Pressing a record has always meant factory equipment, minimum orders and long waits, which keeps small or one-off releases out of vinyl entirely. This project tackles that with a vinyl on demand idea: playable LP records that come straight off a 3D printer instead of a pressing plant.
The setup is an Original Prusa XL with multiple toolheads. A custom printed stylus attachment is fitted onto one of the print heads, and the disc itself is printed directly on the heated build plate. The finished record is orange, with rings of concentric ridges standing in for grooves and a round white label at the center. With the stylus in place, the whole machine behaves as a turntable and plays the disc.
The workflow details are worth a close look. The model, filed as prusa-vinyl-deska-v1.3.3mf, is sliced in PrusaSlicer before printing. Nozzle choice gets real attention here: a 0.25 mm nozzle and a 0.6 mm ObXidian are both in play, and a wrench is used to swap nozzles on an XL toolhead and on an Original Prusa MK4 extruder. The soundtrack comes from a fictional group called The ThermoPLASTIC People.
One question is still open, and the maker has said so directly: can the music be made recognizable? My guess is that grooves this fine push ordinary machines hard, and an average household FDM printer probably would not keep up with an XL on a job like this.
Project by Prusa 3D. Watch it on their YouTube channel: