Quick Change Head Adapter

honestj · Post by **honestj** » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:41 pm

Quick Change Head Adapter

After my doll arrived, I found out quickly why some many people warn about how heavy they can be. I also found it difficult to change most outfits without removing her head and then of course the head seems to rotate at will and didn’t like to stay in position. I was just going to order the magnetic connector, but after reviewing the price, decided that I would just make one myself.
Here is the process I used...

I measured the original threaded head connector, the neck thread depth and head thread depth on my doll. I found that there was additional room on both the neck and head threads when compared to the length of the original threaded connector.

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I used a M16-2.00 x1mm zinc plated threaded rod to make the adapter out of. It takes less than 3 inches of threaded rod to make 1 adapter and since I had 3 feet of material, I decided to make a few extras. I cut it to length using a dry cut saw. For an earlier project, I had built an adjustable aluminum stop for the saw. You side the stop down into the pictured position, push the material to be cut up against it, clamp the vice and then slide the stop out of the way. This allows you to duplicate the length of cut very accurately without measuring each time.

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When holding a threaded item tight enough to be machined, it is very easy to damage the threads. To keep this from happening, I machined a collet out of an aluminum solid bar on the lathe. After turning the bar to size and machining a step on it, I drilled and tapped the end of it 3/8x24 NF to be used for a stop and then drilled and tapped the remainder of the collet to the M16-2.00 thread size. Next, I machined 3 relief slots with a slitting saw on the mill to finish the collet.

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Now that the collect is done, it’s time to face one of the ends of the threaded rod so that it is perfectly flat. Once that is done the, the threaded rod is removed and turned around so that the end of it will bottom out on the 3/8” bolt that is used for the stop. Once adjusted to the desired depth, you can duplicate the length of the adapter with minimum effort.

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rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:56 pm

Nice job.
Most doll mods done around here are hacksaw and files!!

ILuvFemsNlingerie · Post by **ILuvFemsNlingerie** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 12:08 am

Can't wait to see more progress

Good job so far.

samara78 · Post by **samara78** » Thu Apr 27, 2017 3:09 am

Cool stuff.

honestj · Post by **honestj** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 9:37 pm

When making the neck adapter, once the piece is at the proper length, a center drill is used to start the drilling process. A center drill is a short, stubby more rigid drill that helps keep the drill on center. If you look closely at the picture you can see that the center drill starts with a smaller end and then gets larger. This type of drill is used for starting and placement of the hole, not for drilling deep. I use a solid carbide center drill which is very hard and allows the material to be cut at much higher speeds. When drilling a hole with a lathe, the work piece is rotated while the drill bit is stationary and doesn’t move.

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abracadabra · Post by **abracadabra** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:03 pm

nice work sir

honestj · Post by **honestj** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:36 pm

Using a #26 carbide drill bit, a pilot hole is drilled completely through the piece. A pilot hole is a small hole that is used as a guide and makes the larger drills job easier. This hole is drilled all the way through the adapter. Using the carbide drill, I can spin the piece at 2000 RPM. Carbide drills can be very expensive, but if used correctly, last a long time. The size of this hole isn’t critical and I’m using this size of bit because I have many of them that I bought on ebay for pennies on the dollar.

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honestj · Post by **honestj** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:29 am

I’m using a quick-change Albrecht Precision Drill Chuck on the lathe. It’s keyless, so changing to the different drill bit sizes only takes a couple of seconds. A 23/64” carbide drill bit is used to drill the hole the full length to a diameter of .359”. The final size of the hole will be .376”. But even a sharp carbide drill doesn’t make an extremely accurate round hole, so it is drilled undersized.

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Boobman · Post by **Boobman** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:38 am

rubherkitty wrote:Nice job.
Most doll mods done around here are hacksaw and files!!

For real, i was thinking i like his tools as much as the adapter made using them.

honestj · Post by **honestj** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:30 am

Thanks for the comments…. I’ve been collecting tools for a long time and I enjoy making stuff, so this has been a fun project for me.

honestj · Post by **honestj** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:39 pm

It is very common for a drilled hole to be slightly egg-shaped and often over-sized. Visually you may not be able to see this. A reamer is a rotary cutting tool that is designed to enlarge the size of a previously drilled or bored hole by a small amount, but with a high degree of accuracy. A reamer makes the sides of the hole smooth and the hole very round. By taking this extra step, the clearance between the male and female parts of the adapter can be held to under .001”. The tight clearance helps reduce the wobble in the dolls head. An average sheet of paper is approximately .004” thick, so the clearance on the adapter is about ¼ of the thickness of a sheet of paper. To have a tight clearance, you must have a very accurate round hole.

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honestj · Post by **honestj** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:47 pm

The next step is to machine the hole for the neodymium magnet. I use a somewhat unconventional method to make the hole. The hole needs to have a straight cut shoulder for the magnet to seat up against and keep the magnet in the proper location. Instead of using a boring bar, I use a 7/16” carbide 4 fluted end mill. The end mill cuts the diameter to size and also provides the sharp shoulder in a single cut. I machined an aluminum clamp and modified a digital caliper to accurately measure the depth of the cut. The caliper is securely held in place using 4 neodymium magnets.
The neck adapter magnet is ¼” thick and I recess it .005” deep into the bottom of the adapter. This is now easily done using the tailstock of the lathe.

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ILuvFemsNlingerie · Post by **ILuvFemsNlingerie** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:54 pm

I can't wait to see how all this cost compared to the indigo magnet head connector.

Indigo20 · Post by **Indigo20** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 7:18 pm

ILuvFemsNlingerie wrote:I can't wait to see how all this cost compared to the indigo magnet head connector.

That is a very good point.

I wrote this post especially because of the situation that my name was mentioned together with this product.

1.) Let's talk about costs:

I did the whole development work for the magnet connector.
> I payed all costs.
> I spent months for the work.
> I wrote a manual.
> I do customer support.

I have to pay 19% VAT on all material to make the magnetic connector.
In America you do not have to pay VAT.

I sell the magnetic connector to vendors on TDF without VAT for a very low price (below $ 50,00).
The vendors have to pay the shipping costs.

Now each vendor is selling the magnetic connector for his own price and for his own profit.
There are 2 vendors that have to pay VAT for the connector because they are based in Europe and one vendor in America that has not to pay VAT.

All vendors have to pay fees for being on TDF.

2.) Now let's see what we have:

We have a forum member with the name "honestj" using my whole development work and idea.
And in addition he is using technical datas out of my copyright protected manuals for doing this.

I introduced additional head sections in different size for matching different thread depths in older doll heads and some days later I see it copied from "honestj".
With a picture right beneath my picture.
http://dollforum.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 0#p1086330
That is absolutely respectless.

Everybody can make things for his own usage.

But if it comes to a situation that someone is always copying the ideas and products from someone here on TDF this isn't correct.

And if it should come to the situation that someone is selling a product-copy on this forum and that person is not an official vendor on TDF I know what to do.

It may be funny for you to see this.

For me it is a kick in my back and a respectless treatment against my person, especially for all the things I've done for the TDF community.

3.) And my last question is:

Is it necessary to act in this way ?
To use the development work from a forum member to make a copy right under his eyes within the same forum.

Thank you.

carlys_guy · Post by **carlys_guy** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:09 pm

since he is stealing indigos product he should be banned from the site and sued. he sure isn't very smart to do it here on TDF.
this thread should be deleted as soon as possible and not so honestj should appoligise to indigo20.

carlys_guy