We can rebuild her. New MF hand plates and wires.

The Messenger · Post by **The Messenger** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:35 am

This is truly ground breaking guys.
Thanks so much for sharing this Panther68 and MF.
You're making a lot of doll mates very happy!

explorer235 · Post by **explorer235** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:01 pm

Panther68 wrote:OK, finger wires were quite easy to place as one can see the holes in the TPE where the old ones were removed. The base of the hand plate where the bolt goes through is slightly larger than the factory handplate, so I did not reinstall the washers that were with the original set. After fastening screw, hand plate is nice and tight.

With the ability of TPE to sctrech it was easy to place the wires into the had plates. For now, I have not expoxyed them into the plates and will not close the incision until I can go into my sunroom with windows opened and ventilated. Today, its raining. Some more quick shots, then back to test bending her digits. Mischa is hounding me for some food. Feed me, now!!

This is really exciting!

Mishka1965 · Post by **Mishka1965** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:15 pm

Looks really good, and I would like to do mine as well - for at least on one doll and then do the video of it. If the STL files are available and a write-up on the wire part is documented, I'll print a few and try it.

Mishka

adelea · Post by **adelea** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:26 pm

That is a beautiful smile on the picture where she is pointing to her hand!

A very fascinating read and I look forward to reading how it all finishes up.

Post by **Tsall** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:52 pm

I remember the discussion about 3D printed hand plates. But I didn't know that you two started testing it.

You have some concerns about durability? I don't have a 3D printer but a had some 3D printed parts in my hand. They are more durable than I thought. This is only a hand plate to hold some fingers. And in Panther's case a glass of whine.

This must be durable enough.

Panther, this is the first repair thread where a doll is dressed as if she would go straight to a candlelight diner afterwards. What a cleavage in a repair thread.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 4:23 pm

Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm!
I really hope this works out for Panther and everyone. We still need to see how this holds up though.

One thing I've found from doing some tests is that you'll need to avoid "twisting" the palm plate.
That is where these plates are the weakest.

: green good, red bad; axis strength.jpg (349.42 KiB) Viewed 1815 times

So when rotating the wrist you need to make sure to move the hand up or down first...

: hand rotation.jpg (563.63 KiB) Viewed 1815 times

I'm printing out another test plate today. I'm going to test out this 2hr marine epoxy...
https://www.lowes.com/pd/LOCTITE-Yellow ... e/50436714
5 min. epoxy works but it's really pushing it on time. The stuff starts to firm up before 5 min. so you really have to move.

Regarding finger wire replacement, one thing to note is that the tubes are glued to the wires with Permatex flowable windshield sealant, not epoxy (Permatex will not harm TPE).
I'm thinking that the wires could just be pulled out of the metacarpal tubes and replaced. It would take a good pull but I think it could be done.
I'll have to give that a test as well.

djcdoll · Post by **djcdoll** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:51 pm

This is great. I need to do this work too as my Tiffany is dire need of surgery to fix both her hands.
I'm watching the progress of this work with great interest.

It looks superb so far.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:13 pm

Well folks got some bad news...
Unfortunately the plate did not survive Panther's wrist rotation test.

The printed part just isn't strong enough at the connection so it's going to require some steel reinforcement in that area.
So it's back to the virtual drawing board. But I'm not giving up quite yet.

I think there may be a possibility to incorporate an eyebolt for the connection and still have a printed plate.
We'll be taking a look at this next.

Broven · Post by **Broven** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:15 pm

Thanks for the update, MF!
Sorry to hear it didn't work on the initial design. Don't give up!! We're all pulling for you!

maddmatter70 · Post by **maddmatter70** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:00 pm

Dag nabbit! Well I bet it is not too tough to bolster that area. Even a simple material change to aluminum may solve issue. But harder to manufacture. Some machine shop would love the work though I bet!

Panther68 · Post by **Panther68** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:26 pm

Sorry everyone, wish it would all have worked well, but it is a prototype. MF and Anastasia are willing to throw it out there, to see if it works.
She is willing to give it another round as she is tired of wearing gloves.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 9:56 pm

Something tells me MF won't give up until it WORKS!!

RK

Dutch Dance Maniac · Post by **Dutch Dance Maniac** » Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:54 pm

I will follow this topic with great attention because we have to be able to bring a good solution to the big finger debacle.

The idea is great, only I would not go for plastic material types. Can you produce this part out of steel ?
Since there are forces released when turning the wrist, it seems to me that this (steel part) is the only option to solve this problem properly.....

I do not understand that major manufacturers do not set up a team of good people to come up with a solution once and for all that will solve this ever-recurring problem.
It can not be that difficult to deal with this as a manufacturer. The costs will automatically recover if you have something in your hands that the competition does not have.
We make perfect dolls in the present time, but the fingers is something that is simply badly designed because it does not get the attention it deserves.

I do not know if I can do it but otherwise I will take a look at our own dutchdoll design team to see if we can design something that is not there yet, which is sustainable and reliable.
Fingers that you can bend as we humans can, but without breaking. And being able to carry a full glass weight as we humans can.
This is not rocket science but everything is a matter of logic, look at our own body and you have the biggest answer to solve this problem.

Keep on going MannequinFan, I admire your work and commitment.

Keep it up, problems often do not dissolve in one go, but as you yourself indicate, design testing, testing, re-designing testing ........ until your puzzle pieces fall apart and the end picture is visible to the problem good to solve.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Mon Jan 07, 2019 1:10 am

Hi DDM, thanks for all your kind words.

I'm hoping that we can make something work with a steel eye bolt which you can get at a hardware store for cheap. I don't think that by itself is going to break.
Just need to make a durable connection to the finger plate. Hopefully the threads on the bolt should give a pretty good bond with epoxy.

Hey, it looks like I can get that #206 eye bolt at Home Depot so I'll be able to get another prototype done here in the next day or so.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-20 ... /204281681