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  1. I'm trying to clean moldy VHS tapes by hand which requires me to pinch the tape, VCRs and tape rewinders don't have enough powerful motors but reel to reel audio players do. I'm trying to find someone to 3D model me this VHS adapter for reel to reel players. Can someone direct me to the dimensions of VHS reel and audio reel?

    Or can I modify a VCR so that it doesn't stop rewinding even when tension is high?
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  2. I have a 3D printer (Ender 3) and design and print parts all the time. However, I have absolutely no idea what "this VHS adapter for reel to reel players" refers to. Are you using some sort of open-reel videotape player, like the old Sony TC players from the 1960s? Those were, indeed, "reel-to-reel" players. Audio and video tape players which use a cassette (like 8-track tape, audio cassettes, Beta video tape, and VHS videotape) are usually referred to as "cassette tapes", and not reel-to-reel.

    Whatever it is you are trying to do, you will probably have much better luck just taking an existing VHS tape that you've already transferred, or which you don't care about, opening it up, and then creating whatever it is you need from the parts inside. Those parts are all exactly the correct dimensions.

    Opening a VHS shell is trivial because most of the ones we all bought, back in the day, are screwed together. Some of the junk that was used for cheap commercial tapes were ultrasonically welded, and would be useless for what you're doing.
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  3. Like this reel to reel audio player laying flat instead of vertical. A VHS adapter can be mounted on top to rewind and fast forward a VHS reel. The audio reel is identical to a regular 8mm film reel. Can you design and print such an adapter? I'm willing to pay for it.
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    Last edited by digicube; 12th Feb 2020 at 11:29.
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  4. Yeggi and Thingiverse have millions of printable items. If you find what you want there, you can also find services at those same sites that will print your object for a fairly modest fee. Here are a few designs that are related to what you want to do.

    Here's an audio reel. All you have to do is tell the printing program to double the vertical height from 1/4" to 1/2".

    Tape Reel 10cm (VHS imitation)

    Here is a part that you might be able to adapt:

    VHS Video Tape Winding Key

    [edit]You might also look into getting a VHS manual rewinder. I clean a lot of movie film, and much prefer using a hand-crank while I am squeezing the film with a cotton cloth wetted with isopropyl alcohol.

    Manual VHS Tape Rewinder
    Last edited by johnmeyer; 11th Feb 2020 at 10:47.
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    If you connect it to just one socket there's a good chance the tape will spill out cause there's no brake action from the missing socket.
    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
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  6. Thanks johnmeyer, those 3D links are really helpful. I will try and get that manual rewinder just for curiosity sake but manually rewinding a 2 hours tape is too laborious and not practical I think. I also thought of a VHS adapter for 16mm film winders, I would like to try that too since you can go fast.
    Thanks for recommending the Ender 3 Pro 3D printer, I see it's under $300. I'm thinking of getting it. I read it was originally under $200. I will wait until the price comes down.
    Last edited by digicube; 10th Feb 2020 at 21:44.
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  7. Dont forget the spindle lock inside the VHS as well as the back tension.

    Brian.
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  8. Originally Posted by digicube View Post
    Thanks for recommending the Ender 3 Pro 3D printer, I see it's under $300. I'm thinking of getting it. I read it was originally under $200. I will wait until the price comes down.
    $300 seems way too high.

    Creality Ender-3 on Amazon

    My son gave it to me for Christmas fourteen months ago. He bought the Ender-3 Pro. I had to do a lot of research to figure out how to set it up and modify it, so I found out that the Ender-3 (not the Pro) was a little over $200. I would be surprised if the price was more than that now, so if you are interested, keep looking and I'm sure you'll find it for about $220. The Pro wasn't much more, and I'm sure you can get that for only about $50 more. It gives you a removable bed (very useful), a little better power supply, and a couple of minor tweaks.

    The only downside to the Creality products, including the Ender, is that they use a "hot end" (the part that melts the plastic filament) which is fed by PTFE (Teflon) tubing. This begins to degrade at temperatures around 250° C which unfortunately is below the melting point of a lot of really interesting plastics. This rules out using nylon and other really sturdy plastics. It also won't accept really flexible filaments.

    So, it has some limitations.

    Here is a link to the "things" I've designed and built and uploaded to Thingiverse. I've also printed out dozens of other people's designs, and I've designed and built at least a dozen other objects which were too unique to me to be of any interest to anyone else, so I didn't upload them.

