3D Printing a Melodica (1) – Why the

melodica?

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

9 1,718 2 minutes read

3 July 2014
Why the melodica?
I started practising the melodica seriously a few years ago, when I needed an instrument to play
Irish music with, which I could easily take to play at the informal pub sessions. I already played the
piano, so the piano accordion was the obvious first choice. But I gave it a go, and there’s something
about the bulky size and weight, and that huge sound, which put me off. I was always fond of the
melodica, the simplicity of the piano keyboard, only having to play with one hand, and of course
there’s always that element of fun. I decided to take it up as if it were a professional instrument, and
dedicate some years to seeing what I, and the instrument were capable of achieving.
What’s already out there?
I’ve tried many melodicas over the years, from the cheapest plastic “toys” to the high end Italian
made wooden models. Of these, three models have become my favourites – the vintage Clavietta,
the Vibrandoneon (MkI) and the Yamaha Pianica. Each one has its pros and cons. The Clavietta
looks retro and professional, it’s light and has a beautiful tone. It’s far too quiet though for use with
other acoustic instruments. The Vibrandoneon, made of wood, is much louder, and also has a great
tone, as it uses very high quality reeds. The downside is the size – it’s awkward and heavy to hold,
and takes a lot of breath power to make a sound. Also, beautiful as it is to look at, the wooden case
is susceptible to mould, as the melodica gets very wet inside from extended playing.
And the favourite?
The Yamaha Pianica is one of the cheaper melodicas, developed for use in schools in Asia. The
reeds are harmonica style, as opposed to the accordion style of the other two, resulting in a
“honkier”, less refined tone. It also means the reeds go out of tune quicker, and fail more often. But
it has some great pros. Because it’s made of plastic, it doesn’t suffer from mould issues, and it’s
very light and easy to hold. It takes little breath to achieve a very loud sound, and the sound does
actually have a special character of its own. There’s only one drawback – it looks like a toy. The
burgundy 37 key model is borderline, but the 32 key model, prized for its compact design is only
available in bright blue or pink!
The challenge!
I wonder wether it’s possible to build a melodica based on the Pianica, perhaps using the same reed
plates, but redesigning the keys and casing, to make something beautiful? I believe 3D printing has
got to the level now where it’s possible to do this at a relatively low cost. I have some experience of
3D design, but would need some help in developing my skills to the level required to build this
beast. A homemade melodica. This has got to be one of the most exciting projects I’ve embarked on
for a while!

3D Printing a Melodica (2) – The beginnings

4 July 2014
Reverse engineering
When it comes to computer assisted 3D design, I have a lot to learn, so I invited 3D design whizz,
Simon Evans to the studio for the day, to show me how it all works. The idea is to study the
instrument closely, measuring every last detail, with a view to recreating it digitally – a process
called reverse engineering. We started by completely dismantling the Yamaha P32D melodica. This
is what it looked like before:

Taking the melodica apart

Once we removed the cover, which has minimal effect on the sound, we were left with the main
body. The keys are all individual pieces, which act as little levers. Every time you press one of the
levers, an air hole is exposed, allowing the air from the player to flow through a particular channel.
In each channel is a reed – a small piece of metal, shaped to vibrate at a particular frequency (note).
When the air flows past this reed, the melodica makes its distinctive sound.

The keys
Each key is attached with a little spring. This makes the key pop back up to its original position
every time it’s let go. It also serves to hold the key in place when it’s not being used.
The reed chamber
On the other side of the main body is the reed chamber. This is where you tune the melodica, or
remove the reed plates when a reed has failed. It’s normally covered with a lid, to form an airtight
chamber, to ensure a continuos flow from the player, through the reed, and out of the instrument.

Removing the reed plates

Next we removed each spring, so the keys could easily be taken off. And then unscrewed, and
carefully prized up the reed plates. They were very lightly glued to a layer of plastic paper, labelled
‘three bond’, which was also removed. This left just the skeleton of the melodica, a marvel of
concise and efficient design.
The bare skeleton
This is the key side:
And this is the reed side. There’s a soft rubber gasket where the key pads make contact with the
skeleton to ensure airtightness. This was glued on, and couldn’t be removed without damaging it.

