For my project, I am making a renaissance themed capo for my guitar. This idea evolved from me just wanting to make my project fancy and with a lot of curves, which is what led me to this theme for my object. In order to accomplish this, I will mainly use two methods. First, I am going to print the capo using a filament recommended to me by Chris Gibbs which will make the material look like stone/marble. Another way that I will do this is by adding some renaissance symbols. This was a challenge because my object is small, so I had to be careful where to add fine detail. The final print will not look as sharp as the CAD model in figure 1, but it will be close enough.

Figure 1

I was able to form a basic shape for my capo in the previous post, so my current design goals revolve around adding more aesthetic to my project. Another way I wanted to do this is through the architecture of my theme, and specifically renaissance arches. I found them very interesting when I was looking into renaissance architecture, so I modeled one and put it into my project. I had added a lot of fine detail and circular pillars to my model like in figure 3, but I had to take them out due to the small nature of the capo again. I’ll be interested to see how this part specifically turns out in the “marble” filament I’m using.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Another reason I decided to make the arch was for a functional purpose as well. I was having problems keeping my handles from separating, and the solutions I was coming up with weren’t working. This was mainly because I was trying to keep the piece that kept them attached hidden within the confines of the handles. I gave up on this idea and decided if I was going to show this piece, then I was going to make it a part of the aesthetic of my project. The arch holds the handles together, but it also gets in the way of the handles for the holder as well. I have to hope that the arch doesn’t hinder the functionality of the clamping motion more then it helps. I think that I will still be able to use the capo functionally, but I don’t know how bad this problem will be until I can hold it myself. However, my design has been setback from the timeline in the video. A quick recap is that I was expecting to print all of my parts on Saturday, April 3rd and assemble my project to start to bug test. I discovered later that my brother’s printer is out of service for the foreseeable future, so I have since put in a fabrication request with the university. I hope to have my pieces printed and assembled by Thursday, April 8th, and then see which parts I may need to redesign.

Figure 4

Presentation Video Link