[Harp-L] 3D printing: harmonicas

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

Is anybody bringing a 3D printer to SPAH?


3D printing is so ubiquitous that there is even a pre-order 3D Printing for Dummies book, among several other publications including one to build your own 3D printer.


For those of you already well into CAD (I got as far as a drafting board and T-square in 1955) and with milling and routing experience, this is just around the corner.


3D printing will be as common as desktop printing is today in five years, or sooner. Depends on how much you want to spend and how soon.


For those old enough to remember the dawn of laser printers and color ink jet printers, those early machines were pricey. $2,000.


A few models are offered at Amazon (the quick and easy reference; also  cf eBay). From the various photos on eBay, a range of printers will provide different degrees of finished product just like a draft printout looks crude compared to a 1200 dpi printout on paper.


I saw an ad to rent a 3D printer for $150 a month -- which was probably an extrusion machine like the 3D Printer MakerBot Replicator ABS extrusion machine which is listed for $1,100 on Amazon.


In terms of scanning, an iPhone can be used to scan in some applications.


What this means in real life, is that someone who used to spend hours making a prototype comb can build one out of modeling goo, scan it and produce a rough or relatively finished plastic prototype. How finished the prototype is depends on the software and quality of the 3D printer.


How does the shape and cut of the comb affect the playability and sound? Variations of the reed channels in a discrete diatonic comb or the comb used for Cham-Ber Huang's chromatic can be run off in a matter of hours.


The more you see the videos of parts and objects scanned and printed by 3D the more options are available.


Jay Leno scanned a cresent wrench and the 3D printout actually worked, opening and adjusting the jaws. The wrench copy came out as one piece with moving parts!


To make a 3D harmonica copy, it would need to be disassembled to scan the reedplate, the comb, coverplate, coverplate screws. 


Somebody who has been working on some other facet of fine-tuning the harmonica will now be able to run off a prototype in a matter of minutes, or a finished product in hours -- instead of weeks.