3D render of the Music Box: a yellow drum full of black pins between the cheeks of a teal frame, a silver comb under its front and the crank on the right
Free 3D model

Music Box

A music box you program yourself. The drum has a hole for every note at every step, 960 in all: push short pieces of filament into the holes, turn the crank, and the pins pluck a printed comb of 15 tines, two octaves of C major. The ZIP has pin charts for Ode to Joy, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and Frère Jacques as a round, and a blank one for your own tune: wrap a chart round the drum and push a pin through every dot. The comb is printed PLA, so it sounds softer and rounder than a steel music box, and you tune each tine with a file and a tuner app.

  • 8printed parts
  • 12 × 11 × 11 cmassembled (L × W × H)
  • ≈ 0.2 kgfilament in total
  • 56 mmheight of the frame, the tallest part (94 × 144 mm on the bed)
Download all files ZIP · 1.3 MB

Free for personal use under CC BY-NC 4.0: print it, remix it and share it with credit to Shapekit. Please don't sell the files or the prints.

Take it apart in 3D · Parts · How to build it

In 3D

Turn it, take it apart

Every part as you print it. Pick colours to see what your filament will look like.

The 3D model (4.6 MB) loads when you get here.

Preview colours

Case and frame
Drum
Comb
Crank

Drag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom

In the download

8 parts, ready to print

Every STL is already placed the right way up. Download them all at once, or one by one.

Case

A closed box under the frame. The frame plate on top of it is the soundboard; the box gives the notes their body. Four bosses in the corners take the screws.

Size
116 × 94 × 25 mm
Print
Open side up. No supports.
Filament
≈ 63 g
STL 0.1 MB

Frame

The plate, the two cheeks that carry the drum and the crank, and the block the comb is screwed to, in one piece, so the drum and the comb always line up. The rosette of holes lets the sound out.

Size
116 × 94 × 53 mm
Print
Flat side down. No supports: the holes in the cheeks have pointed tops.
Filament
≈ 61 g
STL 0.5 MB

Drum

960 holes, 15 notes along it and 64 steps round it, for the pins that play the tune. The 56-tooth gear is part of it. Numbers on the far end count the steps and a notch marks where step 1 starts.

Size
73 × 72 × 72 mm
Print
Gear down. No supports: the pin holes have pointed tops and the far end closes with a 45° cone.
Filament
≈ 100 g
STL 3.4 MB

Comb

15 tines tuned to two octaves of C major, from C4 (38.9 mm long) to C6 (19.4 mm). A groove on top marks each C. The slots let it slide 2 mm along the tines, so the pins meet the tips where they should.

Size
63 × 58 × 6 mm
Print
Flat, tines on the bed, at 100% infill and 0.12 mm layers. In PLA: the tine lengths are worked out for it.
Filament
≈ 14 g
STL 0.1 MB

Crank pinion

14 teeth on a 6 mm shaft that runs through the cheek: four turns of the crank turn the drum once.

Size
21 × 20 × 18 mm
Print
Gear down. No supports.
Filament
≈ 2 g
STL 0.2 MB

Crank arm

Fits the hex on the shaft, held by an M3 × 8 and a washer. The peg at the other end carries the knob.

Size
42 × 23 × 14 mm
Print
Flat, peg up.
Filament
≈ 3 g
STL 28 KB

Knob

Turns on the peg of the arm, held by an M3 × 8 and a washer.

Size
16 × 13 × 13 mm
Print
Standing up.
Filament
≈ 2 g
STL 45 KB

Pin gauge

Cuts the pins to length: stand it on the table, push filament down a hole until it stops and cut it off flush with the top. Every pin comes out 6.5 mm long, so it sticks out 2 mm from the drum.

