This evening our training band conductor was unable to make it so I stepped in. I’ll be doing the same next week as well so I decided an upgrade was in order for the stick I’ve been using as a baton. It was really nothing more than a thick splinter of wood with black tape round the handle and white tape along the rest of it. I’m still using it but I’ve now designed and printed a curved base to give a better grip and it did an decent job in its first test tonight.

To get the shape, I sketched out my idea on paper, created a curved profile of one half using Inkscape (allowing a mixture of measurement and moving things by eye) and then did a “rotate extrude” in OpenSCAD to create my model for 3D printing. Originally I’d planned to drop some waste plastic inside the handle to add a bit of extra weight (and dispose of it in a helpful way) but I ended up needing to get the print done quickly. I’ll have to find another use for my plastic waste but I think the feel of the finished piece is quite successful.

All I need to do now is work on my conducting skills!