The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

me and a friend are going to delve into the world of 3d printing
and the question is if it will be a useful tool in replicating phonograph and gramophone parts and which parts?
so I'm asking for suggestions what part would you like to be replicated?
and since I only have to pay for the plastic I intent to make such parts available at very affordable prices

so give me as many suggestions as possible

thank you

Tino van der Zwan

I wonder how well 3D printed sound boxes and reproduces would work. Pot metal orthophonic sound boxes come to mind. Would they vibrate and buzz?

Maybe also those pot metal tonearm brackets, which are broken or seized.
I'm also thinking of my aeolian vocalion revolver tonearm, which is also made from very thin pot metal, and is broken in several pieces, especially the tonearm end where the 3D z revolving elbow engages.
The 3D plastic parts I've seen before were very roughly finished, and they seemed to need some manual finishing for smoothing the finish... But these were seen last year, and these techniques advance at giant steps, so who knows what are these machines capable of reproducing now...!

Fiber gears might be an option, depending on how durable the plastic filament is and whether they would stand up to normal wear...

Hi All,
I usually only spot check listing on this section of the forum, but I am currently working with a 3-d company now to reproduce parts for the 10-50 Victor. There are many fiber based materials, ABS Re-enforced ABS carbon fiber, with metal, as well as aluminum, and tool steel, as well as brass and pewter.

Finished products can be done to 5/10,000 of and inch and smoothness is directly related to the quality of the machines used.

Victrola Monkey is using a foundry casting method to produce parts and has invested a lot of time and money and so I have not spend a lost of time posting where I am but I will post a few pictures of what I have done here.

I have had all the files made and have run all the parts in ABS and everything fits and interacts correctly. But for the 10-50 the lift pad is 2 light and will not function as it should. My feeling is that a hybrid system of carbon fiber and metal would work very well, though some members want only metal. I have looked at just doing the 3 upper parts in metal on this machine and everything else in re-enforced ABS. The cost is very reasonable.

Victrola Monkey is still working on some parts of his process. I am waiting for my guys to get their new metal machine in. Better parts, faster production, less cost-mid August. In a couple of weeks I should be in place as there is no tweking that needs to be done on the finished product.

Abe

A friend of mine made a small horn for my Columbia Q on a 3d printer, it actually sounds quite well!

I would suggest using a Polycarbonate filament. Definitely don't use a PLA filament, it's probably the most common option, but it's too weak to make gears out of, especially if you want it to last. You can print with metals, but that's a whole other realm of 3d printing. (As far as I know)
-Martin

I was wondering if in this day and age of 3d printed machine guns, is there a possibility of a new 3d printed orthophonic body? I have 2 cracked ones and would love to refurbish them.

Johnny

jhon wrote:I was wondering if in this day and age of 3d printed machine guns, is there a possibility of a new 3d printed orthophonic body? I have 2 cracked ones and would love to refurbish them.

Johnny

Ron Sitko and others sell new orthophonic reproducer bodies and covers - pretty much everything except for the needle bar assembly.

Andreas

As far as reproducers are concerned, how about printing the gutta percha reproducers - Columbia, Pathé, etc., since it's almost impossible to find an original if you need one.