Measuring each component

Here’s all the pieces that make up the melodica (apart from the case):
Now that the melodicas was broken down into all of its components, it was time to start measuring
up, and inputting the data into the computer. We started with the first key – the low F. Every aspect
was measured, including the curves, wall thickness, and all dimensions, as we slowly built up a
virtual representation.
Digitising the first key
Here’s the real key:
And here’s the virtual key, ready for 3D printing. Not too bad I’d say!
3D Printing a Melodica (3) – On the computer

Daren BanarsëAugust 1, 2020

2 1,173 1 minute read

7 July 2014
Measuring up
While the melodica keys have been quite simple to measure up, it hasn’t been so easy trying to
measure the chambers within the ‘skeleton’ section. This piece has been injection moulded with 32
air passages in place, and the only way to get into the space was by sawing it in half to reveal the
cross section:

From this new viewpoint we were able to recreate the air chamber in the 3D model:
The basic design
Simon’s been patiently teaching me how to use the software, and I’m surprised how easy it’s been
to pick up. After a lot of measuring and drawing, we finally have the basic skeleton finished, minus
the air pipe at one end, and the condensation release valve at the other end. While the air chamber
side is finished, there’s still more to do on the other side, where the keys will be fitted:

Making changes
I see an opportunity to make some small modifications here. I really like the look of the Clavietta,
with its neat ends on both sides of the keyboard. It achieves this by connecting the air pipe directly
to the reed chamber lid, rather than to the main body of the melodica.
Maybe I could incorporate this design?
Also, at the other end of the melodica, I love the design of the Clavietta’s condensation release
valve. It’s much classier than the Yamaha’s plastic button. Maybe I could even take one from an old
Clavietta?
3D Printing a Melodica (4) – Wood details

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

11 1,138 2 minutes read
8 July 2014
Ebony and Ivory
I’ve found that through extended practice, the plastic keys on the Yamaha P32D (and the Clavietta)
melodicas start developing small pits. When this happens, I normally buy a new melodica, which
means I also get the benefit of a whole new set of reeds. I’d like this melodica to be much more
hard wearing, more in line with a quality instrument.
I’ve had some very old ivory key tops from an old piano lying around the studio for a while now,
and I think it may be the time to put them to use. In principe I’m against the use of ivory, but these
are from a redundant piano, and would otherwise have been thrown away. I’m thinking of
overlaying this antique ivory on top of the 3D printed keys. If I reduce each key by 1mm on the top
and front, I could cut the ivory strips to size, and glue them on.
And it would be great if the ‘black keys’ were made out of wood. My first thought was to recycle
the black keys from an old piano, cutting them down to size, and attaching them to a 3D printed
base. But that would give a very distinct ‘black and white’ piano look. Maybe I could use a different
type of wood, and have a look similar to the Vibrandoneon Mk II:

Wooden parts
I’m visualising other wood parts on the melodica, to get away from the plastic look. And certainly a
wooden mouthpiece – I’ve never been entirely comfortable with a piece of plastic in my mouth for
several hours a day. It would be good if all these wooden parts were made from the same timber, to
give a consistent look.
Timber options
So what types of wood might be suitable for a mouthpiece? I know Irish flutes are generally made
from either African Blackwood (from the Rosewood family), or Ebony. But I’m not sure I’ll need to
limit myself to these high quality woods, seeing as my mouthpiece is the only wooden part of the
new melodica that will come into contact with moisture. And it will be removable, meaning that it
can dry out in between playing sessions.
From doing some research, I see that there are wooden flute and recorder makers who are
experimenting with all sorts of interesting and exotic woods which might really add some interest to
the look of the new instrument.
Oak
I’ve always been a fan of working in oak, and I could source some reclaimed English oak, to
emphasise the British theme:

Walnut
And I’ve already made a button Accordion from Walnut (under the guidance of Emmanuel
Pariselle), which looks very nice with Wenge accents:
Bocote
There’s several other possibilities including different types of Rosewood, Kingwood, and a Mexican
wood called Bocote, which unfortunately has been known to cause allergic reactions:
My favourite
But there’s one wood which really stands out to me as rather beautiful. It’s called Zebra Wood. Also
known as Microberlinia or Zebrano, this strikingly grained timber comes from central Africa. But it
seems this wood is considered a threatened species. I wonder if it’s possible to find some reclaimed
examples. I only need a very small amount.
Any ideas for timber choices?

