After last month’s #MadeWithcolorFabb contest we will dive a little bit deeper into the story behind the month’s winner: the Mimphonium. This is a very cool, UK based project by Domenico Marseglia. We were intrigued by the fact that quite a bit was printed with PLA/PHA Standard White Let’s go into the details.

What inspired him to start with this project? We asked him and Domenico was gracious enough to share his thoughts.

 

How it all began…

“The original inspiration was a project someone else came up with in the early days of the Raspberry Pi. It was made from a child’s toy with some solenoids that hit the notes from behind. I thought it was great, but I could do better. In particular, the solenoids made a horrible clattering noise. I thought about the moving coil meters we had at school, and I came up with my version that you can see in the photo below. The two big let-downs were my woodworking skills and the cost of a glockenspiel to get the metal bars from. The two big breakthroughs were another project I saw where the notes were cut from copper pipe, and my employer buying a 3d printer for prototyping work. Then, over a series of trial and error refinements, I came up with the design you see today.”

The first iteration

Visit the Mimphonium website here.

 

The printed parts

Domenico continues: “I have a website under construction. I think the best bit for you would be this page (click here).  This shows that it is not just the final product that is 3d-printed, but some of the tools I used to make it are also 3d-printed. I think the coil winder is another sub-project in its own right. I think this reflects a more serious side of the current usage of 3d-printing. The parts made form PLA have their limitations in terms of end-user products, but they are often more than good enough for assembly fixtures.”

Mounting the coil on the coil winder

The printer

He has an Ultimaker 2, upgraded to 2+. After the upgrade it works especially well with our signature (and long time favorite) PLA/PHA Standard White. “I just use the default values for everything except the hammer heads. In that case I use 100% infill to make them heavier.”

The project is still on-going and we will follow for sure.

Follow the Mimphonium project on Twitter!

 

We saw a lot of great entries during the #MadeWithcolorFabb contest. The Mimphonium eventually won, but it had worthy oponents. You can find all the winners here.

 

About PLA/PHA

PLA/PHA was the very first material released by colorFabb seven years ago. Starting with almost twenty colors, the portfolio eventually expanded to thirty colors (some of them about to be discontinued). The unique blend of PLA and PHA bioplastics made it a one-of-a-kind filament for users looking for a 3D printing filament that processed well on various printers and was of high quality. It was the basis of colorFabb’s success.

Our high quality PLA/PHA filaments ship daily and from stock.

PLA/PHA has always been a favorite amongst colorFabb users. With our focus on expanding our portfolio some colors will be discontinued. You can find these on our clearance sale page (click here).