Phaser 1 Kit Buildup plus MM P2 Restoration

It is a smaller diameter -- it's just so screwed up in there, you can't tell. Also, my larger bit was too large by 1/64" or so. The next one will be better, I just need more time to think about my method to make sure I don't bend my piece as I work it, as well as turning it more efficiently. I'm leaning toward turning the whole thing down to 5/16" first, then doing the taper. That would probably go faster...

I tried making these on the drill press and gave up. Drilling the main hole was a bust so I used 1/8 ID tube. Turning it in the press with a sanding block worked OK, but the tube wasn't truly round so the hole ended up off center. I drilled the smaller hole in a piece of solid rod and glued it to the tube, that worked out well but the off center hole really stood out. I may try again after hand sanding the wide bit off the tube first.
 
I tried making these on the drill press and gave up. Drilling the main hole was a bust so I used 1/8 ID tube. Turning it in the press with a sanding block worked OK, but the tube wasn't truly round so the hole ended up off center. I drilled the smaller hole in a piece of solid rod and glued it to the tube, that worked out well but the off center hole really stood out. I may try again after hand sanding the wide bit off the tube first.
That's funny -- since the hole is off-center on the original. I'm guessing that means they did it on a drill press rather than a lathe, which makes very little sense to me given that they obviously had very competent machinists on hand. Maybe the lathes were booked solid, and they had to delegate those pieces?
 
My hole (heh) was off center because the tube wasn't round to start with. When I spun it in the drill the hole was wobbling so after shaping the taper the hole was off center. I used brass tubes as a jig to center the drilled end piece to the tube, and that worked well. And the glue joint looks just like the refraction effect in the original. I'm thinking if I can sand down the eccentric side of the tube I may be able to shape a more centered taper.
 
Hmmm... so the original could've been done that way too -- drilled (unintentionally) off-center on a drill press, then turned. That actually makes some sense, if you think about dividing up tasks in a shop. One guy drills a bunch of stock, then he hands the pieces off to a machinist for tapering.

In fact, I'm absolutely certain that I'm convinced that this explanation is 100% accurate to the way it happened just now in my mind. :p

Also, stop tapping your hole. You'll go blind. :p
 
Okay! Watching Star Trek: Beyond in another window while I'm posting this, so hopefully I can finish it by... a couple hours from now. :p

1. More side dial rings

Yesterday I decided to pick low-hanging fruit and turn those side ring collars. I bought the stock over a year ago, but never got around to it. Turned out to be just as easy I expected, especially since I realized why Todd did his a certain way. I followed his example, and it saved a bunch of time.

The stock was 3/4" and had just slightly less than a 1/2" inside diameter, so I started by drilling it out with a 1/2" bit and facing off the front. Pretty!

IMG_0162.JPG2016-10-05 17.29.14.jpg

So after drilling and facing, I turned it down to 9/16":

IMG_0170.JPG2016-10-05 16.38.58.jpgIMG_0173.JPG

I love aluminum chips. They always make those pretty little ribbons. :)

And now it gets interesting...

In my earlier post about Todd's rings, I mentioned they were scored at 1/4" intervals, but I didn't mention the seemingly strange shape of the cuts. They weren't done with a straight parting tool at all, but with an angled tool. What I never understood until yesterday was how and why he did it that way, and it's pretty damn clever.

He used a tool shaped and oriented exactly like this to create grooves that tapered toward the rear:

IMG_0164.JPG

So the finished ring comes out like this:

IMG_0165.JPG

It's the kind of thing that can mystify you (and it did), right up until you do it yourself. By cutting the rings off this way, you can part the ring and face off the next one behind it all in one pass, without changing to a parting tool, and thus with zero loss of time and effort. [EDIT -- forgot to mention, I used the same tool for turning it down as well -- so the entire operation can be done without a tool change.]

Toldja it was clever. :)

So thanks to this method, I was able to turn out 8 of them in under an hour, and most of that time was the drilling and turning. So major hat tip to Replicator1701 for this technique!

Left: the first ring after deburring and filing. Right: the whole pile.

IMG_0167.JPGIMG_0190.JPG

My rings in the foreground, Todd's rings in the back. Gotta hit Todd's with some scotch brite, since they have about 15 years of dull on 'em. :)

2. The P1 emitter collar

The only thing we know for sure about how this thing looks on the original is the exterior, which is all that matters anyway. The acrylic emitter is 5/32" in diameter (or just a sliver under that to slide through the 5/32" collar). I'm still dialing in this process, and that's always time-consuming. But I have some new ideas I'll try tonight.

I started with 3/8" brass stock, and drilled out the center to 5/32" in two passes. Then I turned it down to 1/4", the outside diameter.

