3D-printing has found another innovative use: creating parts for antique music instruments.
Medical technology is being used for this practice by researchers at the University of Connecticut led by Dr. Robert Howe, a reproductive endocrinologist and doctoral student in music theory and history at the university, according to CBS News. Howe said he learned from his medical practice how computerized tomography could create precise 3D images of body parts, and figured out that he could use the same technology to study old music instruments.
Howe worked with Richard Bass, a professor in music theory, and Sina Shahbazmohamadi, an engineer and director for advanced 3D imaging at UConn, to develop a process that uses CT scanning technology to make images of these instruments and print 3D copies of parts that would let people play more of them.
With this technology, the researchers were able to study 18th-century horns, and discovered they were more complicated than previously believed. Using a technique that lets them scan metal and wood at the same time, the team was able to make exact 3D images of the mouthpiece of one of the first saxophones made in the 19th century by Adolphe Sax, Tree Hugger reported.
Currently, only three of these mouthpieces exist in the world. Prior to the existence of 3D-printing technology, the mouthpieces had to be measured by metal calipers to make copies, and this process could cause damage to the wood. Afterwards, the part would have to be handmade - a process that would be long and costly. 3D-printing and scanning, however, is letting the research team make copies with precise dimensions so they can avoid harming the part, and each part only costs $18 to make.
"If they can accurately reproduce the dimensions in the mouthpiece that Adolphe Sax himself invented, it would be of fundamental, seminal importance in understanding our instrument," said Paul Cohen, a saxophonist who teaches at New York University.
The scanning process allowed the team to create replicas of the saxophone mouthpiece, as well as for B-flat bass, E-flat sopranino and other types of Sax's horns, CBS News reported.
The team is looking to eventually use the technology to make copies of whole instruments, as well as repair broken ones. Shahbazmohamadi said the computer technology will help them fix flaws in the original instruments.
One of the 3D printed replacement parts has already been used to play a 1740 recorder, Tree Hugger reported.
"The universal availability of 3-D printing, which is happening as we wait, will make all this work very relevant and not just for musical instruments," Howe said. "The ability to measure and replicate items that are difficult to measure and replicate is going to explode."
