You the man!
Leia and Chewie ANH brass handcuffs, project WIP
- Thread starter eethan
- Start date
You the man!
Hello there,
so I have a pretty proud moment today and a big update to post
One of the biggest challenges on this project was to see if I could use the leftovers cuts from the Chewie size to make the Leia size. Big brass tubes are crazy expensive, especially since I can't really shop around as we need a super specific size, so yeah, it's expensive.
On top of this, re-using the Chewie leftovers means the tube is already cut, cleaned, beveled on the router and cut in half. This saves 70 minutes per set of handcuffs!
And finally, I always claim to be as ecologicaly friendly as possible, and I don't want to have to throw away almost half of the material!
Big challenge and big reward if it works!
so, I tested the idea with stuff I had, The Leia size is 63mm inside, I cut and cleaned a 60mm aluminium round stock I had, I was thinking brass has a bit of a spring, so I was thinking I needed to press the brass a bit tighter than the final diameter and it would spring back to the correct 63mm when I release the brass from the vice.
I secured everything strongly on the mill vice and tested first with the 1cm long leftover I had (instead of 2.6cm long for the normal cuffs) and it basically worked like a charm.
having 2.6cm material thickness instead of 1cm, even if it's not in the pressing direction still adds a lot more resistance so I was a bit worried my vice would not be strong enough. But it was!
Baby cuff and Mama cuff
so, 2 things after this first real size test.
using the 60mm diameter round stock wasn't good. The vice is strong, I turn the cuff around a bit and press 3 or so times and in the end the inside diameter was around 61mm, so not that much spring behaviour in the end.
Secondly, the full size material is so strong that when i'm pressing it, it forces sidewise on the clamped aluminium rails on the side that they open! and in the end the shape was slightly oval.
So, this is a good first test and it shows I can do it if I apply a bit more care.
So, I started over and turned a 62.3mm diameter round stock and built a very very strong rail box to put in the vice instead of just clamping the rails on the vice. The rails are super secure and I will clamp the whole thing like I did in the first test, but this time nothing will move and normally, the shape will be perfect
But I didn't get the time to test the new jig! I hope tomorrow I'll have a perfect result to show
so I have a pretty proud moment today and a big update to post
One of the biggest challenges on this project was to see if I could use the leftovers cuts from the Chewie size to make the Leia size. Big brass tubes are crazy expensive, especially since I can't really shop around as we need a super specific size, so yeah, it's expensive.
On top of this, re-using the Chewie leftovers means the tube is already cut, cleaned, beveled on the router and cut in half. This saves 70 minutes per set of handcuffs!
And finally, I always claim to be as ecologicaly friendly as possible, and I don't want to have to throw away almost half of the material!
Big challenge and big reward if it works!
so, I tested the idea with stuff I had, The Leia size is 63mm inside, I cut and cleaned a 60mm aluminium round stock I had, I was thinking brass has a bit of a spring, so I was thinking I needed to press the brass a bit tighter than the final diameter and it would spring back to the correct 63mm when I release the brass from the vice.
I secured everything strongly on the mill vice and tested first with the 1cm long leftover I had (instead of 2.6cm long for the normal cuffs) and it basically worked like a charm.
having 2.6cm material thickness instead of 1cm, even if it's not in the pressing direction still adds a lot more resistance so I was a bit worried my vice would not be strong enough. But it was!
Baby cuff and Mama cuff
so, 2 things after this first real size test.
using the 60mm diameter round stock wasn't good. The vice is strong, I turn the cuff around a bit and press 3 or so times and in the end the inside diameter was around 61mm, so not that much spring behaviour in the end.
Secondly, the full size material is so strong that when i'm pressing it, it forces sidewise on the clamped aluminium rails on the side that they open! and in the end the shape was slightly oval.
So, this is a good first test and it shows I can do it if I apply a bit more care.
So, I started over and turned a 62.3mm diameter round stock and built a very very strong rail box to put in the vice instead of just clamping the rails on the vice. The rails are super secure and I will clamp the whole thing like I did in the first test, but this time nothing will move and normally, the shape will be perfect
But I didn't get the time to test the new jig! I hope tomorrow I'll have a perfect result to show
Hi there,
The second reforming jig worked beatifully this morning
Big relief that I don't have to trow away all that good material!
After this, I received the stainless steel axis for the hinges. So I drilled the handcuffs carefully and assembled them. First I'm knurling a thin band in the middle of the stainless steel bars so that they will stay in place with the center brass part of the hinge:
then, drilling, applying the bar by hand, then pressing it into place with the mill vice:
I'm still struggling with attaching the cuffs together, especially now that I stupidly assembled them before deciding and drilling them... but here is a quick mockup, almost there!
cheers all!
The second reforming jig worked beatifully this morning
Big relief that I don't have to trow away all that good material!
After this, I received the stainless steel axis for the hinges. So I drilled the handcuffs carefully and assembled them. First I'm knurling a thin band in the middle of the stainless steel bars so that they will stay in place with the center brass part of the hinge:
then, drilling, applying the bar by hand, then pressing it into place with the mill vice:
I'm still struggling with attaching the cuffs together, especially now that I stupidly assembled them before deciding and drilling them... but here is a quick mockup, almost there!
cheers all!
Absolutely beautiful. I love seeing the process!
Eethan these are spectacular indeed! I’d absolutely love a Leia pair! Eagerly watching this progress buddy!
russellsch
Master Member
Holy cow! Stunning work, as always, Eethan Watching the progress, I love this!
You keep outdoing yourself! Beautiful
The interest thread is up for one week!
cheers all
www.therpf.com
cheers all
Interest - Leia and Chewie ANH brass handcuffs
Hi there! Here we go with my first big project this year :-) Leia and Chewie ANH brass handcuffs Like I explained in the WIP thread here: https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/leia-and-chewie-anh-brass-handcuffs-project-wip.361322/ Last summer, I made a pdf file of the top 13 projects I wanted...
www.therpf.com
Really amazing work Matthieu can’t wait for these! Thanks again
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