Ukelele Friction Tuner Replacement Washer

thingiverse

I am not a professional instrument repair person, and this fix may not be perfect. If your ukulele breaks, it's best to talk to someone who knows how to fix instruments, not a computer scientist with a 3D printer. I own a ukulele that has little monetary value but holds sentimental and practical importance for me. It's likely a high-end souvenir ukulele because it sounds relatively good despite my limited knowledge about it. The instrument features "Hawaii" printed on it along with wooden dolphin cutouts glued to the body, and fishing line wrapped around some of the tuners for display purposes. A part broke, so I designed and 3D-printed a replacement piece to keep the ukulele playable. This project also serves as an introduction to basic OpenSCAD concepts since the .scad file is heavily documented for easy customization and instruction. My ukulele features friction tuners with a tuning key for each string that goes straight through to the front of the head, allowing for tightening and loosening without gears. The tune is held in place by the friction between a slope on the base of the plastic tuning key/knob and a special-looking washer sandwiched between the key and the back of the headstock. One of these washers cracked into two pieces, so I measured the accessible part of the key surface and the intact washers to design a quick and easy printed replacement. Here is the replacement part I needed for my friction tuner. After researching "uke friction tuners," it appears that there are various designs available, making this a potential starting point for re-designing or replacing both plastic parts of the tuner to provide a better tuning experience. I have updated the customizer to include parameter validation. While it's still easiest to download and edit locally, I now have added features to make customization more intuitive.