Riff
Recycled Guitar Picks
Winter 2023
Transforming 3D printed scraps into individually unique and playable guitar picks. Produced for sale at a local design store.
Process Video
Take a look into the creation of Riff.
Material Sourcing
PLA sourced from 3D printing scraps from personal projects, school and work.
Processing
Sorting PLA by color and running scraps through a granulator to output fine pellets.
Creating PLA Sheets
Experimenting with pellet color layout and heat pressing into sheets.
Before + After
Laser Cut
Designing, laser cutting, and engraving a variety of pick shapes and clips.
Four pick shapes; shark fin, triangle, standard, and jazz.
Accompanied by a pick clip that can be affixed to a guitars headstock for easy storage and accessibility.
500+ picks made.
Guitar Picks + Clips
Partnering with local business Ideal, students made a production batch of their product to be displayed and sold for a month.
Opening night was a success and exciting to network with locals and professionals.
Many thanks to Ideal for this opportunity.
ReMade Showcase
A 3D printed stand and pick vessels to reflect the material used.
Store Display Stand
Store on Headstock
Project Success
A second batch was created for local bands Energy Pyramid and Lemon Bear.
Project Takeaways
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Different PLA colors have varying melting points, so I had to ensure they fused properly in the hydraulic press.
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Shims enabled varied pick thicknesses for different needs.
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This took more time than I anticipated with scheduling machine times and how the process differs from producing one versus many.