My DS Mini Also Has Broken Back

[LoneRanger]

Funny, you can buy all the Mini's you want and I can buy all the storage cases I want. There is a joke in there some where, but I'm not amused, lol.

[hollows+fentiman]

I've just found a Christmas tree storage box which might be OK but it's only 232mm wide internally so her shoulders only just fit! It's 110mm long though!
Which one do you need, was it yellow skin?

[LoneRanger]

Yes, yes it is. My 2017 resolution - Get a second generation Eve DS Mini in yellow. Now the big question is, what is the new color that EXDoll has added to their line and will it be incorperated into the DS Mini line??

[mi6c]

Greetings.
I was looking for a thread to put additional info into and decided to use this one, for one LoneRanger is an enthusiastic supporter of the EX Dreamies and for second H&F has all the gruesome but helpful details in here.
I recently got a new sweetie that did suffer a broken spine and was even more unfortunate in that the repair part supplied did not fit as well, resulting in a total loss for Sandro.
Being interested in taking a closer look at her, as well as practicing repairs a bit more especially in combination with 3d printing I went on to design her a replacement spine.
Let start with a picture, in order from below:
1) the original broken part, basically sheared off on rotation as usual
2) the DS replacement part connected to the lower front-back rotation joint that I took out as well
3) my replacement arrangement, with the right-left rotation already assembled and the rotation thread part clearly separated

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Now, this might be an odd idea and some people may be crafty enough to do it otherwise, but I took out the front-back rotation joint even though it was still good for a couple of reasons, one being that I found it next to impossible to screw in and out the spine rotation threading, the other one was that I also found it next to impossible to reinsert the bolt for the right-left movement without risking even more damage to the silicone than the first repair attempt with the DS spare part had already left.
My solution was to separate the spine threading from the assembly for the other two rotation joints in order to be able to screw it in reasonably easy on its own.
Once in I would then put in the front-back rotation screw so that the assembly was connected to the other( lower) side.
I'd then just slide the square connector at the end of the spine threading into a square hole on the top of the assembly and lock it in place by a screw.

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You can see what it looks like with the connector inserted at this second picture, though it is just lying on top of the screw that was later used to lock it in place.
For those interested in doing something similar be warned that there is no easy way to do the spine rotation threading.
The normal metric sizes that are close would be M14 & M16, with M16 being far too large; so I got myself an additional exotic M15.
The M15 has too large a core to be screwed in reasonably while the M14 can be screwed in well but is noticeably sloppy.
The only imperial thread in between those would be 9/16 UNC, but it has a wrong TPI or as specified in metric thread height, so it does not fit at all, and yes I tried.
I am not sure it can be seen on the pictures above, but I did try out both M14 and M15 on the DS spare part before designing my own, about the first half is where M14 took off material, the latter part is basically untouched by the M15.
I am not sure what DS did here, all I can guess is they deliberately did the part a little thicker than specified for a tighter fit.
Having mentioned all this, the one thing my solution does not do is hold the position on torso rotation by itself as the M14 is simply not fitting well enough to do that - however this downside also has an upside in eliminating the shearing possibility that killed all the spines as designed.
To finish this post, here are a few pictures of her after the repair holding some positions.

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Kind regards.

[LoneRanger]

Magnificent!! I bow to your skills and am very happy to see this little lady all up and about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FucbvoFFy0

What is her name and lets see her dressed with her Hair on, Please!!

[samara78]

Really good stuff here.

[hollows+fentiman]

Yeah, well done!

When I investigated my Yong I had to replace her whole back in the end as shown earlier in this thread. The torso is hollow and the top part has the attachments for the arms and head. As this was cracked (from carriage delivery!) I ordered the whole back to replace. Now, when I took the old one apart (i.e. Took the top off) the bottom part is obviously hollow but has the threaded recess for the screw joint poking up inside as part of the moulding.

I had the same thought as you! This thread seems to be one DS have 'invented' as nothing I had seemed to fit and believe me I have some very old bolts of ancient threads and new ones too! However, I did wonder about actually drilling right through the end of the protrusion and putting a slightly smaller diameter steel bolt right through and adapting the joint below to be female rather than male. Or, put the bolt through from the joint and have the female part (nut) inside the torso at the end of the protrusion. However, as I had all the new parts I needed I didn't try. The only problem would be getting it tight enough so I thought a double washer would probably work.

BTW, have you sealed her up again yet?

Cheers, Hollows.