A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

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VanEpsFan1914
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A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

For some of the Viva-Tonal type Columbia reproducers with the embossed aluminum diaphragms, user @JGJMatt on www.instructables.com has managed a handy use of a 3d printer, not to replicate the part itself but to make tools with which to make many parts.

He has the 3d files there & directions for how he did it. This would probably be decent work. In one of his posts he did a cosmetic customization & mechanical overhaul of a Gallotone portable. Gallotone appears to have been a South African brand of small gramophone but I cannot tell if it is an assembled brand or an off-brand with Columbia parts. Sure looks like a Columbia. I bet it sounded just fine.

We have seen on the forum, off and on, a debate over the utility of 3d printers for this particular hobby--Perhaps it's not making the parts out of printed resin, plastic, or wax; it's using the printers to make tools to build parts with.

The files are on the Instructable; I'd have attached them but the .stl file type is not supported on the phpBB 3.3.3. software we're seeing on the T.M.F.

Have fun with this.

Charles

https://www.instructables.com/Repair-a- ... th-3D-Pri/

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Re: A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

Post by Inigo »

I once used a broken diaphragm to make a mold box, and made a dye from white gypsum. Similar to this but in the old days... ;)
Inigo

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Re: A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

Rather than to explain how he did the job, I'd prefer that he would sell parts. Like those printed gummy "O" seals. The vulgate pretends that all gaskets were made with rubber tubing, but it is absolutely obvious to me that tubing doesn't fit all soundboxes, and that many had a thin flat rubber "O" seal at least on one side.

I don't get exactly why he embosses the diaphragm manually, rather than 3D printing a counter-mould and make diaphragms by pressing them.

What also annoys me is that 3D printed stuff is always grainy and irregular. I remember once buying a memory cartridge that was 3D printed, just in order to avoid cannibalizing a vintage original shell; the repro part looked horrible, with ugly diagonal stripes of material, and it didn't really fit the memory port - I had to file down the front for hours in order to make it really fit the port and the PCB. When it comes to 3D printing you're always shown shiny super smooth "renderings" of the part, but when the part it's in your hand it's a completely different matter. At least this is my experience.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

He's not a professional gramophone rebuilder, just a guy who's doing hobby stuff--I'm not going to fault him for not opening a mass-production shop off the kitchen counter.

This stuff is a lot like desktop publishing: it has limitations but some people focus on the limitations & other people master the craft. Takes all types. I'm personally impressed with it as a way for rough prototyping. Still have no idea how to use this stuff, and, since I'm on a homemade Linux computer (someone hacked a Chromebook & turned it into that) I do not know if I have the system hardware or not to actually do any 3d designing. My digital nonsense skills are a bit cramped as my "desktop" is still an iron Remington typewriter and I like it that way.

I am looking at this as a way to--well, a fellow could print in wax & then use that for lost-wax casting, then he'd have cast-iron parts. And anyone who would think those are rough castings needs to look at the mess that Edison was turning out for castings--those were some raw-bits pieces of metalworking.

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Re: A chap on Instructables 3d prints a Columbia diaphragm--

Post by AudioFeline »

Marco Gilardetti wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 3:53 am ...What also annoys me is that 3D printed stuff is always grainy and irregular. I remember once buying a memory cartridge that was 3D printed, just in order to avoid cannibalizing a vintage original shell; the repro part looked horrible, with ugly diagonal stripes of material, and it didn't really fit the memory port - I had to file down the front for hours in order to make it really fit the port and the PCB. When it comes to 3D printing you're always shown shiny super smooth "renderings" of the part, but when the part it's in your hand it's a completely different matter. At least this is my experience.
I researched 3D printing some time ago out of interest, and concluded that it's still early days - I don't like that it's not capable of creating smooth prints. The finish of 3D prints does vary on a number of things - the material used, the resolution of the printing (think early laser paper printers printing at 100dpi compared to the standard 600dpi+ now), the quality of the printer. I found a number of websites giving several techniques to smooth the grain/etc from a 3D printed object. I decided that I would wait for the technology to mature before experimenting, or wait for affordable bureaux to become available so I can design the files and send them out for printing.

One thing I did like is that the 3d printing community appears to be generous. I particularly like that many people will share their models for free on 3d printing websites to be used or modified (often with the limitation for personal/non-commercial use, which is OK by me). Others will share files for a reasonably modest fee, and for a complex model that would take a lot of time and skill to create that's not too unreasonable, especially compared to the cost associated with getting an object manufactured by other means or learning the advanced skills yourself.

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