3D Printing a Melodica (5) – The range

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

8 1,125 2 minutes read
15 July 2014
Nearly ready for printing!
I’ve now nearly finished the 3D drawing of the melodica. I’m leaving it without a case, for a more
exposed look. Instead I’ve incorporated a finger rest and thumb rest to grip the instrument. I’ve
made the white keys slightly smaller so there’ll be room to add the ivory tops, and the black keys
are just a flat base to which I can glue the wooden parts. There’ll be decorative wooden ends and a
wooden mouthpiece.
A more suitable range
The range of the Yamaha P32D, which I’ve used as a model for this experiment, is F (below middle
C) to C (2 octaves above middle C). I find that I very rarely use the low F, as most of the time I play
in D major or related keys. Also, a lot of Irish tunes only go down to the G below middle C, as this
is the lowest note on a fiddle.
So I had the idea yesterday, of shifting the whole keyboard up one tone. Starting on G, and ending
on a D. This took a long time, and I’m still not sure whether it was really worth it. It means I can’t
easily use the standard Yamaha reed plates, without tuning every note up a tone. This would be a
huge amount of work, and would probably considerably weaken the reeds. It’s more likely I’ll use
the reed plates from a P37D, cutting them down to size, trimming off a couple of notes from the
bottom, and a few notes from the top.
Could I print my own parts?
When I started this project, I planned to use the services of a commercial 3D printer, but having
spoken to two friends who regularly use 3D printing to develop and experiment with free reed
instruments (Eddy Jay and Brendan Power), I’m seriously considering purchasing one myself. This
would be a huge step for me, as there’s a steep learning curve involved. But it makes sense when I
consider that a professional one-off print of this melodica would probably come close to the cost of
a lower priced printer. And when I also take into account that there may be mistakes in my design,
and that I’ll probably want to make modifications at some point anyway, or even build new
instruments, the idea’s hard to dismiss.
The timber has arrived
My timber arrived this morning. I found an ethical producer of Zebrawood on ebay, and bought a
small amount. Beautiful even untreated:

3D Printing a Melodica (6) – Buying a printer

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

8 1,147 2 minutes read
18 July 2014
My own 3D printer for making melodicas?
I’ve been doing some research into 3D printers. I’ve decided to buy one instead of using the
services of a professional 3D printer, as the costs for one print out is similar to the cost of a lower
end printer. It seems there’s two types of 3D printing available to me.
Stereolithography
One is a technology that’s been around since the eighties, called stereolithography (SL or SLA). It
was invented by Charles W Hull in 1986, and has since been commonly used for rapid prototyping.
It makes use of a vat of liquid resin and an ultraviolet laser, which traces the design onto the surface
of the resin. Where the ultraviolet light makes contact with the resin, the resin is cured and it
solidifies. Patterns are built up, layer by layer, until a three dimensional object is created. SLA
printing has traditionally been expensive, with machines costing upwards of $100,000, and resin
costing about $100 to $200 per litre.
With the popularity of 3D printing this technology has become drastically cheaper, and there is a
highly regarded model now available for under $3000, the Form 1+ (pictured above). This looks
like a very easy to use printer, which would give accurate results, but the build area is just too small
to print out the full melodica ‘skeleton’ and the air chamber cover. They could theoretically each be
printed in 4 sections and glued together, but they’d have to be aligned perfectly. There’s also the
cost of the resin…
Fused Deposition Modelling
Then there’s the newer technology called Fused Deposition modelling (FDM or FFF). This
technique was commercialised in the 90s, after a development period by Scott Crump in the 1980s.
As in stereolithography, layers are slowly built up, one at a time, but through different means –
melted plastic is extruded onto a base, through a very fine nozzle. This method is not as accurate as
SLA, but a tolerance of within 0.1mm is realistically achievable. It is this technology that is
growing rapidly at the moment, with new companies and machines appearing at an astonishing rate.
One machine that has proved very popular over the last couple of years is the Replicator by
MakerBot. The latest version is the Replicator 2x (pictured above), a dual extruder model (meaning
you can print with two colours). It costs about $2500, and prints in either ABS (like lego) or PLA
plastic.
The one!
But there’s a rival model, built in China, which is getting some amazing reviews on Amazon (have a
look here). It’s virtually the same machine, but with a slightly smaller build area (though still large
at 225 x 145 x 150mm). This means that I could print the main ‘skeleton’ in 2 parts, and glue it
together afterwards. In theory this wouldn’t weaken the structure in any way, as I would use acetone
to fuse the two plastic sections.
Its called the FlashForge Creator Pro, and the best thing about it is its price – half the cost of the
Replicator 2x. Also, my local 3D printing store in London, iMakr, is now planning to stock them for
sale. I think this may be the one!
(Cover photo by Subhashish Panigrahi)

