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Done / Completed Blade Runner 2049 blaster replacement metal Cylinder ** Production OVER **
- Thread starter Teddz
- Start date
Here's one of the last updates to this run...
I've been trying to send them out as my finances allowed, but things were real tight and I didn't get them out as fast as I wanted. As of the new year, I started a new job at another machine shop to remedy my financial issue and so far, it's going really well.
After packing up the cylinders, these are what's left. Steel only. Once these are gone, that's it.
Before being packed up, I snapped a shot of a polished stainless duo next to a machined finish stainless cylinder. I love how 304 polishes.
Here's a machined finish stainless barrel with some color to it. That's not heat color, that's just the surface finish messing with light.
And my stylish pen holder that will always remind me to verify my instruments and tool calibration.
I've been trying to send them out as my finances allowed, but things were real tight and I didn't get them out as fast as I wanted. As of the new year, I started a new job at another machine shop to remedy my financial issue and so far, it's going really well.
After packing up the cylinders, these are what's left. Steel only. Once these are gone, that's it.
Before being packed up, I snapped a shot of a polished stainless duo next to a machined finish stainless cylinder. I love how 304 polishes.
Here's a machined finish stainless barrel with some color to it. That's not heat color, that's just the surface finish messing with light.
And my stylish pen holder that will always remind me to verify my instruments and tool calibration.
Yours was given a little extra attention due to zoning out while polishing it. It happens sometimes. I didn't take a pic of it, but it's pretty.
yea, I send all the info needed.
SteuerEule
Member
Do we have to contact you once again or do you keep track and inform everyone who will receive a package from you?
That is good to know. Hopefully i won't have any issues then!
In all the time I've been sending barrels, a couple with holes all the way through (albeit a 6mm hole, but it was all the way through), I haven't had any issues with barrels being held up in customs. I've had several go missing during shipping though.
As for the cylinders, so far no issue. I sent userd1402 several barrels and cylinders at once and he got them without issue. And the others I've sent out so far show up as delivered or in-transit (but not looking stuck someplace).
As for the cylinders, so far no issue. I sent userd1402 several barrels and cylinders at once and he got them without issue. And the others I've sent out so far show up as delivered or in-transit (but not looking stuck someplace).
I thought I had pictures of all the steps, but I can't seem to find the main body drilling pics (If I find them, I'll update them). Oh well, until then, here are the steps it took to make one of these cylinders...
All the operations on the lathe are manual, meaning I'm making the machine go brrrrrr. The mill is mostly cnc controlled, but there were points that I flipped it back to manual control.
Step 1.
Cut slugs of 10cm long from bar stock. Each one will give me two cylinder blanks.
Step 2.
Face off first side of slug and drill center point. Drill 4mm hole 1/2 way into slug.
Step 3.
Turn OD to spec on first half of slug.
Step 4.
Wrap part with aluminum from a soda can and turn around to repeat steps 2 and 3 on the second side.
Step 5.
With parting tool, at roughly 1/2 way, part slug into two cylinder blanks.
Step 6.
With cylinder blank in the lathe, cut-side out, blank is brought to specified length.
Step 7.
First operation in the mill is the 7mm hole on the forward facing side.
Step 8.
Next comes the 8mm hole in the back of the cylinder.
Step 9.
With 8mm side facing up, center points are drilled for the main holes.
Step 10.
Center points drilled, 10mm drill is used to drill through the cylinder body.
Step 11.
11.5 mm drill is now used to chase the 10mm hole part way down.
Step 12.
11.8 mm reamer is used to chase the 11.5mm hole and bring it to size and depth.
Step 13.
11 mm reamer is used to chase what remains of the 10.5mm initially drilled.
Step 14.
8mm end mill is loaded to open 3x 1.5mm deep pockets to allow clearance for the 2mm end mill in the next op.
Step 15.
2mm end mill is loaded up to open 3x slots in the 8mm pockets.
Step 16.