Size
34 × 14 × 12 mm
Print
Flat. Not part of the box: only in the download.
Filament
≈ 3 g
STL 27 KB
Also needed

Parts you buy

  • 86 mm of 3 mm steel rod for the drum to turn on.
  • 1.75 mm filament for the pins, 6.5 mm a pin: Ode to Joy takes 46 pins, about 30 cm. Any colour that stands out against the drum.
  • M3 screws: 4 × 12 for the case, 3 × 16 with washers for the comb, 2 × 8 with washers for the crank and the knob.
  • A flush cutter for the pins, pliers to pull them out again, and a small file for tuning the tines.
  • A tuner app on your phone.
Print settings

Slicer settings

0.2 mmlayer height (0.12 mm for the comb)
3walls
15%infill; 100% for the comb
PLAmaterial: the tine lengths are worked out for PLA

For a 0.4 mm nozzle. Filament amounts are estimates for these settings.

Assembly

How to build it

Print the parts

Nothing needs supports. Print the comb in PLA, flat with the tines on the bed, at 100% infill and 0.12 mm layers: that is what the tine lengths are worked out for.

Cut the pins

Stand the pin gauge on the table, push filament down a hole until it touches the table and cut it off flush with the top. Every pin comes out 6.5 mm long. The pins should go into the drum with a firm push; if a hole is too tight, open it with a 1.8 mm drill turned by hand.

Program the drum

Print a page of the pin charts (in the ZIP) at 100%, cut out the strip and wrap it round the drum: gear on the right, bottom edge at the notch on the far end. Push a pin through every black dot until it stops, then tear the paper off. To change the tune, pull the pins out with pliers.

Drum and crank

Push the 3 mm rod through the far cheek, through the drum with its gear on the crank side, and into the other cheek. Slide the shaft of the crank pinion through its hole from the inside, fit the arm on the hex with an M3 × 8 and a washer, and the knob on the peg the same way.

Set the comb

Screw the comb onto its block with three M3 × 16 and washers, not yet tight. Turn the crank slowly and slide the comb until every pin pushes its tine down at the very tip and lets it snap back, while the drum itself never touches a tine. Then tighten the screws.

Tune it

Check each tine with a tuner app. If a note is low, file a little off the tip to raise it; if it is high, file the underside near the root a little thinner to lower it. Take 0.1 mm off a tip and the note goes up by about a tenth of a semitone.

Close the case

Set the frame on the case and screw it down with four M3 × 12. Stand the box on a table: the table makes it louder.

Play

Turn the crank clockwise, about once every four seconds: that is the tempo the charts are written for. The drum plays the tune once for every four turns, and then starts again.

Small parts and short pins: keep them away from young children.

More free models

Print this one next

3D render of the Radial Engine: seven silver finned cylinders around a graphite crankcase, a black three-blade propeller with a red spinner, on a white stand

Radial Engine

A 7-cylinder radial with a master rod, six link rods and a 34 cm propeller. Turn the crank and all seven pistons move.

  • 19 parts
  • ≈ 1.0 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the V8 Engine: an orange block with graphite heads, eight silver velocity stacks, timing gears and the hand-turned pulley at the front, on a black stand

V8 Engine

A cross-plane V8 with a gear-driven camshaft and sixteen moving valves. Turn the handle and watch it run.

  • 26 parts
  • ≈ 0.8 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Wankel Rotary Engine: a finned orange housing with the silver rotor visible through the open front, spark plugs on the right, intake and exhaust on the left, on a black stand

Wankel Rotary Engine

A single-rotor Wankel with an open front and real phasing gears. Turn the handle and watch the rotor go round.

  • 13 parts
  • ≈ 0.4 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Tourbillon Wall Clock: a white dial with black hands over yellow gears in a graphite frame, the tourbillon cage with its blue balance and hairspring below

Tourbillon Wall Clock

A weight-driven wall clock with a one-minute tourbillon that is also its seconds hand.

  • 34 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Enigma Cipher Machine: a round black dial with a white letter ring, three rotor rings with black letters and a red key and pointer

Enigma Cipher Machine

Three rotors wired like the real Enigma I and a key that steps them. It really encrypts.

