Han Solo ANH Hero Blaster Flash Hider *FOUND*

Rolling and stamping? No, that drawing's intended to represent a bladed cutter mounted on a horizontal MILL. :) (Think gear-hob or oversized dovetail cutter.)

Mills were not always of the Bridgeport-type, in fact as I understand it they are essentially descendants of the lathe. The taper is the shape of the cutter intersecting the material at the end of the cut.

Anyway, you can determine the correct diameter of the cutter by how fast the cut tapers where the cutter exits the material. Someone who's good with Trig could probably calculate it.

[Edit--Gabe--I guess I'm being caught up by terminology, when actually I guess we're still saying the same thing, so nevermind, I guess... ;) ]
 
I was trying to wrap my head around how those grooves would have been tapered at both ends. I also kept thinking ball end mill, but a large round cutter in a horizontal mill explains the taper and keeps it simple, as it would have been back when the part was originally made. It makes perfect sense. Good call Serafino. I do wonder if in this day, with CNC milling readily available, it may be more cost effective to do it via CNC and yeild the same end result.
 
Andres - thanks, got it. That CAD is a bit misleading, though - looks like a rolling cutting dye, when it's in fact a spinning cutting bit. ;)

Returning to the lugs on the booster, I think all can agree that a ball end-mill was used to carve out those grooves, and similarly to the grenade, the part was rotated (16 times in this case) for tool passes.

- Gabe
 
Serafino and Deano are correct, the oval shape of the lug is indicative of a grove that was cut with a radial slot cutter mounted in a horizontal mill instead of a ball end cutter mounted in a vertical mill



Originally posted by Prop Runner+Oct 17 2005, 08:32 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prop Runner @ Oct 17 2005, 08:32 PM)</div>
Here's an observation I can make even before I have the part:

Notice how the lug notches taper off, and the rounded end is not circular but oval....

.....I would recommend having the oval taper shape somewhere in between.  Any thoughts on this?

[/b]



<!--QuoteBegin-Serafino
@Oct 17 2005, 10:38 PM

The 'curved tool path' is simply the end of cut of a large-radius cutting tool.  I doubt they even had the ability to create a curved tool path of a ball end mill back then, that's a CNC trick.

 
Guys,

Why is it the pictures BD showed of the hider he had that was in rough shape look different than this one.

This one looks perfect, but the one BD had appeared to have different proportions and didn't look right.
 
Originally posted by Stormy320@Oct 18 2005, 02:27 AM
Guys,

Why is it the pictures BD showed of the hider he had that was in rough shape look different than this one.

This one looks perfect, but the one BD had appeared to have different proportions and didn't look right.
[snapback]1098617[/snapback]​
That's because his source's booster-hider has internal lugs and a wrench slot in the front of the booster, and the correct model has external lugs and no wrench slot. See David's thread here for more details:

http://www.therpf.com/index.php?showtopic=97264

David, I've never seen a radial slot cutter - does it operate this way?

radial_cutter.JPG


Either way, since these were machined in the 40s, the point is moot now that we can get it done with CNC. As long as the CAD model reflects the correct taper in the lugs/grooves.
 
Originally posted by Anakin Starkiller@Oct 18 2005, 05:40 AM
Gabe,

Would it be possible for you to make resin castings of the real deal, or would that damage the piece?

Dan
DDStokes@aol.com
[snapback]1098720[/snapback]​
Dan, trust me when I say this, but when I'm done reverse-engineering this part, the replica will be dead-on down to 0.0001". :)

Besides, the original has some minor damage on the tip of the flash-hider and the paint flakes detract from the smoothness of the finish.

I also don't deal in resin, and unless someone local wants to cast it for me (maybe robstyle?) I have no intention of sending it out to anyone, as I'm personally responsible for it until I return it to its owner.

- Gabe
 
Gabe, yes that is how it works.

I don't think a ball end mill will create the same look, it is the larger outer diameter of the cutter that produces the tapered end.

If the diameter of the ball is the same as the width of the groove I don't see how it will taper the slot as it exits the cut.

I already spoke to my machine shop about this detail and they agreed, a slot cutter was the way to go and all CNC mills should be able to do it.
 
The only way a curved-path ball end mill could replicate the look is if the original cutter had an exactly circular radiused cross-section.

But even then your tool marks wouldn't be right. ;)
 
So guys, I FOUND the correct rare fireextinguisher nozzle, So you can stop looking now....I'm not going to post picture because some of you might steal them and start selling replicas before me...










:lol
 
Too bad this thread is almost worthless, because the photos are gone.

Still, good find all around. An interesting read.
 
Too bad this thread is almost worthless, because the photos are gone.

Still, good find all around. An interesting read.

I have all the pictures archived. I have to find them and dig them out. Unfortunately, they had been archived 3 or 4 computers ago, so it is going to take a little time.

Otherwise, to some people that had been around at the time of this, I do not think they would call this thread worthless at all. Sorry, I think I took your worthless post a little personally. Otherwise, a fun thread that took us in circles and searching all over the place! Around this same time, all of the discoveries on the ob-wan saber started happening as well. That all started with the discovery of the IG-88 head and seeing all the internal parts!

Man, I miss those times!!!!!

Tom
 
It's not intended to be an insult. The thread is historic because of what you guys discovered - but for us newer guys who weren't around five years ago, what with all the photos with little red lines missing, well, this thread isn't very useful to us any more.

This thread, and others like it (the Luke ANH seven grip thread), aren't as useful as they used to be because the photos are long gone. But this - this type of thread is why I joined theRPF in the first place, in the hopes that I get to be the one to identify the E-11 tubes, or something like that. This is exactly what I love to read - but unfortunately, it's just that, reading.

It's kind of an interesting relic. Not much more, unfortunately. I for one want to see that original "fire extinguisher nozzle" that got pulled out of a drawer.
 
No worries, JM. I am just being nostalgic. The fire extinguisher part is still shown at the partsofsw website if you want to see it.
 
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