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

ildanach · Post by **ildanach** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:09 pm

Okay, stage one of my side project ( as it is not from the same quality as what MF is doing) is finished.
Let me try to describe what I have done to make Cameron's hand functioning again.
First the actual problem ( damage)

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As many doll owners I reallly don't understand why the manufacturers don't try to invent something better than this

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With a seriously nagging Cameron and being quite impatient myself too I decided to experiment myself too in rebuilding the hand of my Love(ly) doll.
I got some terrific ideas from reading all the previous attempts here at TDF and started to look for materials that I had here.
I needed a handplate, that was one thing for sure but I had enough pieces of aluminium lying around which might come in handy.
But what about the fingers? It was my intention to create phalanges, for I detested the wires which bend in any direction. But that didn't mean I could do it without wires. I decided to use solid core copper cable from which I still had enough lying around. No idea (yet ) how many times that could be bended before it would break, but time would tell me, eventually.
Than the fingertips and the phalanges, suddenly i got an idea about that.

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Everybody - or at least almost everybody I think - has them. Those electric plugs often used in 12 V electrical systems of cars.
I used also heat shrink tubing to reinforce it and keep it at it's place.

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With the fingers ready now it was getting time to put it all together

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With that done it got time to close the wound in the hand

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And that's how it is now. Of course I have no practical experience yet with the result of this operation but it can' t be that bad as with the original wires.
And what the expenses were? Welll I think you'll have allready an idea about that.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:52 pm

That's seriously impressive and thanks for sharing it all here. I really need to bite the bullet and tackle something like this as a couple of my gals could do with some work on their hands. I'm wondering if there is any way to still utilise the existing hand plate once all the epoxy has been removed, maybe by drilling holes and using self tapping screws to secure new finger wires much like you and MF have created. He who dares wins so I guess it's time to get stuck in!

ildanach · Post by **ildanach** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:56 pm

Arthur1960 wrote: I'm wondering if there is any way to still utilise the existing hand plate once all the epoxy has been removed, maybe by drilling holes and using self tapping screws to secure new finger wires much like you and MF have created. He who dares wins so I guess it's time to get stuck in!

Of course I had been thinking too of the probability to use the original handplate but when I had freed it I saw that - in Cameron's case - it would be more work to use the original plate instead of less.
The plates they had used for Cameron were of deplorable quality.
Perhaps it will be different in your case. But what I used was just 2 small pieces cut out of a aluminium corner profile and I have grinded the grooves for the fingers in them after which I have put the 2 together with stainless steel bolts.
The advantage of this system is that WHEN the fingers might break again it is easier to replace them.

SUBJ3CT M4YH3M · Post by **SUBJ3CT M4YH3M** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:54 am

Well, I got in touch with the manufacturer of the JY Doll and got pictures of the hands and wrist. The wrists don't support any part of the hands at all. There's no central palm plate, which I suspected there wasn't. So I can see that this isn't going to be an easy modification.

If anyone has any ideas, I'll take any suggestions I can get? Right now the hands can't even be posed...only the fingers, but not very well since they're all screwed up.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:03 am

SUBJ3CT M4YH3M wrote: If anyone has any ideas, I'll take any suggestions I can get? Right now the hands can't even be posed...only the fingers, but not very well since they're all screwed up.

Cut the tubing behind the end smash and build a hinge piece forward to finger tips.
Solid Alum or nylon bar stock slid into the tubing end. Cut a slot at other end for a eye bolt like mannequinfans hand plate. You'd get up and down, but not wrist rotate unless you did further work.
Slotting the tube a little and putting a screw into the bar so it rotates some, but won't pull out.
There ya go, done.

Or you might rivet a hinge onto the tubing end smash part.

ildanach · Post by **ildanach** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:22 am

SUBJ3CT M4YH3M wrote:Well, I got in touch with the manufacturer of the JY Doll and got pictures of the hands and wrist. The wrists don't support any part of the hands at all. There's no central palm plate, which I suspected there wasn't. So I can see that this isn't going to be an easy modification.

If anyone has any ideas, I'll take any suggestions I can get? Right now the hands can't even be posed...only the fingers, but not very well since they're all screwed up.

The same wrist as Cameron had, I see. And that's where it broke.

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Because there was no hinge the wires functioned as the hinge of the wrist.
Let me show you what I did to repair and improve that ...

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I took a hinge made of plastic and cut it in two ( otherwise it was way too large) and attached it to that kind of plate with a stainless steel bolt and attached the handplate I made my self of aluminium to the other part of the hinge.

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Well, you've seen the result of alll of this in my previous post. So it can be done. I thought I was the only one with a doll constructed like that, but obviously I'm not.

matt gloss · Post by **matt gloss** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:25 am

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:24 pm

I'm not quite sure how you'd attach it, but something like this would work for the palm plates I've designed.
Perhaps replace the crimped tube with a 1/4" threaded rod or stud?

https://www.mcmaster.com/6071k41

ildanach · Post by **ildanach** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 12:42 pm

Oh yesssss, that definitely would have been the better way to do it, I see. I had been thinking and looking for something similar. Unfortunately I couldn't find something like that in the nearest 'do it yourself' shop here in France. And Cameron was very impatient. But ..... there is still her left wrist and hand, so I have to repeat that operation sooner or later. And next time I will be better prepared.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:38 pm

Hey MF, the main issue w/a pinned clevis is the wrist won't hold a pose. Being threaded into or onto the wrist bone might make it hold pose on rotation somewhat. Depending upon how malleable the clevis casting is you may be able to use thin shim washers and torque it down w/a nut and bolt instead of the retainer pin.
My idea was basically a solid bar slotted like a clevis. Delrin or tough nylon is good as it can be torqued for pose tension. Just more DIY work.

MannequinFan · Post by **MannequinFan** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:20 pm

rubherkitty wrote:Hey MF, the main issue w/a pinned clevis is the wrist won't hold a pose. Being threaded into or onto the wrist bone might make it hold pose on rotation somewhat. Depending upon how malleable the clevis casting is you may be able to use thin shim washers and torque it down w/a nut and bolt instead of the retainer pin.
My idea was basically a solid bar slotted like a clevis. Delrin or tough nylon is good as it can be torqued for pose tension. Just more DIY work.

Just replace the pin with a bolt and add washers as you mentioned. That's basically what the factory setup is.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Fri Mar 01, 2019 4:02 pm

RE: Clevis. I looked at the website and the clevis is carbon steel, so it should have some give w/out cracking. Cast steel is better than cast iron in that regard.

SUBJ3CT M4YH3M · Post by **SUBJ3CT M4YH3M** » Sat Mar 02, 2019 1:21 pm

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I too was feeling I was the only one with this deplorable design. So now I got some work to do.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:11 pm

Here is their full page of clevis ends. https://www.mcmaster.com/clevis-rod-ends

Near the bottom of this page, they have clevises that have external threads too. They are a little more streamlined. Even if you go w/a 5/16" slot, you can use some shim washers.

NewFrontiers · Post by **NewFrontiers** » Sat Mar 02, 2019 7:48 pm

Hey guys, this is like the doll version of breaking the sound barrier, so I just want to raise a glass to MannequinFan for his design skills and persistence. Also thanks to Panther68 for trying this experimental modification on Anastasia. Solutions like this are one of the things that move this community forward, I believe. So many others also added helpful insights on this thread. You guys are amazing.