8mm Forum: 3d printing? the thing that should keep film alive?

This is topic 3d printing? the thing that should keep film alive? in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on October 09, 2017, 04:44 PM:

I have a Technics turntable that had a plastic cam that always cracked and prevented the arm from lifting. I looked on forums and found someone had 3 d printed new parts, so now a turntable that was once "unfixable" became repairable. So it got me thinking, cant we 3d print greenguides for the elmo projectors and other wear prone parts of our now aging projectors? has anyone at temped to 3 d print any projector parts? if not, how could we go about getting it started?

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on October 09, 2017, 04:49 PM:

https://shop.van-eck.net/film-projector-parts/p-1a/PP-0098.html

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 09, 2017, 05:25 PM:

The only problem with 3D printing is the difference in the physical properties of the finished printed part as compared to the original parts. Such properties as surface finish, wear, friction coefficient, and tensile strength, can exclude 3D printing from a great many parts applications.

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on October 09, 2017, 06:02 PM:

will that be something that will change with more time? or will it always be a lesser part? meaning due to the newness of the technology, will these issues be something that can be worked out with time?

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on October 09, 2017, 07:58 PM:

Conventional parts manufacture is usually performed by what is known as a subtractive process, where the part is formed by removing material from a larger piece of metal or plastic. 3D fabrication is an additive process, where the part is made by forming successive layers of the part. In between these two are castings and moldings which usually use the exact amount of injection material required for the part.
The quality of a 3D plastic part depends on the number of layers. A crude part will have just a few layers whereas a high quality part may have hundreds of layers. Plastic parts are much easier to fabricate in 3D than metal parts, because typically plastic parts are not required to carry high loads and therefore the molten plastic material used to form the layers is often close enough in physical properties to do the job. The same is not true for metal parts which often have to carry high loads, have high hardness, and have surface finishes measured in microinches. Examples of this are metal gears, cams, and linkages.
No doubt in time, 3D printing will be perfected even for these kind of parts, but as far as I know, it's not there yet. This is why Edwin has offered, so far, only replacements for existing plastic parts on film projectors.

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on October 10, 2017, 09:45 PM:

thanks Dominique, for the link, and thank you to Paul also. This was very informative. I hope as a fan of vintage audio and photography, that the Tech improves quickly.

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