  • 13 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Manual Gearbox: silver gears on two shafts in an open graphite case, blue shift forks and rails above them, and the black lever in its H-pattern gate

Manual Gearbox

A five-speed gearbox with reverse and an H-pattern lever. Shift through the gears and watch the dog collars engage.

  • 41 parts
  • ≈ 0.4 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Walking Strandbeest: eight orange Jansen legs on a graphite body with white cranks

Walking Strandbeest

Eight Theo Jansen legs and an N20 gear motor on two AA batteries. It walks across your desk by itself.

  • 17 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Car Differential: a graphite housing cut open along the axle, an orange ring gear and pinion, a blue carrier with the spider gears, silver axles to two white wheels with black tyres, on a white stand

Car Differential

A cutaway rear axle with a crank: hold one wheel and the spider gears make the other turn twice as fast.

  • 19 parts
  • ≈ 0.8 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Coffee Cup Stirling Engine: a red flywheel on a black A-frame above a silver air chamber with aluminium plates, the white conrods and the orange power cylinder

Coffee Cup Stirling Engine

A low temperature Stirling engine with a balloon diaphragm and a big flywheel. It runs on a mug of hot coffee.

  • 17 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Blacksmith Automaton: a blue smith with his hammer raised next to a black anvil with an orange horseshoe, on a terracotta box with a yellow crank

Blacksmith Automaton

A hand-cranked automaton: a snail cam lifts the smith's hammer and lets it drop on the horseshoe.

  • 16 parts
  • ≈ 0.1 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Orrery: an orange Sun with six planets and the Moon on silver arms, above yellow gears in a graphite drum with a crank

Orrery

The Sun, six planets and the Moon on geared arms. One turn of the crank is one year.

  • 43 parts
  • ≈ 0.6 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Marble Machine: a silver screw lift on the left, orange tracks and a red rocker on a white pegboard, on a graphite base, with coloured marbles

Marble Machine

A screw lift carries marbles up, a rocker sends them left and right, four tracks bring them back. Runs on two AA batteries.

  • 10 parts
  • ≈ 0.5 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Tesla Turbine: an orange housing ring with its inlet arm between two graphite side covers on a black stand, with a red spoked pulley on the shaft

Tesla Turbine

Nikola Tesla's bladeless turbine: nine flat discs in a housing, spun by compressed air from the rim inwards.

  • 9 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Tendon-Driven Robot Hand: a white hand with a graphite palm on a black open forearm, five blue servos with orange spools in a staircase and five red lines running down from the wrist

Tendon-Driven Robot Hand

A life-size hand with fishing line tendons and elastic: five servos and an Arduino make the gestures, or you pull the rings by hand.

  • 20 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Split-Flap Clock: an orange housing with a black front and two windows showing 09 57 in white digits on black flaps

Split-Flap Clock

Hours and minutes on falling flaps, like an old station board, on two stepper motors and an ESP32 that sets the time itself.

  • 28 parts
  • ≈ 0.8 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Antikythera Mechanism from the front: a zodiac and calendar dial with a gold Sun pointer and a Moon pointer with a half dark phase ball

Antikythera Mechanism

The ancient Greek calculator of the sky: Sun, Moon, Moon phase and eclipse cycles from one crank.

  • 45 parts
  • ≈ 0.6 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Kinetic Wave Sculpture: 32 blue slats on a graphite frame, their crests forming two waves, with a white crank on the right

Kinetic Wave Sculpture

A hand-cranked camshaft of 32 identical cams lifts 32 slats into two rolling waves.

  • 10 parts
  • ≈ 0.6 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Steam Locomotive: a black tank engine with red frames and wheels and silver valve gear, on a piece of dark grey track

Steam Locomotive

A tank engine whose Walschaerts valve gear really works: push it along and watch the valves, pull the lever to reverse.

