Make Musical Instruments from Reclaimed Wood
By Poppy Mosbacher. Posted
This article was originally published as part of HackSpace magazine, which has since been incorporated into Raspberry Pi Official Magazine.
Artist and musician, Tim Sway, has constructed an acoustic double bass using reclaimed wood from pallets, decking and cupboard doors.
Tim designed the shapes for the bass in VCarve CAD software and cut them out using a CNC machine. To create the flowing curves that become the sides of the instrument, Tim used a laser cutter to make flexible, living hinges in the wood.
A quick intro to Python – short scripts, rapid results.
“Perhaps the hardest part of this [build] is putting in the soundpost”, says Tim, but there’s a video to help you through it.
For lots more up-cycled music projects check out Tim’s YouTube channel.

Poppy is a maker and writer. She loves getting tech into the hands of people who do traditional crafts. She is helping set up a makerspace in Devon and was a director of BuildBrighton makerspace.
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