Back onto the lathe to open the recess on the side with the slots for the ejector mechanism.
Step 17.
First of the catches, 8mm end mill.
Step 18.
10 mm x 2 mm T-Slot end mill.
Step 19.
Ball nose end mill loaded for the flutes.
And that's most of what it took to make them.
All the operations on the lathe are manual, meaning I'm making the machine go brrrrrr. The mill is mostly cnc controlled, but there were points that I flipped it back to manual control.
Step 1.
Cut slugs of 10cm long from bar stock. Each one will give me two cylinder blanks.
Step 2.
Face off first side of slug and drill center point. Drill 4mm hole 1/2 way into slug.
Step 3.
Turn OD to spec on first half of slug.
Step 4.
Wrap part with aluminum from a soda can and turn around to repeat steps 2 and 3 on the second side.
Step 5.
With parting tool, at roughly 1/2 way, part slug into two cylinder blanks.
Step 6.
With cylinder blank in the lathe, cut-side out, blank is brought to specified length.
Step 7.
First operation in the mill is the 7mm hole on the forward facing side.
Step 8.
Next comes the 8mm hole in the back of the cylinder.
Step 9.
With 8mm side facing up, center points are drilled for the main holes.
Step 10.
Center points drilled, 10mm drill is used to drill through the cylinder body.
Step 11.
11.5 mm drill is now used to chase the 10mm hole part way down.
Step 12.
11.8 mm reamer is used to chase the 11.5mm hole and bring it to size and depth.
Step 13.
11 mm reamer is used to chase what remains of the 10.5mm initially drilled.
Step 14.
8mm end mill is loaded to open 3x 1.5mm deep pockets to allow clearance for the 2mm end mill in the next op.
Step 15.
2mm end mill is loaded up to open 3x slots in the 8mm pockets.
Step 16.
Back onto the lathe to open the recess on the side with the slots for the ejector mechanism.
Step 17.
First of the catches, 8mm end mill.
Step 18.
10 mm x 2 mm T-Slot end mill.
Step 19.
Ball nose end mill loaded for the flutes.
And that's most of what it took to make them.
LasagnaSmoothie
Member
Hello. I received my order from Ted a few days ago, and I'd just like to provide a quick update for those that may be interested. I ordered six cylinders from Ted in total, four steel, one stainless steel, and one polished stainless steel. The craftsmanship on all the cylinders is absolutely flawless, with the polished stainless steel being a particular standout. In terms of build quality I could not be more pleased; these solid metal cylinders are a huge step over Tomenosuke's resin cylinders. Ted is clearly a very skilled metal worker, and his talent really shines through with these pieces.
In terms of getting the cylinders to rotate properly, this has been somewhat more of a mixed bag. First and foremost, earlier in the thread user1402 described how the starshaped portion of the ejector was a tight fit on Ted's cylinders. Fortunately, this hasn't been my experience. I've had no trouble at all sliding this component into the cylinders. The cylinders I've tested so far have all been added to blasters that I constructed myself from assembly kits. One of these assembly blasters for whatever reason has a very crisp and decisive motion when the trigger is pulled and the cylinder rotates. (I'm not sure why this particular blaster has such a crisp mechanism, but I wish all my blasters shared this quality. I've noticed that the trigger pull is noticeably shorter on this blaster, so I suspect that this in some way contributes to the decisiveness of the mechanism.) On this blaster, Ted's cylinder rotates perfectly with absolutely no loss of motion at any point in the cycle. The second of my blasters has a noticeably less crisp motion when the trigger is pulled, however, it has no trouble rotating the Tomenosuke cylinder the full cycle. However, with Ted's cylinder, the rotation of the cylinder always stalls at a particular point in the cycle. The trigger can still be pulled without issue, it's just the cylinder no longer rotates until it's popped out and reset to a position where the hook mechanism can once again catch it. My third blaster has issues rotating even the Tomenosuke cylinder - it stalls at a particular spot just as the Ted's cylinder does above. With this blaster, the metal cylinder won't rotate even a single notch. Additionally, at one spot on cylinder rotation cycle (presumably the spot when the Tomen cylinder stalls), it actually binds up and prevents the trigger from being pulled.
