3D Printing of Lewmar 43 Winch Parts (out of production)

[MoonlightSailor]

Aloha!

For many years my main winch, a Lewmar 43, has been slowly loosing its grip on the main sheet when it is placed in the winch jaws. I've mitigated this problem and kicked the can down the road by placing an extra wrap, sometimes a 3rd wrap, of the line around the drum so it won't just fall out of the jaws.

With the advancement of 3D printing, I'm looking to see if anyone has ever attempted to reprint the upper and lower jaws of any winch. Seems like this is within reach of current technology. No?

Otherwise I'm looking to purchasing a new winch. No, they don't make parts for this winch any more.

Thoughts anyone? Experiences?

Mahalo!
Matt

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by MoonlightSailor

Aloha!

For many years my main winch, a Lewmar 43, has been slowly loosing its grip on the main sheet when it is placed in the winch jaws. I've mitigated this problem and kicked the can down the road by placing an extra wrap, sometimes a 3rd wrap, of the line around the drum so it won't just fall out of the jaws.

With the advancement of 3D printing, I'm looking to see if anyone has ever attempted to reprint the upper and lower jaws of any winch. Seems like this is within reach of current technology. No?

Otherwise I'm looking to purchasing a new winch. No, they don't make parts for this winch any more.

Thoughts anyone? Experiences?

Mahalo!
Matt

The tricky part will be to get the healthy geometry as your parts are worn.
So ideally find someone who still had a healthy version and borrow the parts from them.
The 3D scan them and have them printed in a suitable material. There are a lot of 3D printing services which can print in a huge amount of materials, even metal.
The latter is more expensive, but can be done. If you need a real smooth surface, have someone chrome the parts.

All in all I do suspect it will be cheaper than a new set of two winches.

Once done successfully, either offer more prints of the 3D file to others who run into the same issue or put the 3D file into the public domain for anyone to use.

[hlev00]

Your comment is puzzling. You say to mitigate you put an extra and some times a 3rd wrap. How many total wraps are you using when it slips. You should have 3.

The jaws are adjustable by the screws on top of the jaws. You can tighten to perhaps get more grip. Or maybe they are too tight for the diameter and so the sheet is not sitting deeply enough.

[massnspace]

I really don’t think you can 3D print in a type of metal that would work properly.

And even if you could, it would cost thousands of dollars per piece, including all the CAD work to actually produce the .stl file.

Would be way cheaper to just buy new parts…..or winches.

[pcmm]

I think you have some misconceptions about how self tailing winches work. The stripper (the lip piece) and the gripper ( the grove around the top) are there to hold the line. They don't take significant load. When you say sometimes you put 3 wraps around the drum. You should be putting 3 wraps areound the drum ALL THE TIME. this is the correct number of wraps before the line hits the stripper. It allows the drum to get good purchase on the line and put the load where its supposed to be. On the drum.

What diameter is your mainsheet? on Lewmar 43's I wouldn't use anything less than 1/2inch

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by massnspace

I really don’t think you can 3D print in a type of metal that would work properly.

And even if you could, it would cost thousands of dollars per piece, including all the CAD work to actually produce the .stl file.

Would be way cheaper to just buy new parts…..or winches.

If he gets the parts 3D scanned the Cad part is relative simple. I do work a lot with 3D Cad and the shapes of these parts is not very complicated if he can get some healthy parts scanned.

Now if you are talking about repairing the unhealthy parts in 3D cad it's a bit more evolved but not that much.
The tricky part will be to know how the correct part is shaped.

If he does not get them 3D printed he can get them milled from the same file.

Or if he has a healthy set of parts from someone who has them in reasonable good status, they could even be cast in metal.

You can even print stainless steel at reasonable cost these days:

https://all3dp.com/2/stainless-steel...ainless-steel/

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by pcmm

I think you have some misconceptions about how self tailing winches work. The stripper (the lip piece) and the gripper ( the grove around the top) are there to hold the line. They don't take significant load. When you say sometimes you put 3 wraps around the drum. You should be putting 3 wraps areound the drum ALL THE TIME. this is the correct number of wraps before the line hits the stripper. It allows the drum to get good purchase on the line and put the load where its supposed to be. On the drum.

What diameter is your mainsheet? on Lewmar 43's I wouldn't use anything less than 1/2inch

For hauling the line in he needs several loops around the winch drum, agreed.
But then he can take two loops off and the gripper holds it easily.

We do that on our genoa sheets all the time to allow a quick release in a squall. Line comes from load, once around the drum, through the groove and stripper, than we let a short loop of line hang down and lay the sheetend loosely inverse around the drum.

When a squall hits and your very uncomfortable with it (we have a cat) you pull once on the loose end and it instantly comes out of the stripper and groove offloading the sail immediately.
Of course we put wraps around the drum when letting the sheet controlled out under normal circumstances.

Point I'm making, the groove and one loop on the drum can comfortably hold a fully loaded sheet.

[massnspace]

Originally Posted by Franziska

If he gets the parts 3D scanned the Cad part is relative simple. I do work a lot with 3D Cad and the shapes of these parts is not very complicated if he can get some healthy parts scanned.

Now if you are talking about repairing the unhealthy parts in 3D cad it's a bit more evolved but not that much.
The tricky part will be to know how the correct part is shaped.

If he does not get them 3D printed he can get them milled from the same file.

Or if he has a healthy set of parts from someone who has them in reasonable good status, they could even be cast in metal.

You can even print stainless steel at reasonable cost these days:

https://all3dp.com/2/stainless-steel...ainless-steel/

Sure. Just pull a quick, perfect scan and pop out a perfect stainless part.

Simple and cheap, probably $25.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by massnspace

Sure. Just pull a quick, perfect scan and pop out a perfect stainless part.



Simple and cheap, probably $25.

Sarcasm? That's a joke.
I never referred to that price range.

But it is possible for less than a new set of winches.

[pdx_sailing]

Yes a new gripper to get geometry and match the inner hub geometry of the worn winch you have.

I'm not sure 3d materials are best suited, typical "plastics" tend to have poor uv resistance and become brittle. Metal printing may be an option.

3rd option make cheap 3d print and then use it to make a mold and have the part cast.

4th option, machine new parts from material of choice from new cad model.

Given the high cost of winches and lack of service parts, these seem like viable options

[Mal Reynolds]

Originally Posted by MoonlightSailor

Aloha!

For many years my main winch, a Lewmar 43, has been slowly loosing its grip on the main sheet when it is placed in the winch jaws. I've mitigated this problem and kicked the can down the road by placing an extra wrap, sometimes a 3rd wrap, of the line around the drum so it won't just fall out of the jaws.

With the advancement of 3D printing, I'm looking to see if anyone has ever attempted to reprint the upper and lower jaws of any winch. Seems like this is within reach of current technology. No?

Otherwise I'm looking to purchasing a new winch. No, they don't make parts for this winch any more.

Thoughts anyone? Experiences?

Mahalo!
Matt

Funny, I have the exact same problem, athough my Lewmar winches from the 80's are 65's and 52's. I thought about welding new ribs on the jaws, but I don't think it's practical as the aluminum will move and warp too much.

I've decided to bite the bullet and replace them with Andersens. A shame to junk a perfectly good set of winches because of the jaw ribs corroding away.