3D Printing, Modelling and Microtonal

[trill]

@PaulJF

. . . The thing is, this 3D printing a flute malarkey was supposed to be me learning about 3D printing . . . not me learning about how to make flutes!

vive la detour !

[Jeebo]

@PaulJF

The thing is, this 3D printing a flute malarkey was supposed to be me learning about 3D printing and how to use the 3D printers at work not me learning about how to make flutes!

2 birds with one stone

[MadmanWithaWhistle]

@PaulJF

Hi
I was perusing the forum and saw this thread. Thought this may be of interest.

I had a go at printing an irish style flute
i started off with an stl file I found on line but have since redesigned the whole thing.

FDM printed in normal plastic PLA (metallic effect PLA)
no finishing (deliberately) except removing supports. so holes and embouchure are very rough

it dosent have the responsiveness nor the volume or tonal range or dynamics of a good wooden flute
but it sounds pretty damn good. as least as good if not better than most of the “practice” flutes I have (some which cost up to $£300)
I wouldn’t have an issue playing it at a session

I am just now printing a slightly tweaked “tuning barrel” (it takes forever to print this stuff)
once done I will post some sound files so you can hear the thing.

I recommend printing the embouchure with a cover of one extrusion width, and sanding it flush with the surface to get a nice sharp edge. When I reconstructed this flute, I got the best results from using a resin printer for the embouchure section, though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjAWrFqUrLI