Arthur's tpe doll repair thread inc. Rachel's resurrection

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:59 pm

Thanks djcdoll! Ok consider it done, I shall be popping her new finger wires in tomorrow and all being well will then seal up the incision.

Post by **Tsall** » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:00 pm

Elizabeth: Resistance is futile.
Or did Locutus say that?

Great videos, thank you for sharing. I like your solution very much.

ranger42 · Post by **ranger42** » Wed Aug 14, 2019 4:34 pm

This is a fantastic thread Arthur. Thank you for the amount of detail you are giving us on the finger repair, you are giving me hope that one day I might be able to repair my Kara.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Wed Aug 14, 2019 5:00 pm

Hi Tsall and thanks, you could be right Locutus of Borg made that line famous although I preferred the way Seven of Nine said it! Just think they will both be together in the new Picard series!

Hey, my pleasure ranger42, I know it seems daunting at first doing any repair, especially when we are emotionally invested in our ladies but if you have the right tools it's not too hard. Because I have so many dolls I was looking for a cheap way to fix broken fingers and so far this seems to be working out ok, although time will tell.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 7:28 am

I've just uploaded 3 more video's onto my Google drive to show how I fit the new wire into the fingers and also closing up the incision. Sorry djcdoll but the video I did of me actually pushing the wires into the fingers didn't work out as all I recorded was the back of my own hands! Next time I will enlist a helper to film it for me. When I fitted the wires on the other hand I'm sure they went in easier, I think I should have angled the wrist down, anyway they are in now and I closed up the cut with a tiny amount of superglue and will smooth it over later with heat.

Link: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... Bk3wddF00r

djcdoll · Post by **djcdoll** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:33 pm

Excellent videos Arthur1960.

I think we've all got a really good idea of how to do this now.
Many thanks for taking the time to record the videos and share them.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:44 pm

My pleasure djcdoll. Next up for new finger wires will be Rachel and as she's the same combination as Tiffany what works for Rachel should be good for Tiff.

djcdoll · Post by **djcdoll** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:50 pm

Arthur1960 wrote:My pleasure djcdoll. Next up for new finger wires will be Rachel and as she's the same combination as Tiffany what works for Rachel should be good for Tiff.

Yes, it'll be good to see how that goes.

I'm just looking at Tiffany's hands right now. As well as her fingers, one wrist is very loose and the other wrist is very stiff.
So I've got to sort that out too. Probably look at that when I do her fingers.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 2:32 pm

I've not tightened up any joints yet and luckily I only have a couple of loose ones between all my gals. It's easy enough to get to a joint with a fairly small cut but you then have to cut off the spot weld on the nut before you can tighten the joint and then you need to use something to lock the joint again, something like a locking nut I guess. That's what has put me off from doing any yet. Liz has a loose elbow which I've decided to live with although I guess it wouldn't be the hardest thing to do, cutting the spot weld will be messy though.

djcdoll · Post by **djcdoll** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 3:34 pm

Arthur1960 wrote:I've not tightened up any joints yet and luckily I only have a couple of loose ones between all my gals. It's easy enough to get to a joint with a fairly small cut but you then have to cut off the spot weld on the nut before you can tighten the joint and then you need to use something to lock the joint again, something like a locking nut I guess. That's what has put me off from doing any yet. Liz has a loose elbow which I've decided to live with although I guess it wouldn't be the hardest thing to do, cutting the spot weld will be messy though.

Yes, the spot welds are what's putting me off at the moment.

Tiffany also has one loose elbow which is a pain if you're trying to pose her in a photoset! Ha ha.

Her legs are both okay which is a relief, so she can stand okay.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:29 am

Due to the length of the bolts, replacing the nut with two Half nuts also known as Lock nuts or Jam nuts seems the simplest option.
If it is possible to get the bolt clear of the elastomer, then either a tack weld with the elastomer protected by a welding blanket.
Another method is to centre punch a dimple or two (or more) into the thread once the nut is on with the head of the bolt against something solid & hard, as in a block of steel.

: Locknut.JPG (18.43 KiB) Viewed 1490 times

This has the effect of deforming the thread, preventing the nut from working loose.

If it is not possible to do this clear of the elastomer, don't try it. Elastomer damage will occur!

Cyanoacrylates are only useful in non-moving fastenings.

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 6:16 am

Hi seagull and thanks for the info, I was thinking probably locknuts were the way to go, it's just the thought of cutting the spot weld that puts me off a bit but I might give it a go at some point, should be able to rig up something to stop the surrounding tpe from getting too dirty.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:32 am

Dirty from the grinding, as really hot little sparks of metal will burrow into the tpe, and stay there, forever.
Cloth is problematic but cardboard, leather, plastic (drink bottles etc), possibly aluminum foil.
The visible sparks from the few welds I have broken with the Dremel were about 1/2 inch long. Anything past that is black heat and still well above the melting point of tpe .
If possible, pulling the elbow tpe down/away from the path of the sparking would make the task a bit cleaner but still need to protect the tpe.
Plastic food wrap is much too light, unless wrapping over cloth around the tpe.
Should not have to tell you to avoid getting cloth tangled up with power tools, it's an underwear changing experience

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:05 pm

: Locknut_Hinge.jpg (18.74 KiB) Viewed 1469 times

For a 10mm Pinky, going to rethink the bolt fastening, maybe rivet a Pan Head 2x6 screw instead

: Pan_Head2x6mm.jpg (7.29 KiB) Viewed 1469 times

Arthur1960 · Post by **Arthur1960** » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:38 am

Poor Sophia had to put up with my opening up her right hand again in order to remove the earlier version of finger wire replacement I had done with what I'm now using which seems to be effective. She has the later version of palm plate with thumb and pinky wire hole on either side of the plate. This means you have to pull down the hand a little further to expose the holes but if you're careful it can still be done with minimal impact on the tpe. As Sophia was my first this hand is looking a little rough now so I will smooth it with heat but at least she has posable fingers again. I can't tell from her expression whether she appreciates the fix or not!...