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Which vintage parts have you replicated using a 3D printer?

cchean

cchean

Super Member
I am searching for some vintage parts that I am sure are unobtanium right now, among those are a NAIM knob, a Sony toggle switch and a vintage Fisher switch cap. I was wondering if any of you have used 3D printing as a replacement source for stereo parts.
 
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I have for a couple of different parts...

End caps for the face plate of a Luxman AMP. Turned out perfect, painted them to match.

AM antenna bracket for a Marantz 2500, this took a few tries before it was perfect.

PCB standoff for a Pioneer SX-1980 power supply. Works great

Plastic inserts for a three piece wood case on a Marantz 2500. Works great
 
Just this week a guy in our New Products group printed 4 new legs for my Heathkit SA-2 integrated amp (printed them in conjunction with a larger project). Awesome technology for things like that.
 
I have never had anything replicated, but having pot shaft spline extenders made for my Fisher RS-1080 would be nice. The design they used for the knobs is ridiculous. They aren't even truly shaft mounted! :/ Instead the pot shafts ends are basically flush with the faceplate and the knobs are glued onto black plastic "couplers" that attach the knob to the shaft! Unfortunately, my RS-1080 is missing several of the smaller knobs, and considering that this is a STUPIDLY unnecessary proprietary design, it has made retrofitting new knobs for it very difficult.
 
3D printing is a very time consuming experiment. It might be OK for prototype work. The most common materials are
soft and will not take the abuse of every day operation. A semi skilled lathe operator can make a real knob in less than a 1/2 hour. The trouble is that we are not training any lathe operators!!!
 
There are 3D printers that do metal, but most small ones do only plastic. Most can do several kinds. Small parts are not expensive as they can be done on <$3000 printers (even less than <$500). But, if you have to pay for someone's time to create the 3D model to print then pay for someone to print it, it is not usually cost effective. The "resolution (thickness of the layers the printer does in one pass) affects cost too. In my case my brother made the model for me at home. I piggybacked off the printer time at work so only had to pay material cost (ABS plastic for these feet), which was next to nothing.
 
The Wikipedia write-up for 3D printing lists nearly 30 different "processes". While some of these may be "a rose by any other name . . .", we must be aware of the different processes, materials, resolutions, etc. It seems like Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) continues to be the most prevalent. You need to do enough research to find out what is best for your project. FDM extrudes a small 'stream' of plastic (or other material) that hardens, eventually forming an object. I tried this from several "printer" places, but none of them was able to "print" the detail and resolution required for my 18mm (~U.S. penny) gear.

I am trying to learn more about some other processes, especially ones like stereolithography (SLA) that uses a laser to solidify layers of photopolymers. This seems to offer belter detail on small parts, but I am still learning.

And the beat goes on - - -
 
Even the highest-resolution stuff off our work printer needs finishing to look really nice. For feet on an amp, no issue; if I was doing say a knob, I would do more (printed in ABS, I would give it a acetone dip at least, perhaps some sanding first, prior to painting). In 10 years or so I suspect you will be able to do some really amazing stuff.
 
Short version ... the tech just ain't there for small project DIY that needs to take any sort of abuse. I'd stick with decorative stuff, and even that would be limited to smallish at best. Most of what we'd need would be more a CNC or custom lathe job as mentioned earlier.

I expect by the time we get what we need for DIY replacement parts from the home shop, we'll also be able to just tell the robot to do it, assUming you can pry him away from the washing machine ...

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txturbo said:
End caps for the face plate of a Luxman AMP. Turned out perfect, painted them to match.
Click to expand...

I just have to add a "Small World!" comment - the same description fits my first (and so far, only) foray into 3D printing.

My town library has a MarkForged printer available for use by patrons, not to mention a very helpful technologist on the staff. At present there is only one feedstock, which is nylon-filamented. I would have preferred plain plastic feedstock for my purposes, but I managed to get most of the filament frizzies tamed. Now I imagine I have some of the world's strongest Luxman end caps. Then again, I had imagined I had the world's only 3D-printed Luxman end caps, 'til I noticed txturbo's post...

Cheers,

chazix
 
Well, I naively thought that 3D printing was a more straightforward process, like getting having a document photocopied at Kinko's, but it seems that it still has a long way to go. I am also unsure about the materials used, it seems to me that ABS plastic (if available) would be more suitable for most of our needs?
 
You must consider all the factors, features, parameters, etc of the part you need, then find a material and process that will meet enough of those requirements to satisfy you. If you can't find it now, it may be available in a few months!
 
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