To get a sense of just how finely tuned 3-D printing technology is, turn your ear toward the sounds of a 3-D-printed saxophone.
Designer Olaf Diegel, who also has made 3-D-printed guitars, debuted his first 3D-printed saxophone. (Image source: YouTube)
Olaf Diegel, the creator of ODD Guitars, made the new-age instrument, saying the alto sax is only a preview, and thus is not yet perfect. He also noted that as a non-sax player listeners should "be amazed by what 3-D printing is capable, rather than by how my awful sax playing might be."
Watch and hear how it performs:
According to Diegel's description, the 3-D-printed sax has 41 components, not including springs and screws. The material is nylon and it weighs "less than a quarter of a real sax."
Diegel's main focus on in the field of 3-D-printed instruments is guitars. In this video, he explains how the manufacturing of such a guitar takes place:
"It allows me to make incredibly complex parts that you couldn't make any other way," Diegel said in the video.
Diegel is a professor of product development at Lund University with "a passion for 3-D printing and other advanced manufacturing technologies."
(H/T: Gizmodo)