To summarize, the ability of the blasters to rotate Ted's metal cylinders seems highly dependent on the initial quality of the firing mechanism. If your blaster has no problem cycling the Tomen cylinder and has a nice crisp firing motion, you'll likely have no trouble getting your metal cylinder to rotate. If you've had issues getting the Tomen cylinder to rotate, you may be out of luck when it comes to getting Ted's cylinder to perform. Having said this, I still consider any rotation issues a worthy tradeoff when it comes to comparing the two cylinders. The added weight, feel, and vastly superior appearance of Ted's cylinders are enough to make me overlook any rotation problems. Finally, I don't consider these issues to be in any way Ted's fault. I own six Tomen blasters (four assembly and two factory assembled), and all but two of them they have had cylinder issues to varying degrees. The fact of the matter is that the cylinder rotation on these replicas is simply flakey as hell. The newest edition of their blaster cuts off .5mm on the cylinder to supposedly help address this issue. I haven't yet had any cylinder problems with this edition of their blaster, however, I've also refrained from pulling the trigger often out of an abundance of caution. Regardless, these problems never should have emerged in the first place, as there's really no excuse for such poor performance from such pricey replicas.
Finally, earlier in the thread I suggested that any that haven't received their cylinders open a dispute with paypal. This can obviously be disregarded as Ted is clearly making good on his obligations. It's taken much longer than initially promised, however, at least for me, the wait has been more than worthwhile as I couldn't be more pleased with the parts I've received. Thank you for reading, and I hope I've provided some useful information for those still waiting on their cylinders.
-One final note, Ted's packaging was excellent. The items were very well protected in individual boxes and also clearly marked to indicate the contents. All of the steel parts were also dosed with gun oil to prevent corrosion.
In terms of getting the cylinders to rotate properly, this has been somewhat more of a mixed bag. First and foremost, earlier in the thread user1402 described how the starshaped portion of the ejector was a tight fit on Ted's cylinders. Fortunately, this hasn't been my experience. I've had no trouble at all sliding this component into the cylinders. The cylinders I've tested so far have all been added to blasters that I constructed myself from assembly kits. One of these assembly blasters for whatever reason has a very crisp and decisive motion when the trigger is pulled and the cylinder rotates. (I'm not sure why this particular blaster has such a crisp mechanism, but I wish all my blasters shared this quality. I've noticed that the trigger pull is noticeably shorter on this blaster, so I suspect that this in some way contributes to the decisiveness of the mechanism.) On this blaster, Ted's cylinder rotates perfectly with absolutely no loss of motion at any point in the cycle. The second of my blasters has a noticeably less crisp motion when the trigger is pulled, however, it has no trouble rotating the Tomenosuke cylinder the full cycle. However, with Ted's cylinder, the rotation of the cylinder always stalls at a particular point in the cycle. The trigger can still be pulled without issue, it's just the cylinder no longer rotates until it's popped out and reset to a position where the hook mechanism can once again catch it. My third blaster has issues rotating even the Tomenosuke cylinder - it stalls at a particular spot just as the Ted's cylinder does above. With this blaster, the metal cylinder won't rotate even a single notch. Additionally, at one spot on cylinder rotation cycle (presumably the spot when the Tomen cylinder stalls), it actually binds up and prevents the trigger from being pulled.
