3d printing

my son has a 3D printer at home. He has printed knobs for me that look very good. Also some picks and a battery clip for a 9v battery. I've seen some electronics cavity covers, switch tips, truss rod covers, and pickup humbucker rings and such. The biggest thing I've noticed is the fidelity of the piece. He did a Rick truss rod cover, and it had a texture to it that made it look cheap. The plastic he used was very hard, so I probably could have sanded and primed and painted and used it, but that was the only issue.

The most useful item he printed for me was a hex nut driver. I use it for the hex nuts on jacks and knobs and such. VERY handy tool to have.

Go to thingieverse.com and search the items there. Lots of stuff.

Search Thingiverse - Thingiverse

BnB

 

just ordered one on Saturday... I am going to be using it for some machining accessories as well as parts for a pickup winder. Right now I am doing research on design software as well as pestering friends and co-workers for insights

-robert

 

Tinkercad | From mind to design in minutes

Tinkercad is a great online basic CAD software to get started with designing your own 3D objects.

 

I've just hooked up my bass with this new custom thumb rest, check it out:

 

Could one 3D-print a nut for a guitar or bass?

 

Yes you could print a nut no problem. Most 3D printers use PLA filament.
Not sure how hard or durable that material would be. Printed as a block it seems quite hard. But is it as hard as say a bone or tusk nut ?? I don't know.
I'm sure it would work for a while. Just don't know what the longevity would be like.
If someone can find a link to a plan for one. Send it to me and I will have my son print it. See how it turns out.

 

I 3d printed a nut for one of my acoustic basses. Found the STL on thingiverse but I had to adjust the size a bit to work for me. Printed it in PLA with 100% infill at 0.2 mm layer height. So far working well. Even if it only lasts a few months, the print took less than an hour to render anyhow.

 

That is how my little 3d printing business started - wanted to print practical stuff for myself, and stumbled upon a few things that other people wanted to try out. I don't know about the durability for guitar nuts, but I did discover that PLA doesn't hold up very long when made into a pick - but still, not *horrible* for that, even!

 

This is a mount for attaching my cigar-box-bass to the stand... V2... I really enjoy the rapid prototyping you can do. The first version of the main knuckle had some design flaws that were quickly remedied. This mount makes it so much easier to swap out basses than before!

-robert

 

I had been thinking of trying to 3D print the Rickenbacker logo that is missing from my ‘84 TR-14 amp. I’m fairly certain it’s the same logo that was attached to some Ric instrument cases in a small range of years. But I’m guessing the number of folks that 1) have access to one of those logos, 2) can 3D scan it, and 3) print it would probably be minuscule to none.

 

You could try to draw it yourself in one of the free CAD apps. I've never tried the logo myself but those apps are pretty darn good and surprisingly easy to use.

 

I suppose I could try that. I should be able to get a fairly decent estimate of the dimensions by examining photos, as long as there is something in the photo that I know the actual size of. I believe a library about forty minutes from here has a 3D printer, as long as it’s still open (I know they had budget issues).

 

Many cad programs allow you to import a picture to the cad file, scale it to the right size, and use it to trace the profile. Some have an auto-trace function, but I’ve not gotten useable results from it in Solidworks.

 

Mounted...

-robert

 

While I do not doubt that your intentions are 100% honorable, I cannot say the same for possible counterfeiters who might use this technology unethically.

 

Agreed, but this particular logo was only used on some amps and even fewer instrument cases in the ‘80s. No instruments. I doubt it would be of much interest to anyone but me and people in a similar situation.

 

That's really not an issue. Chances are that anything MI related that would be counterfeited is a simple part and very valuable. If the money is there, a multi turret CNC mill (or router) can make it easily and if you're talking off shore, the labor would be cheap as well.

 

It will be. Mark my words.

 

My point being, it is already an issue with different technology and you can use any material you choose and not just plastic.
What can you make from plastic for a MI that is valuable?
I have seen a counterfeit 50's flying V that was perfect. Handmade body with the black crotch, real 50's LP neck and pups. Sold for extremely big money to an expert vintage guy. He eventually busted the guy because it didn't smell right and there was no case. Turned out there were a few more that got past quite a few experts.