Re: TridCloudwalker's Anakin AotC Lightsaber Run!
Here's a small update, as the machinist's computer has finally died:
Luckily he doesn't need it for the brass screws, and that's what he's working on right this moment, now that he's worked the kinks out. The knurling is proving o be a problem, as every 5th or so knob is ruined do to defective knurling. Unless you have a specialized gear driven, thousand dollar knurling set attached to a top of the line machine, there is no way to make the knurls exactly the same ever time. Imperfections in the brass stock, the amount of oil on the tool, etc., can all change the depth and spacing of the knurls slightly. He's finally programmed it to come in a certain way that only gives us a 25% failure rate. Those failed ones are still nice looking, its just that the width between knurls aren't screen accurate.
If anyone needs brass knobs for custom builds, give me a yell, and we can work something out with the throw aways.
Here's the raw stock in the machine:
And some of the various cuts it goes through:
And a finished one fresh out of the chuck:
Here's a video if anyone want's to watch the process. t's a combination of machine work and hand work:
Some finished ones that I've signed off on:
Ones that I deemed not fit for this run:
To show how complex programming these things can be, here is the machines instructions for the threading ONLY. It tells it how fast to come down, how much pressure to apply, how long to leave it on the stock before moving it, how far to move it, how quickly to pull away, which direction to move, how far to move down to a thousands of an inch, etc.:
Here's the basic shape of the knob all programmed in:
And realtime animation of the tool cutting the stock:
Also, the Delrin stock has finally all arrived. It was arriving in small doses over a period of time for some reason, but it's finally all here now. Here is the stock that will make up the "bulb release" and the grips:
These will make the clamp rings:
And these will be the covertec knobs:
By Wednesday, he'll be doing the final shaping and drilling on the shrouds, assuming his new computer is up and running, so I will try to drive back down then and get more shots of their progress.