    John Meyer Thingiverse Designs

    It is amazing how many things I've fixed that otherwise were unfixable (about half of what I've designed and printed are repair parts).
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  9. I just purchased Ender 3 Pro from Creality shop for $220 and 2kg of black and white filament for extra $40. Sad to know I can't use any of the harder plastic. Hopefully the nozzle is easy and cheap to replace.

    What software do you use to design the 3D models? What tools do you use to smoothen the surface of the 3D plastic?
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  10. Originally Posted by digicube View Post
    I just purchased Ender 3 Pro from Creality shop for $220 and 2kg of black and white filament for extra $40. Sad to know I can't use any of the harder plastic. Hopefully the nozzle is easy and cheap to replace.

    What software do you use to design the 3D models? What tools do you use to smoothen the surface of the 3D plastic?
    Use PLA plastic to get started. It is the easiest to print and works well for many applications. It is not good with heat (e.g., things will deform in your car on a 100 degree day), but it has worked for almost all those parts you see on my Thingiverse site.

    If you eventually want to print using a different plastic, you'll have to replace more than the nozzle. You can Google "all metal hot end" to learn more. FWIW, nozzles cost about $2 each, and you need to replace those every hundred hours or so (they are soft brass and erode from the friction of the plastic).


    For design, I use Fusion 360 which is free for hobbyists. I chose it because it is a totally professional package (many thousands of dollars for corporations to buy). However, even though I've spent 50+ years writing software, and was involved in some of the earliest graphics applications and am therefore quite familiar with graphics, I found this to be the most difficult, challenging piece of software to learn that I've ever encountered. I did finally figure it out, and it can do just about anything. However, most people choose to use something else, and I would recommend that you do the same. Go to the reddit.com groups that talk about 3D printing, or look at the Creality or Thingivers forums. You'll find lots of discussions about which design software to use.

    You'll also have to learn how to use a "slicing" program. This takes the output from your 3D design software and turns it into commands that actually control your printer's movements. Most people start with the free "Cura" program, and I would suggest you do the same.

    Go to the "CHEP" channel on YouTube to get all sorts of fantastic hints on how to get great results with the Ender-3 and Cura.


    Also, make sure you use the right video to guide you when building your printer. This is the one I used (and which most people use) is this one:

    Creality Ender 3 assembly and pro build tips


    Resist the temptation to do mods to your printer until you have used it a fair amount. I have seen all sorts of noob posts from people who had hardly turned on the printer and were already going to flash the BIOS, replace certain parts, etc. You don't need to do any of that. I did eventually replace the PTFE tube (it wears out) with better tube from Capricorn, and I've replaced the nozzles and PTFE brass fittings (which also wear out). You get kits for $10 that have a lifetime supply of those parts. I have only done two upgrades: a rollable holder for the filament rolls, to decrease friction; and a coat hanger which I fashioned into an arm which feeds the filament into the extruder mechanism so it doesn't come in at a steep angle.

    There is no way to smooth PLA. With ABS plastic you can put it in a chamber filled with warm acetone and it will smooth itself a little. A better way to smooth the parts is to figure out how to print with small layers. This takes a lot longer, but you get a much smoother part. Personally, I don't worry too much about this: if it is functional, and it works, I don't care if the surface is a little rough.

    BTW, I use Hatchbox PLA.
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  11. Thanks these are really helpful advice. I'll probably use Blender since I have a Udemy course on it. I found a Udemy course on Fusion 360. I'll go with that instead.
    Last edited by digicube; 12th Feb 2020 at 15:27.
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  12. Originally Posted by digicube View Post
    Thanks these are really helpful advice. I'll probably use Blender since I have a Udemy course on it. I found a Udemy course on Fusion 360. I'll go with that instead.
    This is the video that got me through the Fusion 360 learning curve. I went through every lesson and did everything he showed.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5tp4QXciK4
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  13. Thanks. I'll go with free youtube version for now and go for the Udemy course when it's on sale for around $10.
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  14. Hi! Is there a way to adapt the vhs reels to hook up on a 16 mm square rewinder? I think that's the best idea to rewind and manually clean the tapes. I would love to know if someone has an adapter to lock the vhs reels onto the square 16 mm winders.
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