3D Printing a Melodica (7) – Printer hell

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

12 1,133 3 minutes read
18 August 2014
My new 3D printer
After my last post, I visited the 3D printing shop, where they were putting on a demonstration for
beginners. I showed them a photo of what I was intending to make, and it all looked very straight
forward. I went ahead and ordered the FlashForge Creator Pro.
Once I got it home, I eagerly set it up (a couple of hours work, as there weren’t any detailed
instructions), and went about making my first 3D print. The first few layers looked promising, as
the base of a melodica key began forming as if by magic.
Trouble ahead
But this is where the magic stopped unfortunately. It quickly turned to a plastic mush, forcing me to
abort. I wasn’t too concerned, as I had been told that not every print would work. But when I tried
again, the machine began shuddering violently, and had to be returned to the shop.
A week later I collected the printer again, having been assured that there was nothing wrong, and
continued with my printing attempts. Well, the shuddering had stopped, but still no success with
printing out the first melodica key. I tried everything the shop suggested – days of recalibrating the
two nozzles, resetting switches, trying different software (I even bought extra software for $140)
and endlessly levelling the base plate, to no avail. Here’s one of many failed attempts:
The reality of 3D printing
During the following week, I became intimately acquainted with the working of a consumer 3D
printer, and became active on the printing forums, which really opened my eyes about the reality of
consumer 3D printing. (FDM) Printers at this price point (under $5,000) are very basic machines,
and require regular ‘fixing’. When they do work, they’re not capable of precision modelling at all.
Machines that are able to print in 100 micron layers (one tenth of a millimetre), do not actually print
to that level of accuracy. So, even if my machine was functioning properly, the quality and accuracy
wouldn’t be up to the job.
My printer was returned once again to the shop, where this time, a fault was discovered, requiring
new parts to be ordered in. I’ve asked for a refund, as I can see that this is a dead end as far as
building melodicas go.
Going pro
So what next? What about professional 3D printers? Would they be up to the job? I decided to look
at two entry level pro models from Stratasys, the (ABS) plastic based Uprint SE, starting at around
$16,000, and the resin based Objet 24 at around $20,000. I visited the SYS Systems showroom in
Derbyshire, where they printed out some test parts for me to compare – a section of the skeleton,
and a couple of keys.
These printers are a world away from what I’d been using, big well built machines with low failure
rates and minimum maintenance. The Uprint parts were strong, as they were made out of ABS
plastic, but although the skeleton was tough, the keys were flimsy, and could easily be bent. The
surface was very rough and small details were completely lost on the keys, meaning any airtight
connections were impossible (see the top photo). This is a section of the reed chamber – as well as
the grainy finish, there’s a random step:
The way forward
The Objet 24 parts were much more accurate, and the keys less flexible, with the necessary level of
detail required for airtightness. But the material isn’t as strong as plastic, and it’s considerably more
expensive. Having said that, I do believe the quality is sufficient for printing out a functioning
melodica.
I’ve realised that although melodicas are very simple instruments, they need to be manufactured
with a high degree of accuracy. They’re made up of multiple moving parts which interface with
each other to make airtight connections. A tiny imperfection can have a large effect on many areas –
the evenness of a key’s motion, the ability to securely attach the reed plates, or opening and closing
the air channels without experiencing leaks.
But at $20,000 for the most basic professional 3D printer (not even big enough to print out the
complete skeleton), I’ll be going back to plan A, and using the services of a professional 3D
printing company. At least this time, I know which printer and material to specify!

