Fun with 3D Printing

GGJaguar

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Glad to see it's weight relieved, but will that affect sustain? ;-)
 

fronobulax

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subtractive manufacturing

Thanks. I learned new words for a concept.

My creative outlets tend to produce and intangible product - software that solves a problem, for example - so "real world" creativity sometimes mystifies me. Mrs. Fro. is a potter so I have some sense of visualizing something and building and forming to realize that vision. But it blew my mind, so to speak, when I first heard a sculptor talk about looking at a slab of marble and visualizing what had to be removed to "release" the vision inside.
 

GAD

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Thanks. I learned new words for a concept.

My creative outlets tend to produce and intangible product - software that solves a problem, for example - so "real world" creativity sometimes mystifies me. Mrs. Fro. is a potter so I have some sense of visualizing something and building and forming to realize that vision. But it blew my mind, so to speak, when I first heard a sculptor talk about looking at a slab of marble and visualizing what had to be removed to "release" the vision inside.

I think it was Michelangelo who said he chipped away all the marble in order to set the angel free.
 

SFIV1967

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GAD

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ODD guitars is always one of the first hits when I'd search for models to print. I think they're cool as hell, and I appreciate the work they put into them, but I just can't see someone paying $4000 for a 3D printed guitar. Also the headstocks are fuuuuugly.
 

GAD

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Thought I'd post an update. Check this out!

IMG_2411_1600.jpg

The little one is the one i posted earlier in the thread. The large one is, well, larger.

The larger one is comprised of five 3D printed pieces:

IMG_2390_1600.jpg

Each those pieces barely fits in my very large printer, and each took about 19 hours to print.

Sadly, the model I used at the start isn't quite right, and if you look at the first pic you can see that the blue piece isn't lined up properly to the purple piece. That's because the control cavity is not large enough and doesn't fit the bottom pot properly. I'll likely just mill it out for this test run.

Additionally, every 3D model of a Strat pick guard I found was wrong, so I finally just went and bought one.

BTW that's a real MIM Fender neck bolted to the black piece.
 

jcwu

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That IS very cool!

Curious how come you didn't go with the swimming pool route for the pickup cavity? Would've saved you a bit of plastic/resin/whatever you call it...
 

beecee

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Boy I wish I had the talent, or patience, to do stuff like this!

Very cool
 

GAD

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That IS very cool!

Curious how come you didn't go with the swimming pool route for the pickup cavity? Would've saved you a bit of plastic/resin/whatever you call it...

A couple of reasons. First (and most important), I didn't design the original model, and that's how it came. I do have models with the original '60s routes which would have used even more filament, but I like this one because of the options it gives.

Second, a swimming pool route would have less plastic and therefor be less structurally sound. A guitar is under tremendous stress from the strings trying to pull it in on itself, and that area between the bridge and the neck bears the brunt of that stress. Since my printer can only print to a certain size, I had to chop the model up which you can see since I used different colors for each part. That means that the stress is even more a problem since the only thing fighting the string tension is that middle piece, so a swimming pool route would make that even less strong. Honestly, though, I have my doubts about the strength thing given the huge bridge pickup "route" which may make that argument moot. The bottom line is that plastic is not wood, but it's even more complicated than that...

PLA (the plastic being printed) can deform under stress, so I have my doubts that this guitar will last forever. What's more, 3D printed parts are rarely solid. To save filament the software that preps for the print takes the solid parts and replaces it with a patten called "infill". The default infill is 15% and is a series of triangles:

Screen Shot 2020-03-08 at 2.39.20 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2020-03-08 at 2.39.33 PM.jpg

Upping the infill to 50% makes it look like this:

Screen Shot 2020-03-08 at 2.40.21 PM.jpg

Screen Shot 2020-03-08 at 2.45.48 PM.jpg

Since PLA is about $50/kg and each of these parts consumes 1/2-2/3 of a roll, changing the infill has a huge impact on print time and cost, but a higher percentage of infill makes the part stronger. BTW, that's another benefit of splitting up the model: I can print the center stress-bearing part with high infill and the outer more cosmetic parts with low infill. Technically I could do that with the slicer software anyway, but it's easier with separate parts.
 
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GAD

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BTW the infill is why the holes for screws should be part of the design. Just drilling into infilled 3D prints will very likely have the screw trying to purchase into empty space pass the mm or two of the top or bottom layers. One of the problems with the original model is that some of the screw holes were not in the right place. Fixing that has been a PITA. Another example is that the neck holes, though aligned properly, did not go all the way through the model, so I had to fix that, too.

Reprinted the purple piece last night and now it all fits better:

IMG_2417_1600.jpg

It's so close to being a functional guitar that I'm torn between finishing it as-is or fixing all the stupid little issues first.

BTW one of the unfortunate parts of this model that I didn't notice until I'd printed it all is that there are no contour cuts. There isn't a forearm bevel, and there isn't a belly cut. That actually makes printing easier, believe it or not. Well, that's true for the belly cut since it would require support to print - the forearm bevel would have saved some filament.
 
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GAD

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Yesterday I glued all the parts, wired up the metal bits, and holy crap - it's a guitar!

5D3_0743_1600.jpg

It still needs some work, though. The bridge screws that came with the $27 ping bridge are absolute garbage and I stripped two of them completely removing them from the first test run so two are missing. I have a set of hardened screws on the way. There are only two springs and four screws on the bridge which is why it's raised a bit.

I had some issues with the neck that I did not have on the first run center piece, so as a result the neck is slightly shimmed. I have a theory as to why, but I'll save that for another time.

I have to say that I'm surprised at how good it plays and sounds. I'm doing a write-up on the whole process and will record it for that, but it sounds like a Strat. I'm also shocked that it has surprisingly good sustain! I thought it might be just a brick since it's all plastic, but it's not!

Is it the equal of a Custom Shop Strat? No way, but it was a very satisfying project.

Since I had to reprint so many of the parts, I've got enough to make another guitar after I print another yellow section, so I'm going to do that and use much cheaper parts and see what the difference ends up being. That one will likely end up in my daughter's room because she absolutely loves the guitar.
 

GGJaguar

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That is so cool! Someday we will be talking about vintage plastic and carbon fiber guitars rather than vintage wooden guitars. But I'll probably be dead before that day comes. :smile-new:
 
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