With 3D printing, the violin plays better and more sustainably
Larsen Strings A/S
Larsen Strings produces some of the world’s best strings for some of the world’s best musicians
In the 3D printing design optimisation programme, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), they had the opportunity to test 3D printing for a special tool in production
The Danish company Larsen Strings produces strings for cellos, violins and violas. In its production, the company has a relatively large tooling component where, with conventional manufacturing, a significant amount of material is milled away today-material that is simply wasted. Therefore, Larsen Strings wanted to investigate whether 3D printing could be an option, as the technology enables production using only the exact amount of material required to make the component.
Larsen Strings tested this opportunity in the 3D printing design optimisation programme, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM).
The topology optimisation has resulted in a design with organic shapes and a bone-like structure.
In the DfAM project, they printed the component in titanium, which is both lightweight and strong, thereby reducing the weight by 43% while increasing strength by 130%.
Despite the impressive results, the price unfortunately also increased by 200%, which is why Larsen Strings is not proceeding with the solution initially.
“Today, the challenges with this component are that we sometimes need a new one-and because it is both a material that can be difficult to source and also difficult to machine, we would like to look at other materials where we use smaller quantities.”
Results from programmes with Dansk AM Hub
- enormous design freedom and flexibility
- 43% weight reduction compared with traditional tooling
- 130% increase in strength compared with traditional tooling
- 3D printing in titanium-instead of aluminium, which was previously used
About the DfAM programme
During 2022, 15 Danish companies worked on redesigning a product or component using 3D printing through Danish AM Hub’s innovation programme: Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). Of these, 11 companies had a ‘pre-component’ that made it possible to compare with the redesigned component, and in ten of these cases it was possible to reduce the weight by between 43% and 96%. The benefits of weight reduction served different purposes depending on each company’s specific production and end products.
Specifically in the DfAM project, the aim has been to design participants’ components or products better or differently so they can be manufactured using less material, with greater strength, and optimised with new or improved functionality and efficiency. All with the purpose of creating more sustainable products and components.
About the company
Larsen Strings A/S
Location
Sønderborg, Southern Denmark
Number of employees
30–50
Info
Larsen Strings is a developer, manufacturer and global distributor of strings for bowed instruments such as violin, viola and cello.
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