  • 48 parts
  • ≈ 0.8 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Turbo Desk Fan from the front

Turbo Desk Fan

A working desk fan shaped like a car turbocharger, with a speed knob in the base.

  • 4 parts
  • ≈ 0.9 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Jet Engine Desk Fan: a white engine with a dark fan on a black base

Jet Engine Desk Fan

A turbofan with 20 swept blades. Fits the Turbo Desk Fan's base and prints without supports.

  • 7 parts
  • ≈ 0.8 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Self-Watering Planter: a fluted terracotta pot with a dark inner pot and the fill cap at the back

Self-Watering Planter

A fluted planter for a 12 cm plant, with a hidden 0.6 litre reservoir and a float that shows the water level.

  • 6 parts
  • ≈ 0.6 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Headphone Stand: a white base and upright with a teal cushioned hanger

Headphone Stand

A sturdy headphone stand with a bayonet base, a cushioned hanger, an earbud tray and a cable hook.

  • 3 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Mini Drawer Cabinet: a graphite frame with three white drawers and orange handles, one drawer open

Mini Drawer Cabinet

Two small drawers and a wide one, with drawer stops and clip-on handles. Stack or link as many as you like.

  • 5 parts
  • ≈ 0.6 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the stand: a white base with an orange back support, holding a phone

Phone & Tablet Stand

Plug the back in at 55, 65 or 75 degrees. Fits phones and tablets in a case, with a slot for the charging cable.

  • 2 parts
  • ≈ 0.1 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Bird Feeder: a sage green roof and tray with a white seed tube and a dark hanging loop

Bird Feeder

A hanging seed feeder with a twist-lock tube, a perch ring and a roof that slides up to refill.

  • 4 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Rotating Desk Organizer: a white carousel with pen cups, a scissor slot and a tray on a dark base

Rotating Desk Organizer

Pen cups, a scissor slot and a tray on a base that spins smoothly on 6 mm airsoft BBs.

  • 3 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Planetary Gear Desk Toy: a graphite housing on a foot with orange gears, a white carrier, pointer and crank

Planetary Gear Desk Toy

A hand-cranked 5:1 planetary gearbox with herringbone teeth. Clicks together and prints without supports.

  • 7 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Laptop Stand: two graphite side stands joined by orange cross bars, holding an open 14-inch laptop

Laptop Stand

Lifts your screen about 12 cm at a 20° tilt. Fits 11 to 16 inch laptops; the cross bars wedge in, no screws.

  • 3 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
The empty stand: graphite base with side walls, two orange rollers on white axle pegs and the curved filament guide

Filament Spool Holder

Rolls any spool from 250 g to 3 kg on four 608 skate bearings, with a filament guide. Any hub size.

  • 4 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Gridfinity Starter Set: a graphite baseplate filled with white, orange and teal bins

Gridfinity Starter Set

A 4 × 4 baseplate with eight stackable bins that fill it. Gridfinity-compatible, no supports.

  • 7 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Dice Tower: a graphite castle tower with a crenellated crown and corner turrets, standing in an orange tray with dice in front of the arched gate

Dice Tower

Two baffles and an exit ramp tumble your dice into a tray with a felt recess. No glue, no supports.

  • 4 parts
  • ≈ 0.3 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Battery Dispenser: a white dispenser with three chutes of batteries, one battery in each tray, and an orange lid

Battery Dispenser

Two AA chutes and one AAA chute. The bottom battery rolls onto a tray, the next drops down.

  • 2 parts
  • ≈ 0.2 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
3D render of the Cube Desk Calendar: two white cubes showing 14 and a teal bar showing OCT in a graphite stand

Cube Desk Calendar

Two number cubes show every date, three bars show the month. With a stand that hides the spare bars.

  • 6 parts
  • ≈ 0.1 kg filament
  • STL
View and download
A lamp shade with a photo in it, glowing

Or design your own

Put your own photo in a phone case, lamp shade or lithophane, right in your browser.

  • Free
  • No account
  • STL
Open the makers