3D Printing a Melodica (8) – Soft sticky prints

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

3 1,091 2 minutes read
21 October 2014
The melodica parts have arrived…
I eventually decided to send my 3D files over to a printing company based in the west midlands of
England, 3D Alchemy. I learnt from the previous test pieces that printing in plastic (ABS) would
not provide the surface quality I needed, so I opted to pay twice the price and have it printed in resin
on an Eden 500V printer, using Polyjet technology (resin cured with ultraviolet light).
A week later, the parts had arrived – all 34 of them, and it really was amazing to see them in their
realised form, finally holding them in my hands, after months of virtual tweaking on the computer.

Soft sticky prints?

I put all the parts together, and was delighted to see that the keys work well, and the Yamaha reed
plates fitted perfectly in the reed chamber. Just one problem. I noticed that the parts were a bit
sticky, and seemed soft and chalky. I thought perhaps they would dry out over the next few days.
I already had a sample key made using this ‘Polyjet’ material which is strong and plastic-like, so I
presumed it would harden into something similar. But when I attached the springs, which put a light
pressure on the keys, I found that after a number of hours, they had all buckled. All but one – the
original sample key was still rigid.

A design fault?
I contacted the 3d Printing company, who asked that I send all the parts back for them to check.
They explained that these parts were absolutely fine and that it was the design of the key which
needed looking at, as they had bent at the weakest point, where the thickness was just 1mm. It
seems the reason the identical sample key had not bent was because it had been printed in white and
not in blue. I had no idea that the two colours would produce something so different – the blue, soft,
bendable and chalky, and the white, hard, rigid and smooth.
As a courtesy, they kindly offered a 50% refund for the bent keys, and applied some extra ultra
violet curing on the main body and air chamber cover, to make it stronger. The parts returned with a
stronger plastic-like texture, similar to the white sample key.

3D Printing a Melodica (9) – Attaching parts

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

2 1,057 2 minutes read
28 October 2014
Attaching two 3D printed parts
I decided to try attaching the chamber cover to the main melodica body. I had already ordered some
small brass inserts to fit into the holes on the main body. These were to provide something for the
screws to screw into – like an anchored nut. I couldn’t quite get them in all the way, but this
shouldn’t be a problem, as they’ll protrude into pre-existing holes in the reed plates. With the seal in
place, I screwed the air chamber cover to the body, and was relieved to find that everything lined up
well. It seems airtight, but there’s no way of testing yet.
Time to try fixing the reed plates in place. My plan was to screw them directly into the body, but I
could see now that the resin material was too soft for that. I ordered some more brass inserts, but
went for a slightly different design to make sure they would go all the way in:

More equipment
I though about using a hand drill to make some holes for the inserts, but I now had a sense of how
delicate and intricate everything was, how accurate I needed to be, with no room for mistakes. So I
bought a beautiful little mini drill press (see it here) to make sure I got it right.
But the drill press only drills at a 90 degree angle. To complete the setup, I needed something that
would enable me to tilt the melodica body at a specific angle. After much research, (and failed
attempts with scraps of wood and rulers!) I found that what I needed was called an ‘adjustable angle
plate’ (see it here), which I promptly ordered. With the correct tools, I was able to make accurately
placed holes, in which the brass inserts slotted into nicely:

Tuning the reeds

Before I screwed the reed plates in, I had some tuning to do. I designed this melodica to use the two
reed plates that come with the Yamaha Pianica P32. But whereas the P32 goes from notes F to C,
mine is one tone higher, ranging from G to D. I therefore had to remove metal from the tops of the
reeds, until they were sounding approximately one tone higher. See the article ‘How to Tune a
Melodica’ for more info on tuning.
Because there was so much material to remove, I decided to use a small flat file to make it as even
as possible. This could only be done before the reed plate was attached. I just made a rough tuning
for now, with the final tuning to take place once the whole melodica was assembled.
3D Printing a Melodica (10) – first assembly

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

2 1,197 2 minutes read

The new melodica keys have arrived, but before putting all the parts together, I decided to try
painting the main body.
The main body (‘skeleton’) is made from Polyjet material which has had extra UV treatment to
make it even harder. Although Stratasys, the company who make Polyjet machines, say that no
‘finishing’ or sanding is required before painting, my model had many rough edges that needed
preparation with fine sand paper. I made a visit to the local car shop, and bought grey primer spray,
metallic silver paint spray and clear lacquer spray, and also got hold of some Acryl red glazing
putty, for any filling.
Sanding and filling
I began by sanding the rough edges. There were many parts of the model I couldn’t reach properly,
which I just left with a sort of rough layered texture. I wanted certain parts of the model to be very
smooth, so I applied some of the filler and let it dry, before sanding it.

