Yet Another Application of 3D Printing Technology

In MMD 2020.11.24, David Krall sought some 5/8" brass elbows, a size
found in many places in many player mechanism. It will come as no
surprise to any restorer that these, and many other sizes are becoming
more difficult and expensive to source.

I sympathize with, and applaud David in his dedication to keep his
restorations as "historically accurate" as possible, but the time is
rapidly approaching where we will have little choice but to turn to
more innovative and functional solutions. While I'm sure David will
persevere in his quest, alternative solutions do exist.

While there are many manufacturers of "plastic" plumbing fittings,
many are not positioned to be readily accessible by hobbyists such
as ourselves. Frequently they deal with the wholesale community only,
or require minimum quantity purchases far beyond our paltry needs.

Thankfully, sources such as John Tuttle/Player-Care.com can provide
many of the most popular sizes and configurations of these and many
other critical parts. But even he cannot afford to stock every size
and obscure configuration that someone might need someday.

3D printing to the rescue! At the risk of sounding like a broken
record, I am finding with each passing day, more and more uses for
this technology as applied to our avocation. I will not pretend that
a 3D printed part, at least as realized by the most popular and
cost-effective methods available to the average hobbyist, can compete
in overall strength and longevity with its progenitor, however, it
_can_ be functionally equivalent and come damn close in overall
performance, while offering huge cost savings.

The first attached picture shows a 5/8" O.D. elbow of the type and
style that David needed. My apologies to anyone who might be offended
by the color. I happen to be a Baltimore Ravens fan and use a lot of
purple filament. It just so happens that that was the color already in
the printer I wanted to use to make this sample. For what it's worth,
I was unable, using all the strength I could muster with my bare hands,
to break or otherwise deform this piece.

The second picture is a CAD/CAM rendering of a different design. Once
the basic parameters of the part (a quarter segment of a hollow torus
in the first case), have been modeled, scaling the design up or down
to other or custom sizes becomes a relatively simple task.

Another advantage to this process is the ability to accommodate
virtually any custom or infrequently encountered configuration, say
you need a tee connector where all three legs are of different sizes,
or manifolds with unique, custom outlets and orientations, etc., that
have never been (and never will be) fabricated at reasonable cost --
a piece o' cake using 3D printing.

The last picture shows a custom designed tee I used to minimize tubing
runs when installing a Virtual Roll system in an Ampico "A" mechanism.
Your mind is your only limit to what can be done with this technology.

John Grant

 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/20/12/05/201205_043107_20201203_10124.jpg 
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/20/12/05/201205_043107_Elbow.jpg 
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/20/12/05/201205_043107_Tri-Tube-Connector.jpg