Balalaika (Russian Stringed Musical Instrument) *Prints Without Supports*

thingiverse

Here is a fully playable Balalaika! Prints without supports! The Balalaika is one of Russia's most popular instruments. This 3 stringed instrument has a characteristic triangular form. Here's a quickie sound test. Some slight improvements to the sound have been make since.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akXrIWGhpfE Instructions Infill and print settings: Body- 50% with ~5 perimeters (shell) Neck- 50% or higher (print vertically) Fretboard- 30%-50% (print horizontally) Recommended at 0.2mm layer height Assembly: If your printed is large enough you can print the entire body in 1 print and the entire fretboard in 1 as well. The neck would be a minimum of two parts. I used super glue to bond parts together. You can use the joiners (flat pieces) to better fit the body parts. I might eventually have these built in so the 3 body parts puzzle right together. Strings: Traditional is 2 nylon and 1 steel. Other options include all nylon or all steel. I personally prefer all nylon. You can either buy Balalaika strings (somewhat pricey) or use classical/steel guitar strings. Two 0.04 gauge nylon strings and one 0.011 gauge steel string would be close to traditional. Tuners: I used cheapo individual classical tuners. You can pick them up from ebay for ~$5 free shipping. Traditional tuning: E-E-A