One day I'll 3D print a whole Concertina!

[Andy Holder]

I just thought I'd share my first attempt at 3D printing some parts, a test strip of buttons and reed frames.

 

Firstly a material called Alumide, which is an aluminium powder impregnated plastic. It has a grainy surface and is too soft for reed frames.

 

 

Secondly, stainless steel. This is much too heavy and quite expensive. You also can't get a good enough surface or detail with it. It is extremely hard though.

 

 

Titanium is on the way as a usable material. Very good detail and hardness. Sadly way too expensive at present.

 

Interesting trial.

 

Andrew

[JimLucas]

s, a test strip of buttons and reed frames.

Impressive!

 

I'm looking forward to further developments.

But I don't think I'd better hold my breath while waiting for your "whole Concertina".

(And I notice you didn't include "fully functioning" in your description.

)

[Andy Holder]

s, a test strip of buttons and reed frames.

Impressive!

 

I'm looking forward to further developments.

But I don't think I'd better hold my breath while waiting for your "whole Concertina".

(And I notice you didn't include "fully functioning" in your description.

)

 

 

You never know, they can now do flexible materials too so the bellows should be a breeze!

[JimLucas]

...the bellows should be a breeze!

A leaky bellows?

I think that's carrying vintage authenticity a bit too far!

[Ivan Viehoff]

I once met someone who had a guitar he made out of thousands of lollipop sticks glued together. Putting aside plastic children's toys, it was quite the worst guitar I had ever heard, weak and thin, and quite unlike a real guitar. I really was very surprised how awful it was, and it reinforces how important the nature of the material is when sound (among other things) is involved.

 

The material options for 3-d printing are limited, and even if the range of chemical possibilities grow, the layer-by-layer build up is going to affect the internal structure of the material, which often matters too. Springs, reed tongues, valves, bellows, it isn't just the fact that they flex, the way that they flex is very important, and the precise nature of the material is important for this.

 

3-d printing is a superb technology for making parts whose shape is more important than what they are made out of, especially when needed in quantities that tooling up to make them in bulk is not economic. I can see it might make a few parts of a concertina, like buttons, but there is a lot else it just isn't going to be suitable for, even in principle.

[Andy Holder]

I once met someone who had a guitar he made out of thousands of lollipop sticks glued together. Putting aside plastic children's toys, it was quite the worst guitar I had ever heard, weak and thin, and quite unlike a real guitar. I really was very surprised how awful it was, and it reinforces how important the nature of the material is when sound (among other things) is involved.

 

The material options for 3-d printing are limited, and even if the range of chemical possibilities grow, the layer-by-layer build up is going to affect the internal structure of the material, which often matters too. Springs, reed tongues, valves, bellows, it isn't just the fact that they flex, the way that they flex is very important, and the precise nature of the material is important for this.

 

3-d printing is a superb technology for making parts whose shape is more important than what they are made out of, especially when needed in quantities that tooling up to make them in bulk is not economic. I can see it might make a few parts of a concertina, like buttons, but there is a lot else it just isn't going to be suitable for, even in principle.

 

The whole thing is slightly tongue in cheek Ivan!

[aeolina]

Andy, I've been spending time with a good friend who has developed very satisfactory 3D printed Irish bagpipes and has done a lot of, what I regard as, serious practical work on matters around bagpipe reed crafting and application. I lost some sleep last night dreaming that I had made 3D printed reed frames and today I found your 2012 post!

 

How far did your exploration go? With my friend's technology at my disposal, should I take things further?

 

Tongue only lightly in my cheek,

 

Stuart

 

 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I often wonder just how long the compounds used for the 3D printing itself ..how durable they are over time; with it being still a recent development.

[John Wild]

2 hours ago, aeolina said:

Andy, I've been spending time with a good friend who has developed very satisfactory 3D printed Irish bagpipes and has done a lot of, what I regard as, serious practical work on matters around bagpipe reed crafting and application. I lost some sleep last night dreaming that I had made 3D printed reed frames and today I found your 2012 post!

 

How far did your exploration go? With my friend's technology at my disposal, should I take things further?

 

Tongue only lightly in my cheek,

 

Stuart

 

 

Edward Jay is the only person (as far as I know) who has had a serious production schedule for 3-D printed concertinas.

Sadly, after his move to Australia, it seems he is not able to continue production. Maybe that will change as time goes by, but anyone wanting to follow in his footsteps should consider having a discussion with him.

[aeolina]

I'm only thinking (dreaming) of reed frames here, not the full instrument.

[wschruba]

43 minutes ago, aeolina said:

I'm only thinking (dreaming) of reed frames here, not the full instrument.

 

Laser sintering can be used for steel, titanium, and aluminum...and while it is not what I would call "cheap" for a home-user, you can absolutely feasibly get a single frame made by a printing company (some hand finishing required) for $20-30USD.  The kicker is that dimensional stability is quite poor, and you may need 2-3 parts if you are trying to fit something EXACTLY.  Steel or titanium would work okay here, but the strength drop in sintered aluminum would probably make it unsuitable.

 

CNC milling would still be more accurate, faster, and less expensive [to run yourself].  The cost difference between one shoe, and one hundred, would be significantly less than 3-d printing.  High-strength 2000 series aluminum is about $40 USD for a 12x12" piece in 1/8".  Hard brass is an eye-watering ~500% increase in price...

 

Neither system would spit out a part that is ready to use (though a 5-axis CNC could get close, it also costs a lot more than a 4-axis machine), so you would be hand filing/relieving/tapping multiple pieces.

 

In my other life away from music, 3-d printing works for some things, but anything that requires the strength of an unadulterated material...is probably better off with that material, machined as normal.  If critical dimensions can be expanded to enable a less-strong material to work, they may function well.  If they cannot, and the design predates the availability of such material (or an analogue), the likelihood of failure is fairly high.

 

I suspect it isn't so much the material that makes a reed frame difficult (they did use lead in old Anglos from Saxony, after all), as what it has to put up with (compressive forces from the dovetail).

[fred v]

On 7/20/2025 at 1:48 PM, aeolina said:

Andy, I've been spending time with a good friend who has developed very satisfactory 3D printed Irish bagpipes and has done a lot of, what I regard as, serious practical work on matters around bagpipe reed crafting and application. I lost some sleep last night dreaming that I had made 3D printed reed frames and today I found your 2012 post!

 

How far did your exploration go? With my friend's technology at my disposal, should I take things further?

 

Tongue only lightly in my cheek,

 

Stuart

 

 

A lady that plays in our ITM session has a printed flute. She is know all over the USA and was hired by the company to test their flutes. She said they are absolutely the best student instrument made.