60 replies to this topic

[parabolic]

Wild,

That would be another way to do it, But you still have to make a long thin nipple somehow, and the machinery I have is far too big to turn diameters of less than 5mm.
I can make spindles with a tapped center so that the person can attach his/her own nipple to the spindle.
(That sentence came out bad LOL..!)

I guess round stock bar of the given core diameter required can be threaded on to the spindle, However, Threads and dirt/dust from clay will not be a good thing, as if any gets trapped the thread my bind and gore.

Lee

[Stuart]

http://amateurpyro.c...p?album=6&pos=2

http://amateurpyro.c...p?album=6&pos=1

http://amateurpyro.c...p?album=6&pos=0

My new press! I bought the threaded bar for ?2.60 each and then nuts and washers for ?2 (I think). The angle Iron was dug up from the ground, was being used as a support for something, cut and cleaned up with an angle grinder. Drilled the holes in and spray painted it Black. I'm rather chuffed with it over all, will try some comets sometime. I presume I can use Chrissy #6 for the comp?

Stuart

[pyrotechnist]

How big are laths? I don't think i have enougth room to fit in my house to make tooling i am ordering from wolter soon but i like your tooling man very nice . Hope to see more keep up the good work.

[Stuart]

Lathe's vary in size from table top size to big, car size bit's of kit. It all depends on what you want to do with it and how much you enjoy flaunting vast amounts of money.

[sasman]

I bought a small lathe off of ebay Just so i can make my own tooling! Cost just over ?200 its pretty old but does the job.and with lots of different pyro tools i will be needing it will save me a packet ..Here is a pic of it ebay lathe..

.They are not very big mines about 5 foot long it weighs in about 200lbs,and can handle metal bars up to 10" diameter about 2 foot long ...Biggest thing i have turned so far was 4" diameter bar stock for Powder Die so i can press 4" BP pucks.. if you are very serious about making everything you need in pyro i think a lathe is very very handy tool...I intend to make a quick release tube support similar to the one on wolters pyro tools. i have made about 10 rockets and am fed up with undoing those hose clamps every time you press a rocket.... .

[Richard H]

You'll have to start doing custom tools for us UK pyro's!

[pyrotechnist]

How do you work it? To make nice round things like spindles and stuff. If i had laser i could make one maby by burning the metal away.

[Richard H]

You just spin a length of round bar stock and cut it with tooling until desired shape has been achieved.

[parabolic]

Here is a picture of my lathe, It is Fanuc CNC control.

http://amateurpyro.c...al_Dscn0600.jpg

If you look carrfully you can see the 8 station indexing turret.

[pyrotechnist]

What is an 8 station indexing turret? And also nice machine.

[parabolic]

an 8 station indexing turret , is a wheel that is loaded with tools required for different operations, eg. 1 tool for general rough turning, 1 tool for finish turning, 1 tool for boring, 1 tool for drilling, the list goes on. The turret will revolve to the required tool that is selected in the program. This means that you do not have to manually remove or change tooling on the machine, they can all be placed on the turret and therefor save time and also make the machine more independant.
you can have many more tools 12 station, 20 station, just depends what you want the machine for, just so happens that mine has 8 stations.

hope this helps

[pyrotechnist]

Thanku for that i was just wondering what they were.

[Gavin]

A few years ago the nearby college was promoting their prospectus in the local rag and "engineering tools and techniques" caught my attention. It was a 20 week course of 2 hours per week described as learning a range of engineering skills safely, with expert tuition. I fancied doing something a bit different from the day job & enrolled. Cost less than ?100 if I recall correctly.

At the first session I discovered this was a regular course which had run on and off for years & was previously called model making. The regulars there were making allsorts from steam engine parts to fancy hifi speaker stands.

Needless to say, and to cut a long story short, after some tuition on the lathe I got busy turning out a host of pyro tools. It was great fun & cost next to nowt. Compared to some of my bought tools the quality isn't at all bad. Probably took me 20 times longer to make one than Rich Wolter though (if not more). Mr Wolter does make exceedingly nice tools, yum.

Unfortunately it was short lived as the course wasn't repeated. Checkout your local colleges, there may be something similar in your area. I know we can just buy them but it is fun making them as well.

Gavin

[Plays with Fire]

Checkout your local colleges, there may be something similar in your area.

I certinly will; I'd love to be able to have a tooling enviroment with an instructer! Only problem is in order to describe what I wanted to make as far as tools, I'd have to mention their use, which does *not* go over well around here, in the US (or at least so close to a major city)!!!

Time to check for courses anyway, maybe I'd be able to, or maybe I'd just get the skills to know how to on my own .

[Pretty green flames]

I'm going to take this opurtunity and brag a bit about my new sieves. They are 12"x12" and i have sizes
ranging from 10mesh to 60mesh (10, 20, 30, 40, 60). I have placed the mesh between 2 wooden frames which were then secured with some brass (i love brass, my precious) nails.

http://i15.photobuck...P2/Image001.jpg Aren't they pretty. One question though, should i paint them with lacquer ?

I have only taken a picture of a 20mesh screen (left) and the 10mesh screen (right), others are curently in my workshop (That's right, i have a workshop now, not in my room anymore )

Edited by Pretty green flames, 07 May 2006 - 06:14 PM.