Making durable, high quality, 3D printed instruments is not for the faint of heart!
When I first met Alfred, Founder and CEO of Forte3D, at a 3D printing industry event in 2022, it was clear he's a talented individual and was building something special! We had a wonderful conversation about his product, vision, challenges, and how Protopasta might help. I invited him to the stage during my presentation, and, as a confident performer, he had no reservations filling the room with the rich resonance of his 3D printed cello. Seeing him on Shark Tank more recently was a wonderful reminder of this special experience.
Starting with off-the-shelf materials, Alfred couldn't meet all of the complex and specific needs required in making world class instruments with impeccable sound quality. A big chemical company might have been able to offer the technical know-how, but they weren't interested in the small scale required for this niche opportunity. The scale of the plastics industry often leaves small volume, specialized solutions out of reach.
That's where Protopasta was able to offer unique value. With select resin provided by Forte3D, we applied our specialty compounding capabilities to carefully produce a consistent, custom-tailored, carbon fiber composite that met his sound, mechanical performance, cost, quantity, and lead time requirements for the production of cellos!
Working with Alfred, his dedication to produce premium sound using the latest technology at an accessible price is clear. Forte3D cellos exist because of the unique combination of will, competence, technology, design, and materials. I'm grateful for our small, but crucial contribution to Forte3D's success. If not for Protopasta, Alfred would not have succeeded in producing the winning sound as seen on Shark Tank.
Congratulations Alfred and the entire Forte3D team for your success and innovation! May the deal with Lori Greiner and the addition of 3D printed violins to your offerings bring you further success as you reach more musicians with unique, high quality musical instruments at scale with 3D printing technology.
All our best,
Alex and the Protopasta Team
In celebration of their Shark Tank success, Forte3D invites you to save 25% off their newest instrument, the Forte3D violin. Printed, assembled, and designed for world-class sound, you get a technically advanced violin for less than a traditional one. Pretty rad proposition!
Not shopping for a stringed instrument? Still, you've got to check out their performance on Shark Tank to appreciate the sound. These are professional quality, complete instruments that just happen to make innovative use of 3D printing. Fun fact, Alfred started with Protopasta Carbon Fiber HTPLA as his benchmark for sound quality.
Want to 3D print a fiddle for yourself? David Perry designed the open source FFFiddle for anyone to print. Since 2013, he's designed several variations. He prints them in Protopasta HTPLA and heat treats them for higher temperature resistance. Read more about how he uses heat treating to produce durable violins in our application blog.
Have a specialized application that needs a custom filament solution? Let's chat!