A cello you can make.

The O’Cello is a full-size cello you can 3D print at home. Print the parts, add readily available hardware, assemble—and play.

Download on Thingiverse See what you’ll need

20 cm: minimum print bed
6: major body parts
Free: for personal use

Full-size / printable

A white O’Cello standing upright, seen from the front

Design

The O’Cello was developed by Conor O’Kane to make a playable cello accessible to anyone with a desktop 3D printer.

Every printed component fits on a 20 cm print bed. A 12 mm steel rod runs through the six main sections, giving the slim modular body the rigidity it needs under string tension.

The O'Cello does not need sanding or painting after printing. It is ready-to-play once printed and assembled.

Hear the O’Cello in performance

Close detail of the O’Cello body, bridge and supports

Assembly

Exploded view labelling the printable O’Cello components

Printed parts

Print the six body sections plus the bridge, cover, rests and stand fittings. A steel spine gives the assembled instrument its rigidity.

01 Modular printed body
02 Bridge and cover
03 Adjustable end-pin
04 Chest and knee supports

Additional parts

M5 × 45 mm socket-head screws7
M5 × 30 mm socket-head screws2
M5 nuts9
M5 washers12
12 mm steel rod · 1 m1
10 mm aluminium tube · 45 cm1
20 × 20 × 2 mm aluminium L-bar · 30 cm1
Cello strings · C, G, D and A4
Bass guitar tuning keys · 2 left, 2 right4
25 mm screw plugs—

Print settings

Layer height: 0.2 mm
Infill: 15%
Raft: No
Supports: Yes
Filament: ≈ 0.5 kg

15-page PDFAssembly instructions

Gallery

01 / 07

Close-up of the bridge and O’Cello body — Bridge & body

Close-up of the O’Cello head and fingerboard — Fingerboard & head

Close-up of the O’Cello chest rest — Chest rest

The two white printed O’Cello knee rests — Knee rests

Printed O’Cello screw plugs — Screw plugs

Close-up of the adjustable O’Cello end-pin and stand — Adjustable stand

Three-quarter view of the assembled O’Cello — Assembled instrument

Designed to be
remixed.

The O’Cello model open in Blender with its printed components listed in the scene hierarchy — Blender source view

The original Blender file includes every component in its assembled orientation, making it easy to remix and modify.

Download the Blender source

License information

The O’Cello design files are available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

Creative
Commons Credit
the creator Non-commercial
use only

Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.

Adapt

Remix, transform and build upon the design for non-commercial purposes.

The terms

Give credit. Credit Conor O’Kane, link to the license and indicate whether you made changes.
Keep it non-commercial. Your use must not be primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
Add no restrictions. Do not apply legal or technological measures that prevent others from doing what the license permits.

This is a plain-language summary, not a substitute for the license. Other rights may still apply. For commercial licensing, email licensing@o-cello.com.

Human-readable deed Full legal code Attribution guide