MakerBot 3D Printed Violin (Design Inspiration from David Perry of Openfab PDX)

The 3D printing team headed by Dr. Venkateswaran PS recently designed and fabricated a 3D printed violin. The original design of David Perry (Openfab PDX) who works on 3D printed musical instruments using the FDM technology was remodified with the violin neck, fingerboard and pegbox transformed to suite the strings, pegs and bridge available in India. The MakerBot Z18 3D Printer was used to print the violin and assembled with the Wittner tailpiece, Guitar tuning pegs, Pirastro Chromcor strings and a wooden bridge.
Violinist Sankaran who has been the recipient of Vidhwan Isai Kalamani award (1973), Gyan Ghosh award and the G Ramanathan Award for his contribution in the cine field for 32 years was requested to play and verify the sound quality. Having played for greats like Mr. M S Viswanathan and Mr. A R Rahman, he compared the 3D printed violin to his 100+ years old German Stradivarius violin. He said, ‘The sound quality in terms of tone at various notes was impeccable. This speaks of the grade and quality of 3D printed instruments from MakerBot series of printers.’