The Doll Forum

Welded nuts. Non removable with out a dremmel.

Yea; that is what I thought you would find. In all of my dolls, for most of their joints, I can tighten with only a hex key wrench. Only have to make a small puncture. This is the way to go as it lends itself to very easy maintenance. The hips I do believe will be a different story though! Not looking forward to that at all, but that day is coming!

I also noticed that they don't seem to use any washers at all. This is why they loosen so fast! Maybe they will improve, sure hope so as their dolls are so very beautiful!

Foind a solution for the neck joint. Requires an allen wrench same for wrists and elbows will update on shoulders at a later time.

samara78 wrote:

From now on I won't be able to look at nuts and bolts without getting sick anymore...
Luckily I don't have to screw for a living...

Wow! Samara, those are some graphic shots, hard to look at, but thank you, they are pretty much as expected. As I have mentioned before, I am a machinist by trade, and the simple fact is, the use of jam nuts, lock washers, nylon or Teflon washers, or any combination of reasonably price components, the end result will be the same. Wear happens. the only way to combat the loosening effect, would be to make joints user adjustable, and I prefer my dolls with limited holes in the body. I do think the manufacturers are doing a pretty fair job of frame work, and if they can make small, inexpensive improvements, bravo. I would actually rather see more improvements in variable density flesh material, ya know, firmer here, and softer there. The idea of 3D chest, ass or thigh cavities to save weight, and add shape, seems like a possible next step too. Great thread and thanks for the actual joint photos folks.

No worries she is healing up beautifully These repairs worked out perfectly.
The seal up went pretty good too. The hole requirement for the elbow repair is a 3 inch incision not bad.

She is in recovery and doing good.

Many thanks for sharing that information Samara!

This is indeed wonderful news and the fact, if I understand it correctly, that the neck, knees, elbows and wrists can be tightened using only an Allen wrench seems really good!

I might work up some courage to make a cut later
I do have permatex silicone at home that I have used for repairing her silicone skin on numerous occasions with good result so not really worried there. I do need to acquire some good quality scalpels though to get a clean cut.

If and when I do the cut I'll be sure to update this thread.

ok...their dolls...and not real nor feel pain.....but why did that make me feel like i was watching some surgical video...had the same queasy stomach feeling

optical delusion wrote:ok...they are dolls...and not real nor feel pain.....but why did that make me feel like i was watching some surgical video...had the same queasy stomach feeling

Strange isn't it? Luckily there are doctors and doll-doctors around to help with that.
I couldn't cut dolls (or humans) so severely. It makes me sick just thinking about it.
But thank you Samara, you are doing amazing work.
But now I know for sure, I need to find other ways.

Like gimpix found one for his Heidi with a Broken foot. So sexy and unique...
But maybe this is just more appealing to me because of my helper syndrome...

optical delusion wrote:ok...their dolls...and not real nor feel pain.....but why did that make me feel like i was watching some surgical video...had the same queasy stomach feeling

Because you care!

I love my 145 too . Elbows are very loose and wrists fairly so .

Silly of Sanhui though . Two nuts where there could be one nylon (nyloc) locknut .

Not welding the nuts and bolts costs less than welding them . Sanhui could save money and make them user maintainable. But as others point out , then you might not buy another doll .

Still love her but would a buy another or try a different brand hoping for greater skeletal durability?

Sorry to hear about Emms Sofos! I can understand your dilemma as she is the light of your life!

I know this thread is mainly about silicone but my two are TPE which, to a certain extent, is even more difficult to repair owing to a lack of specific glues that work. Anyway, my Ashaki still has fairly tight joints even after over a year. Vivette, on the other hand, has similar loose joint problems! Although technically she is over a year old she sat for six months in her box! Her forward and back movement in her legs is so loose now she doesn’t sit well either but sideways (opening) she is still very stiff! Her midriff movement is also very loose so posing is becoming more and more difficult and I have to be very careful when trying to stand her or she’ll collapse in a heap!

I have recently wondered if, rather than open her up to try to tighten the joints, I could syringe something like red hermatite into the joint area. I’m pretty sure it won’t stick to the TPE owing to the hydrocarbon oils in it but I wonder if it could ‘lock’ around the joint a bit!

Anyway, I feel for you mate! Cheers, Hollows.

hollows+fentiman wrote:I have recently wondered if, rather than open her up to try to tighten the joints, I could syringe something like red hermatite into the joint area. I’m pretty sure it won’t stick to the TPE owing to the hydrocarbon oils in it but I wonder if it could ‘lock’ around the joint a bit!

Sounds like being worth a try but probably won't work because thread lockers bond with the metal, they do not just increase the friction between the surfaces.
It would probably seem to work at first until you start moving that joint again, then the thread locker breaks free and rubs off.
This could however work if you intend to pose your doll in one final pose and let her stay that way like a mannequin.

Otherwise, as long as simple screws are used to hold the joints together and to tighten them, there will be wear in the joints and need for adjustment.
Less with higher precision or better quality parts. But the only real solution to this IMHO would be to use spring-loaded ball joints.
6Ye is already using ball joints (don't know if they are spring-loaded), it's not so hard to do or much more expensive.
If we as customers keep demanding this, other manufactures might start using them eventually too.

Yeah, you’re probably right about the loctite not ‘locking’, it just seems so frustrating! I’m not sure about Vivette’s skeleton as she is a 2016 model and could have an older skeleton design. I may go in for an explore around the hip area in the New Year! I have a hot air soldering station so I’ll practice a bit on sealing cuts first on a spare bit of TPE!

As for silicone, that is much easier to cut and seal as long as the first cut is clean and straight. I’ve done some repairs on one of my DS minis and although I haven’t finished (a repaired joint broke just after I’d sealed it so I gave up) where I’d sealed I thought it was a pretty good! Sadly I have to cut it again in the same place!

Cheers, Hollows.