Fabricating valve assemblies

[skyguy]

Quite often, I see people searching for valve assemblies for their project horns. Has anyone tried making their own?

Do we have any machinists in the midst? Is anyone getting creative with a 3D printer yet?

I do not have the funds to attempt such a project, but I'd love to see what others have come up with.


-Kevin

[Tubajug]

That would be quite the undertaking I would think! The 3D printer thing sounds interesting though. I know someone with plans to 3D print a serpent, but that's all I've heard of.

[opus37]

I know a couple of high school kid made a mouthpiece with a 3D printer. Part of the problem was the material for most inexpensive systems is not durable enough for much more than a single use. One of the reasons why the printed guns commonly explode. I think this is doable, but maybe just for replacement parts for an old horn. It likely is still cheaper to make them by machining.

[Dan Schultz]

I could make a valve section from scratch but everything would be strictly 'one-off' and very time consuming. ... to the point where I would not even consider doing it.

As far as 3D printing is concerned.... the electronics technology is there but the level of materials that are available at low cost to the average consumer does not lend themselves very well to the robust-ness that's required for actual use on a tuba.

I was doing rapid prototyping over twenty years ago using converging lasers and immulsions to make 'touchy-feely' stuff to pass around in a board room meeting. THAT technology was probably better than most of the 3D printers around today but was horribly expensive. I suspect that the engineering materials to make usable parts on a 3D printer would also be very expensive and the printers for doing such certainly won't cost as little as a few hundred dollars.