3D printed bits and bobs

[Ahmed]

Prompted by a message from PeterF, here are some of the 3D printed projects that kept my hands busy and brains occupied. Most of these I've shared on the various Facebook groups before, but not here.

In no particular order, we have:

1- The Lumiere Attachement:

The idea was to build a Lumiere-eque attachment to go in place of the soundbox on a standard tonearm. Why, because why not!

The process was quite interesting, requiring a lot of experimentation with the needle bar materials, paper type and weight as well as number of folds/inch. The final result is here, and is every bit as picky about what records it likes as my original HMV 460: https://youtu.be/nDMsP2dDmZg

I used an HMV no.4 style needle bar pivot for my design, and a got some ideas for improving the design to achieve a fuller volume as and when I have some time

2- The Vicso-Not

That is an Edison Diamond Disc adaptor, using an original Edison stylus I had to hand. Video here: https://youtu.be/FQMg164C9Qs

Although I had a fair few requests to make these, the cost of getting styli for them has proven prohibitive, and I can't seem to find a suitable budget alternative. An improved version is currently in the works.

3- A Fireside horn

A friend was struggling to get a horn for his Fireside, so we decided to try out a fully 3D printed one. The result sounded a lot richer than the original and still lives on his machine. Video here: https://youtu.be/EJg7Tc9Hh7U

4- Meltrope style back for the HMV no.4 soundbox

I've always loved the no.4 and wanted to try it out on my Ginns, which is where the inspiration for this one came from. Plus it's goot to be able to make replacement backs for all those shattered pot metal ones out there! The result speaks for itself: https://youtu.be/slEU9V__obM

I also made these for the Exhibition and the Goldring Jewel Electro which were custom requests for a couple of friends.

5- Soundbox savers!

Having had a little accident with my Expert soundbox, I wanted have a way of preventing it crossing the spindle should the needle jump out the runout groove. Two designs were tried out:
- A raised arm which attaches to the screws on the tonearm base, and nudges the soundbox back into the groove: https://youtu.be/OzQToQRnCDA
- A spindle topper, which is what I have on all my machines now and has saved my soundboxes from demise on more than one occasion

6- Moulds!

I've been experimenting with using 3D printed moulds to make rubber bits and bobs, including rubber collars for Meltrope/EMG soundboxes, and custom bits like motorboard mounts and rubber backs for more obscure soundboxes like my Sonat.

I found a material to make the rubber collars from which delivered a noticeable improvement in sound reproduction compared to the much less compliant collars on eBay. The bass response and instrument separation were particularly improved, which was also observed by some fellow collectors who tested these out. A/B test here (you are going to need your headphones for this one): https://youtu.be/Dzrt4PYOjAY

7- The Horn Pusher Upper 5000®

A height adjustable support for saggy Mk IX horns. My horn has since had some surgery and can stand up on its own without support, hurrah!


These are the ones I can remember haha

I hope you find these interesting, and sorry for the long post!!

[CarlosV]

You certainly have been very creative! Can you show the Edison adapter? it sounds good on the you tube video.

[AZ*]

These are all pretty cool and useful! Thanks for sharing here.

[Orchorsol]

Incredible levels of imagination, expertise, resourcefulness and (having had the great pleasure of hearing and using several of these) top level results. Mega kudos to you Ahmed!

[emgcr]

Brilliant work ! Always thinking outside the box and new ways of improving/designing/making things. So satisfying to see new technologies being embraced and engaged so effectively. Well done and please don't stop !

[Ahmed]

Many thanks for your kind words all. It's so much fun putting this super modern technology to use in these most old school ways; I doubt gramophone accessories and spares were on the list of applications when 3D printing first came on the market! Endless possibilities

@Carlos, here is a close up of the first iteration of the Edison adaptor, which is the one in the video

[CarlosV]

Many thanks for your kind words all. It's so much fun putting this super modern technology to use in these most old school ways; I doubt gramophone accessories and spares were on the list of applications when 3D printing first came on the market! Endless possibilities

@Carlos, here is a close up of the first iteration of the Edison adaptor, which is the one in the video

Quite interesting, Ahmed, and very creative!

[travisgreyfox]

Awesome job. I've always wanted to do something similar. Which filament do you use for these? I would print with PLA +, but I do not have any experience with the carbon fiber. Strength wise, PLA+ has been very good, even for printing firearms.


-Travis

[Lah Ca]

Very cool.

Look up lost plastic metal casting, which is sort of like lost wax casting except that it uses 3D printed plastic copies of metal parts to cast replicas of the original metal part. Might be interesting?

[Ahmed]

@Travis: I've mostly used PLA so far, although plan on trying out resin printing in due course. The properties of PLA have been sufficient for what I am using it for, and my thinking is that resin would work much better for smaller items like the soundbox adapter.

@LahCa: oooh, you're giving me ideas! I've come across that before, but not thought of experimenting with it. Another one for the list!