instruments? Which filament and nozzle size/layer height sounded best?
And to open another question: What isolates sound best? (like to make a P1S more quiet) There are some paper about that, but has someone real world experience?
I’d think you would want high density for a Flute. The tube isn’t contributing to the sound, it’s just a resonance chamber. They make Flutes from metal, too. 100% PLA is a good choice for that objective.
If you were printing a violin or acoustic guitar, the answer’s complex enough I know I don’t know enough to suggest anything. But I did once own an Ovation guitar and the shell (back half of the guitar) was made from the same material used for helicopter blades, very stiff but extremely thin.
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I think one of the relevant properties of wood is its springiness. If you use PLA with embedded wood flour, that will rather make it dampen vibrations. You might try good old PETG which is much softer than PLA but very springy.
Maybe stiffness plays a role? Then PLA-CF or PETG-CF could be interesting.
Thats a good call!
I ordered PETG now anyway to work with it for the first time.
Sadly i hate that panflute but to compare i need to print always the same xD
Ill tell you how that sounds.
I saw many people using Nylon for instruments, but it seems to expensive and ugly to me. But also Carbon and PLA, so i quess PLA is in general not bad, but maybe PETG is better.
At the end i want to print Ukuleles, so it will also need to hold some string tension.
Oh wow! Ukuleles sounds very ambitious. Then I guess that creeping could become an issue. Meaning slow deformation under constant load. In that case I would completely drop PLA. possibly even with CF. I did some tests recently and PETG was better than PLA but also not really good. One Filament that I tested did really shine: It was Polycarbonate. I tested polymaker polymax PC. In my proprietary test setup, PLA stayed bended by 4mm, PETG was 3mm and PC 0,5mm. I don’t know if other brands are equally good in that regard. Best idea would probably be to reinforce the most critical sections like the neck e.g. with steel rods or similar.
I have no experience with printed instruments, but these are the first thoughts that pop up in my mind when thinking about it.
Best regards, alex
I recently printed a Prusacaster but haven’t mounted the strings yet. It uses a normal, wooden neck but that’s still a challenge (the strings allegedly put 50 kg of load on it). Apparently many people use plain PLA for the critical main piece between the neck and the bridge and [try to] mitigate creeping with wall count (seven walls suggested). I had a roll of PAHT-CF that I used instead, hoping it will be better. I still did a lot of walls.
I’ve seen several ukulele models and I’m planning to print one at some point in time. I’m also interested in printing flutes BTW, that’s the only instrument I can actually play, sort of, lol.
As for making a printer quiet, I figure the low hanging fruit is to stop the wall plates from acting as speaker membranes. There’s a thread here about doing so with sound mats for cars. I ended up using 1.5 mm self-adhesive neoprene which is likely much less effective than Dynamat, but my primary goal was temperature isolation for printing stuff like ABS. The little noise reduction I got was just a bonus.
Hm, as long as bending stops at a point where the strings aren’t too far away from the fretboard, it would just need some time to stay in tune.
Some instruments can adjust their necks, so having this could compensate bending.
Since I want to make it pretty, I’ll try to stick to materials that are available in some colors.
That looks great!
Indeed, I added this topic because the noise is a problem in my apartment.
I have basically 2 spots for the P1S, the living room, where watching TV, working or playing games is exhausting while printing.
The other one is in the kitchen at the wall direct next to my bed. (so i would hear it a bit at night).
Means one good at day, one good at night…
Reducing the noise could make it good in the Kitchen or acceptable in the living room.
What i already noticed: Most sounds goes out on the back, as i turned the P1S in the kitchen with the back to the wall, it was louder than turning it to the side.
Also my HEPA filter on the case fan makes a difference.
Also the Poop chute is something where sound (and air) can freely pass, a flap could work for that. May i will create one, since i cant find a model.
I’ll absolutely think about that isolation, already found a cheaper one for cars.
I don’t think that it would stop bending. Creep is permanent deformation. It is an ongoing process as long as the load is there. It slows down but never stops. But the load on the material becomes even bigger over time, because the bending force from the strings increases with the distance from the frets. That is, if the string tension stays the same, e.g. because they are being retuned. So the only chance is to keep the load low enough that creep doesn’t start in the first place. Or the plastic is reinforced by some other material.
I think that any PLA or PETG string instrument will collapse sooner or later if constantly retuned.
Could be this kind of question, only someone with 3d printed ukuleles can answer.
A soprano puts on combined all 4 strings 9.5 kg, concert 15 kg, tenor 18 kg, and a Baritone 24 kg. Maybe thats just not that much for a solid PLA/PETG design.
Those loads sound much better than 50kg. Probably it makes sense to just try it and see how it works. Or you can ask in one of the models comments if there is long time experience.
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This guy seems to print many soprano Ukuleles and said here something about PLA and PETG:
https://www.printables.com/model/450075-hex-ukulele
He mentioned, that PETG could be too soft for Neck and body, but would be still good for some parts.
Regarding the poop hole flap, i printed one and it rly nozzles the sound. (part of higher fan sound become muffled)
But the case isnt even, so ill print an TPU “plug” on that flap that goes a bit into the hole.
Its magnetic and i think i’ll post it on makerworld, when im done with it.
But maybe the first poop wont be strong enough to pass it, something to investigate or print thinner.
