Quote:
Originally Posted by MIPS
1: No, the plastics currently used for 3D printing would not handle the immense vacuum for prolonged periods. Also there was good reason why RCA abandoned metal bodied CRT's.
2: No, switching from one gun to another would also cause the beam alignment to change slightly. If I'm doing this in my head correctly at 7AM, this would require tuned electronic compensation via the deflection yoke.
Also a triple gun arrangement is FAR bigger than the neck of most black and white tubes.
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I agree with you on #1. 3D printing tends to also not make consistent structure the way casting would. Even if one were to make a CRT entirely out of clear plastic I think a cast piece would be stronger and less prone to leaking. Also, CRTs during evacuation need to be heated to hundreds of degrees to force all internal materials to outgas rapidly to form a good vacuum this and the process of using an induction heater to flash the getters and electron guns would both likely melt most plastics...
If one wanted to make new CRTs based on old ones I could see using 3D printing to make a mold to cast new glass with (like how wax positive molds of cast metal statues are made).
Even if you could 3D print a CRT, a color CRT would be a wild engineering challenge due to the logistics of a shadow mask and the phosphor silkscreening process.
On #2 I think it is possible*, but I would recommend against it to preserve the stock of color guns for color CRTs. Rectangular era delta and inline guns were about the same size as most monochrome CRT necks from WWII up to ~1960...The centering rings on most yokes may have enough pull (especially with inline guns) to properly compensate for the offset.