I followed this with two layers of the primer, three layers of the silver paint, and then a couple of
layers of the lacquer. It came out looking very good – the rough edges actually look a bit like wood
grain.
Once painted, I glued on the rubber gasket (salvaged from a Pianica) with superglue. The gasket is
there to ensure an airtight seal between the main body and the key pads. It was now time to attach
all the keys, add the springs that hold them in place, and see whether I had a basic working
melodica!
So does it work?
Well, the good news is that yes, it worked, and had a lovely tone. The bad news was that it wasn’t
very airtight. I could press a key to get a sound, but it wasn’t very powerful. Air was escaping from
all sorts of unknown places.
Looking for air leaks
After much experimenting, including attaching a tube and dunking the whole instrument into a bowl
of water, I discovered the main reasons for air escaping.
I had designed the key pads with a fine lip around the edges for extra grip when closed. It turned out
on closer inspection that most of these lips hadn’t been printed properly – there were parts missing.
So I took all the keys off, and sanded the pads flat, which did make a big difference.
The other area was the air chamber cover. It’s attached to the main body with four screws, and the
area between the screws was actually bending under the pressure of the airflow, allowing air to
escape. It needed more screws to hold it in place. I sealed it with plastic tape as a temporary
solution. This made a vast difference.
Further experimentation
I also tried re-attaching the keys with stronger springs, as this would hopefully hold the pads tighter,
and keep more air from escaping. It didn’t actually make much difference to the air tightness, but
did have another unexpected effect, which I discovered a few days later.
The pressure of the springs began warping the main body, pulling it out of shape! Once this had
happened, everything went downhill. The keys lost their places, becoming uneven and stuck, the
pads misaligned with the body, leaving my dream of airtightness in tatters.

The next step

So, It’s back to the drawing board, to make a few changes. Key pads with flat surfaces. An air
chamber cover with more screws, and a new skeleton in a different material, and extra
reinforcements. That should do the trick!
3D Printing a Melodica (11) – second attempt

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

6 1,081 1 minute read

A new material?
After my last attempt warped under the pressure of the springs, I ordered all the melodica parts
again, with a few design modifications, in a new material. This time the material of choice was
nylon, otherwise known as “Strong and Flexible” at Shapeways. Although very strong, and capable
of good accuracy, this was a material I’d rejected previously because if its porosity. But maybe I
could seal the essential areas which needed to be airtight? If I could make this work, it would also
cost a fraction of the price of the previous Polyjet material.
Is it airtight?
Once all the parts arrived, my first call was to put it all together to see if I had an airtight structure.
My old key pad arrangement was letting out air, so I changed the design to simple flat pads, on
which I glued soft leather.
Also, my air chamber cover now had extra screws to ensure a tighter fit. Once the reeds were fitted,
and the keys attached, I tried blowing into the instrument without pressing any keys. And I was
delighted to find that it was completely airtight – nothing could get through.

Painting nylon
Now that the basics were all working, I was relieved to finally know that I’d have a good
functioning melodica before too long. It was time to seal and paint the melodica. I read that one way
of sealing this material is with superglue. This sounded like a potential nightmare to me, especially
when trying to get to all the hidden air cavities before the glue starts to dry. Another suggestion was
much simpler, and cheaper – Pledge Floor Multi-Surface Finish, or Pledge Klear Multi-surface wax
in the UK, which is apparently the same as acrylic varnish. After several coats of this, I applied a
couple of coats of Revell acryllic paint, and finished with clear lacquer from the car shop.
New reeds?
I’m still using the same reeds, which I took from a Yamaha P32D, and which I tuned down a tone.
I’m looking for an alternative now, as the detuning has left the reeds in a poor state – there’s little
chips in the metal, and some of the tongues look quite weak.

