Double Pipes!!! (Stunt lightsabers)

[thd9791]

redbutton and i are starting a family project per se. TWO STUNT SABERS!

We used heavy gaff tape and an x acto knife to slice a template from the original i made... peeled it off and used both the negative and positive to plan the emitters!

Then we used reinforced cut off discs to roughly get the shape, much faster than my first but the first was a literal sculpt i created with files and a hacksaw... an artists study?

Anyway
This

Turns into this, with a half round ******* file and 2 grits of sandpaper

The cores you see were lathed by Dann - he was able to bore a center hole for a steel rod, and clean up the thickness offset

 

[Dann]

Are those the cores I made for ya?

 

[thd9791]

YES! I forgot to credit you - one second

 

[redbutton]

Thanks Dan! These are looking good so far.

 

[Halliwax]

Looking great guys

 

[Sundowner]

Well done so far

 

[thd9791]

I have to pic dump tonight. another long day of hand machining and lots of roadblocks!. for example, metric metal I got had a misaligned center hole, meaning the tang/blade is not true. Blade is supposed to go onto tang, but wont, have to put the tang in the blade first since it isn't clocked right... its weird.. only got one done because of this and lathing stuff on a drill press takes forever


Metal I started with - the pipes seem to have thicker blades, so these are 19 mm roughly



Doing the collars was very easy with a locking dremel mandrell and the right sized pipe. had to sand the blades a little to get these in place



I widened the hole to accept my 3/8 steel tang.... however the center of the tube wasn't exactly straight to begin with. Then I had to thin the outer diameter in a drill press with files. This is how I stuck it in the chuck, worked rather well but took FOREVER



then once I could tap the inner sleeve in place (and file down the end to make all the layers flush) I put 2 set screws in the collar. Tang... mild steel I had to strip with sandpaper and another drill press lathing. Took a long time, being steel, and I tried to put a groove in for the core's set screw



Lovely chatter... proper 82 degree or whatever countersink. those common black bolts are NOT 90 degrees

put together, there is still a little cardstock width tilted gap where the blade meets the core, but it's pretty solid. There is a TINY bit of wiggle I can check out another day, but it's locked together! This is a Valor antenna and vibrates quite a bit when hit. So not exactly what was used, which is still a mystery but closer... much closer

 

[russellsch]

Freaking sweet!!

 

[Halliwax]

Looking good tom! Very impressive you do this all by hand.

The collars, are you buying that stock just like that? Or are you hand machining it to fit?

 

[kurtyboy]

You're a master of the manual machining, Tom.

 

[kurtyboy]

I have basement jealousy.

 

[thd9791]

Thank you for the kind words! I learn a lot doing this, the valor antenna is much lighter I think.

I should also add there are 8/32 set screws in the collar and the body set screw is a 10/32 I think.. these were set screws I bought from an antique store a town over, so salvaged

I'll take better pictures when I revisit pipe #2, I need to a) revisit the tang situation, I think I can sculpt it to fit better and b) see about the vibration in the black bolts

 

[thd9791]

Ok folks i have some engineering questions. Already spoke with halliwax some - wanted as many opinions as possible

Im seeing a little wiggle from the blade attachment, like the opposing set screws arent enough? Maybe make a good groove or flat surface to help them stay put?

Also vibration is transferred through the black bolts. Does this mean the countersunk holes are still not clean enough? I may up the speed of my drill press if I can move the belt, that was tough last time

I also need to figure out how to fix the crooked internal hole of this metal I got. Didnt know it was crooked until i put it in the blade, maybe drilling it out more (and straighter) and putting tape in there?

 

[redbutton]

Are those the cores I made for ya?

Why yes!

 

[thd9791]

Bad news folks. it's back to the drawing board.. mostly.

The external tube was still able to wiggle up and down slightly, while the screws were tight. I don't understand how a solid countersinking bit can leave the core and outer tube on different planes?!?!?!

So, I also experienced chatter and upped the speed of my drill press (and went 1 speed lower) and the chatter got worse. In fact, it blew a hexagon hole through the outer pipe. Game over.

I need to get more materials, get the core to sit tighter in the tube, and get better equipment to countersink. I learned a lot and really feel confident about the whole core process.... but this harbor freight drill press is not cut out for it. The fastest speed is 3200 RPM or something, and it still rattles and wont cut a smooth countersink. Also, I'm using... well here

This and Irwin taps to tap for 1/4 20

and basically the knockoff brand of these

To open the hole. I think black bolts are 82 degrees or something? The bits I bought specifically said the angle

Anyway, what do people use? New high pitched hand drills? Combo bits with the countersink on the drill bit? Centering two step bits? I think I need a more sophisticated drill in general too, but the bits... these seem to not work so well for aluminum

I was able to pop out the crooked inner spacer of the blades. Thankfully I am back to having two empty valor antennas with nice aluminum collars on the bottom.

 

[Halliwax]

Correct 82 degrees, I use the mill to counter sink, never tried on the drill press

I think your best bet is to get that round stock to fit tight as hell in that tube

Drill your center hole first, mount your driveshaft into the core, then sand until you can bang that core into the tube

Then counter sink and pinch the core in the tube

 

[Halliwax]

Tom you need a zero flute counter sink like this

It’s really not increasing or decreasing your speed problem. Those counter sinks don’t like aluminum

Round stock even worse!

Invest in this and watch the difference

https://www.grainger.com/mobile/product/KEO-Countersink-1DBR6

 

[Halliwax]

Or if your a amazon guy

KEO 53512 Cobalt Steel Single-End Countersink, Uncoated (Bright) Finish, 82 Degree Point Angle, Round Shank, 5/16" Shank Diameter, 1/2" Body Diameter: Countersink Bits: Amazon.com: Gateway

KEO 53512 Cobalt Steel Single-End Countersink, Uncoated (Bright) Finish, 82 Degree Point Angle, Round Shank, 5/16" Shank Diameter, 1/2" Body Diameter: Countersink Bits: Amazon.com: Gateway

www.amazon.com

Aluminum doesn’t like flutes, bites and the aluminum clogs the flutes

I’m making more pipes this weekend while watching V2s dry. I’ll take a picture

 

[newmagrathea]

I'm jealous of the mill and lathe, I want sooo bad.

 

[Halliwax]

I'm jealous of the mill and lathe, I want sooo bad.

Don’t buy these, buy bigger... you reach your limits real quick with them