3D Printed Violin
by Bence Balogh
With a BSc degree in Mechatronics Engineering and a Master’s degree in Economics, Bence Balogh found a new love for something unusual. As he participated in the Conference of Scientific Students’ Associations in the subject of “Examination of 3D Printing Parameters on the products mechanical properties,” he found an interesting topic by HovaLabs, an open-source project, the 3D printable acoustic violin.
“I used to learn how to play the piano and the classical guitar for many years, and I also tried playing the violin. Unfortunately, my violin career only lasted for about a month. I was fascinated by the grace of the violin, and I adore when someone is playing it professionally. It became a must to make one in order to test the connection between 3D printing and music,” Ben explains.
“The original Hovalin was amazing, so I consulted with several musicians, especially prime violinists. They gave me useful tips about how to improve and develop the model. It became my obsession to create the violin as realistic as I could, based on the Hovalin and the recommendations by the professionals. I am really satisfied with the result so far. However, I am still working on details and collecting feedbacks for further improvements. The 3D printed violin is an instrument, ornament, and something spectacular,” says Ben with excitement. 
In the beginning, Bence used basic PLA for the prototyping as it is the most common material that’s also very easy to use. He had to make a few alternations regarding the bridge, as the strings were too strong and broke the original bridge made of PLA. He decided to use CPE for the neck and bridge because of the strain and holding capabilities. In the end, the body of the violin is constructed from PLA Crystal Clear “Smaragd Green“, and the neck with the bridge is made from more rigid CPE HG100 “Iced Green Transparent“. Full bodies took 40-50 hours to print on the Creality CR10S. Even with the lower resolution, it took 20-30 hours with few iterations. This project was very time-consuming. 
“Many of my friends who play the classical violin helped me, so I learned a lot about the soul, body, and the creation process of a violin. On the other hand, I deeply absorbed 3D printing, maintenance knowledge, 3D design, and remix skills. The most important was to have the patience for this project and the ability to learn from my mistakes. My main goal was to bring 3D printing, music, and people closer together and to challenge myself. Whenever I show the 3D printed violin to people, I see the pure joy and curiosity on their faces, and I think this is the real achievement,” Ben tells us. With the help of Stella Nagy, he was able to take breathtaking pictures in The Palace of Music in Miskolc, Hungary.
Printed with:
Body: PLA Crystal “Clear Smaragd Green”
Neck, bridge: CPE HG100 “Iced Green Transparent”
Printed on:
Creality CR10S
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