To summarize, the ability of the blasters to rotate Ted's metal cylinders seems highly dependent on the initial quality of the firing mechanism. If your blaster has no problem cycling the Tomen cylinder and has a nice crisp firing motion, you'll likely have no trouble getting your metal cylinder to rotate. If you've had issues getting the Tomen cylinder to rotate, you may be out of luck when it comes to getting Ted's cylinder to perform. Having said this, I still consider any rotation issues a worthy tradeoff when it comes to comparing the two cylinders. The added weight, feel, and vastly superior appearance of Ted's cylinders are enough to make me overlook any rotation problems. Finally, I don't consider these issues to be in any way Ted's fault. I own six Tomen blasters (four assembly and two factory assembled), and all but two of them they have had cylinder issues to varying degrees. The fact of the matter is that the cylinder rotation on these replicas is simply flakey as hell. The newest edition of their blaster cuts off .5mm on the cylinder to supposedly help address this issue. I haven't yet had any cylinder problems with this edition of their blaster, however, I've also refrained from pulling the trigger often out of an abundance of caution. Regardless, these problems never should have emerged in the first place, as there's really no excuse for such poor performance from such pricey replicas.
Finally, earlier in the thread I suggested that any that haven't received their cylinders open a dispute with paypal. This can obviously be disregarded as Ted is clearly making good on his obligations. It's taken much longer than initially promised, however, at least for me, the wait has been more than worthwhile as I couldn't be more pleased with the parts I've received. Thank you for reading, and I hope I've provided some useful information for those still waiting on their cylinders.
-One final note, Ted's packaging was excellent. The items were very well protected in individual boxes and also clearly marked to indicate the contents. All of the steel parts were also dosed with gun oil to prevent corrosion.
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Good to hear you got your cylinders. And yeah, these issues sound more like tolerances not being so tight on the Tomenosuke itself rather than something with Teddz's work. I'm not too concerned with whether or not my cylinder works perfectly. It'd be nice, but I just want the prop to have a more realistic weight to it.
Bobdor
New Member
Hello, I am just curious about when you ordered your parts? I have been waiting on my cylinder since April 26, 2020. I am just curious how far back in the queue I might be.
LasagnaSmoothie
Member
Hi Bobdor. I placed my order on December 25th of 2021, so your order predates mine by about a year and a half. Last month I contacted Ted and essentially drew a line in the sand saying that I was giving him thirty days to complete the order or I would be cancelling and expecting a refund. To his credit, he met the deadline and provided the parts as promised, however, I can see that my forcefulness has created a situation where I've skipped forward at least a few spots in the line. I'm sure you're at least somewhat miffed to discover this, and you of course have every right to feel so. However, it does appear that Ted is finally ramping up production, and I have no doubt that you will receive your order in due course. In other words, it seems clear that Ted has no intention of ghosting his clients and that everyone here will receive their parts - albeit, far behind the initially promised deadlines. Finally, since my order exceeded a thousand dollars, I had somewhat more to lose here than most (if not all purchasers), so I suspect that Ted may have expedited my order to help put my mind at ease. If I were in your shoes, I'd simply give Ted a clear deadline of an additional mouth or two to complete the your items. I don't particularly relish holding a person's feet to the fire, however, sometimes it's necessary and it does appear that Ted works well under such expectations.
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LasagnaSmoothie
Member
I've had a chance to install my last two cylinders, so I thought I'd provide a final report on their performance. I installed steel cylinders in both a Tomenosuke OG Edition blaster, and a 2019 Retailer Edition blaster. The 2019 edition is Tomenosuke's latest model. The steel cylinder in the OG edition is capable of fully rotating, however, there's some hesitancy in the rotation and it tends to take multiple pulls of the trigger to get the cylinder to fully revolve. It has a tendency to stall at certain points, and it takes a few extra yanks on the trigger to get the cylinder rolling again. The cylinder in the 2019 edition is silky smooth - full rotation with no issues whatsoever. To summarize, it's clear that the steel cylinders have an overall deleterious effect on the ability of the blasters to rotate said cylinders. However, if you have no cylinder issues prior to installing your steel cylinder, there's a good chance the steel cylinder will perform as desired. Regardless, in my mind the benefits of the steel cylinder outweigh the negatives.
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