The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

So, how was the reproduced component?

My thought is that at the current time, pot metal parts are too expensive to reproduce individually... you need a large market to make it work financially. However, I don't think it will be too long before affordable 3D metal sintering printers will be available and that would change the entire picture. A commercial printer that does sintering costs many thousands of dollars - up to a million and therefore it is expensive to get a part printed in metal at the present time.

I think one of the costly elements in having parts cast is the pattern-making, as well as the complexity of the piece in question.



The 3-D printing process must go a long way to simplifying the pattern-making process. Jay Leno was an early adopter, to assist in making replica parts for his various antique cars.


I am quite unconvinced of the integrity / reliability / durability of 3-D "printed" metal parts... perhaps unreasonably, but some object spat out of a computer jet does not inspire confidence to my Luddite mind...

Pattern models / molds & cores, fine.

Actual wearing parts ?

Another month has passed in the meanwhile. How was the reproduced part?