3D Printing a Melodica (12) – making

melodica keys

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

2 1,111 1 minute read
Once I knew that this melodica was airtight, and working well, I can finally get to my favourite bit
– making it look nice!
Ivory ‘white’ keys
I started with building the little piano style keys. I already had some ivory pieces salvaged from an
old piano.
It was time to cut them to size. Of course, I needed a new machine just for this purpose, and found a
lovely miniature table saw (Proxxon KS 115). Once trimmed to size, I used PVA glue to attach them
to the surface of the 3D printed key bases. I left them overnight with some strong mini clamps.

Once the glue had dried, I trimmed off any excess material with sandpaper, and also sanded the
surface of the keys to make sure that they were all level.
Finally, I painted the sides white, with Revell acrylic paint, and waxed the ivory with Renaissance
Wax.
Wooden ‘black’ keys
Next it was time to make the ‘black keys’. I acquired some new little machines for this, all of them
mini modelmakers tools. For each key top, I started by cutting off a small piece of Zebra wood,
with my new mini scroll saw (Proxxon Scroll Saw DS 115/E).
I sanded each block into a basic rectangular shape with a mini orbital sander (Proxxon Disc Sander
TG 125/E). As well as using glue, I thought they would be more secure with a simple tongue and
groove mechanism. As I had already built a tongue (raised section) into the design of the base, I just
had to make a groove in the wood for it to click into. So I put it in a vice, and used a Proxxon micro
router to create a slot.
Now that I could fit the two parts together, it was easy to see where I had to remove material from
the key top. I used the sander again, to create the final shape, constantly checking it with the 3D
base, to make sure it was a good fit. When satisfied with the shape, I used super glue to join them
together, and then oiled the wood with pure tung oil.
3D Printing a Melodica (13) – finishing
touches

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

0 1,076 2 minutes read
Just two things to complete on the melodica before I can say it’s finished. There’s the mouthpiece,
and at the other end of the instrument, the moisture-release valve.
What mouthpiece?
There’s many styles of mouthpieces for the melodica, so what shape did I choose? I’ve never been a
fan of long mouthpieces, as I like to be as close to the reeds as I can. I decided to go for something
short simple and symmetrical, made out of the same zebra wood that I used for other parts of the
melodica. Here’s the mouthpiece that I use on my Yamaha. I’ve sawn off the excessive curve on the
lip to enable a more direct airflow:
Attaching the mouthpiece
I had four options for attaching the mouthpiece. One was using a cork seal, which would have to be
maintained with wax, and replaced every number of years. Another was to use a cork substitute,
made of rubber. This would last a lot longer, and is a method used occasionally by melodica
manufacturers. The third method was to wind thread around the mouthpiece, as a wooden flautist
does to connect the different sections of the flute together.
I chose an even simpler option, employed by the vast majority of melodica manufacturers. I tapered
the mouthpiece slightly, so it gently wedges into place. This is working fine for now, but I wonder if
it might get stuck if the wood swells? If there are any problems, I can convert it to one of the above
solutions.
But how to make it?
To make the mouthpiece out of wood, I followed instructions on making wooden pens, as a pen has
a similar structure to a mouthpiece. This meant that I had to acquire yet another piece of equipment,
this time a mini lathe from Proxxon (see it here). I also had to get some extra bits and pieces for
making pens, and a nice little set of turning chisels.
Once everything was set up, I drilled a hole into the centre of the block of wood. I put the wood on
a steel rod (called a mandrel), and set it spinning. It was surprisingly easy to shape the wood from a
rectangle to a cylinder, and then into the shape I was after. After some sanding, and a drop of oil, I
had a nice new wooden mouthpiece
To the other end
In my melodica designs, I planned to raid an old Clavietta for it’s mositure-release valve, and had
just left a hole where it was to go. I found it easy to remove, unscrewing the lever and then
punching out the rivets which attached it the instrument:
I added some wood panels to the ends of the melodica, which enabled me to screw the moisture-
release valve securely on:

3D Printing a Melodica (14) – it’s finished!

Daren BanarsëAugust 6, 2020

19 1,501 Less than a minute
The melodica is ready!
What started out last summer as an idea for a project, has finally come to life. Thanks for all the
encouragement over the months, it’s all been really helpful in keeping me motivated. I’m really
happy with this little instrument – it’s just what I hoped it would be. Here’s some photos I took
today
And a little demonstration video!

Object 1