3D Flutes - Native American Flute

[@BarryGrueter]

Very cool Clint, thanks for sharing.

[@midnightsun9559]

Love my 3D printed flutes by PYNflutes! they are elegant with spot-on tuning. They are made from bioplastic sourced from leftovers from sugar beet and cornstarch processing. It is biodegradable in landfills. The printing is extraordinarily refined - the finish has a silky look. I do music therapy with seniors in memory care and these are durable and forgiving as well as easily cleaned if one of our clients decides to "test drive" one of those intriguing creations. When I took a couple to our flute circle, the people there admired the sound and the tuning accuracy. "We finally found our flutes to take on vacation" was the general comment. The process has allowed me to afford flutes that might be beyond my financial reach such as drone flutes with extra holes on the drone side. They are great flutes for travelling as well. An interesting side note - when I took one of the PYNflutes to church to play, it inspired the purchase of bioplastic tableware to replace the usual plastics we had used in the past. Oh, yes; working with Reza the owner of PYNflutes is delightful. He's always up for new ideas!

[@midnightsun9559]

By the way - I make wood flutes, PVC flutes and PVC and wood composite flutes. I've seen Native American made flutes made from silver (Dine), gun barrels and zinc coated pipe!

[@randymotz134]

Truly amazing technology!

[@joannelazzaro]

It’s amazing what can be done with 3-D printing! There are also folks replicating historical Baroque flutes, too. Amazing what can be done! Thanks for the demos, and also featuring John Ortega’s poly-pan-flute design.

[@ChiefPoints]

Great flutecast Clint, really enjoyed it. 3D Printed flutes are what initially got me into playing the Native American style flute. I made one years ago, but having never played the NAF i didn't have anything to compare it to, which led to my first NAF purchase. Years and some 50-60 flutes later, the NAF has become a major part of my life. While it can't compare to my higher end wooden flutes, I'll always love that first 3D printed flute for starting me on this life fulfilling flute odyssey.

[@Cj12sings]

FABULOUS!!!!

[@ChrisLeeW00]

I’ve made half a dozen breathe flutes, in varying sizes to fit different pvc pipe diameters. Such great work modeling it, its one of my favorite projects!

[@BrentAdams]

Cool! Embrace the new methods and designs. I'm Loving the Breath Flute and so do many of my Friends! Thanks so much for what you do Clint!

[@stephenhill6003]

I have a 3D printed D NAF that I use for hiking/backpacking. It pulls apart and sounds pretty good, but most importantly it can take knock without much damage. But for at home playing, I prefer wood.

[@DavidPopescu-hk6jv]

Clint did you purchase the Qwistle or did you 3d print it ? I have printed a few and I keep having trouble with the because they all jump wayyy to easily from the first to second ocatave on the lower notes like D and E

[@ClintGoss]

I did print it myself (in "Corkfill" - an unusual PLA blend). I believe that, on any 3D-printed flute with a fipple edge (Native flutes, recorders, etc), you will probably have to work on that fipple edge - careful sanding of the sound mechanism area. Maybe also smoothing out the windway and such. I did a bit of that - nothing too extreme but I think it took me maybe 5 minutes with small bits of smooth (high grit) sandpaper, and it worked.

[@DavidPopescu-hk6jv]

Hmm that my be why none of my Qwistles sound good....I used 0.08 layer height and didn't sand them at all. How high grit sandpaper did you use ? I'm a bit afraid of sanding it with too low a grit and ruining it

[@mickaltham8202]

I have a 3D printed low D with drone, I'm hoping it has a terrible accident, it's horrible, I had to spend hours sanding the block and around the sound hole and it still leeks, absolutely worst flute ever, I've played drain pipe flutes that are thousand times better, I'll never buy another synthetic or 3D printed flute

[@ClintGoss]

Not easy to actually *produce* a good 3D printed flute ...

[@mickaltham8202]

@@ClintGoss it's easier to make traditional style flutes from wood, and cost a lot less if they don't turn out right, plastic or other composite materials have no soul to them, mine plays in tune but feels horrible in the hands, I'm tempted to make a wooden fetish to see if it makes any difference to the sound