IMG_0178.JPGIMG_0179.JPG

The outside is also 1/4" long, which makes life easy, and the JL kit used 1/4" as the interior length as well. I'm not aware of anyone ever getting the actual measurement of that part of it, given that it's buried deep in the front of the prop. So 1/4" seems as good a length as any.

IMG_0180.JPG

Mind you, I screwed this up a couple of times, mainly when it came time to part it. Then I tried to rescue another bad one, and instead I crushed it, because apparently the lathe chuck is milled from a solid bar of fµçkupyourworkium.

1657194-c17.jpg

Or something vaguely similar. :p

So that's why the workpiece in the rest of the pix is dramatically shorter. Let's just say there were casualties.

f9929de070a17f9bf53d611a1ff41641.jpg

I see the blood bag as half full! :D

But I did finally get a good one.

IMG_0181.JPGIMG_0182.JPG

I tried using the same method from the rings to part it, only reversed, with the angled part facing back into the chuck (I changed tools to one that slants the other way).

IMG_0183.JPG

I did get a very good part, but the tool chattered a lot, and deburring was kind of a pain. But I got a really nice piece. Here's mine on the left, the JL kit piece on the right.

2016-10-05 21.13.04.jpg2016-10-05 21.12.47.jpg2016-10-05 21.13.23.jpg

I'm back on the lathe tonight at 6, so I'll give this another whirl with a slightly different method. We'll see what happens. I'm sure everything'll work out just fine. :)

067bccf9074ad7ace40c3433c090485d.jpg

YOLO, bitches!! :p

EDIT -- OK, not tonight. I'm exhausted. To quote VP Selena Meyer, I can feel my soul sliding out of my ass. So tomorrow it is. :p
 
Last edited:
Yay! Woke up feeling great, so I'm off to the shop as soon as it opens (they're 12pm - 8pm on Mondays & Fridays). I'm going to turn the rest of my P1 emitter collars, and eat up the last of my side dial ring stock (gotta get my aluminum -- and have you seen what grocery stores are charging for supplements nowadays?). :p If there's time, I'll get back on the acrylic emitter, but I'm not sure I can get all three done in the time allotted. We'll see. :)
 
Well, everything takes longer than you think it's gonna. No rings or acrylic today, but I got out 10 sweeeeeet P1 emitter collars. I've got it down to a science now, and I've got it up to two per hour. I bet I can get it up to three. We'll see -- I have the lathe at 6 again tomorrow and my intention is to just run out my 1/4" stock, and then hopefully run out my aluminum ring stock too. Yay!

I made 10 of them, but the first four were rejects. The other six were perfect. So now that I've got the process working really well, here's how I do them:

I start with 1/4" solid rod stock. Yes, I know I said it might be a bad idea not to turn things down from larger stock, but I was younger then, naîve, fey, insouciant, and full of Shat.

Rory-Lewis-Photographer1.jpg

Thou shalt not take my name in vain, you little Shat.
:p

Anyhoo, starting with 1/4" stock saved oodles of time. Also, this job requires two tools, and I did the piece backwards from how I did it the other day. That means the front of the collar sticks out at the end of the stock, and I turn down the thinner part behind it. Worked way better that way.

The stock is cut down to roughly 3" lengths on the bandsaw, which today happened to be razor sharp and full of unicorn magic. I cut half a dozen pieces in mere seconds. Much more nicer than using the butter knife they usually have mounted on there. :p

Gotta be careful when mounting it. Remember, it can only stick out by 4x its diameter, which in this case would be 1". I come out just a hair under that.

IMG_0204.JPG

Once the stock is in the chuck, I face it off. Then I file the leading edge just to make it a hair less sharp, and finally hit the whole outside with scotch brite. Since the stock is very clean already and it's the right size, I don't want to do a finish pass on it. The scotch brite makes it look great anyway.

IMG_0205.JPGIMG_0198.JPG

Then it's time for the hole. Make a dimple with the center drill, then go in with a 1/8" bit, and then the 3/16" bit. Important note: The whole piece is 1/2" long, and so I only drill to a depth of 5/8". I discovered I get bad results if I try to drill as deep as I can so I can get two pieces from one drilling operation. They come out better when I drill each one new, and it only takes a couple of minutes.

To get the right drill depth, I use the markings on the shaft of the tailstock.

IMG_0207.JPGIMG_0214.JPGIMG_0213.JPG

Once the hole is done, I put my cutting tool on, and line the point up to the leading edge of the workpiece so I have a reference point for the front of the piece. Then I set the digital readout (DRO) to 0".

IMG_0208.JPGIMG_0209.JPG

Now you just turn the crank for the X axis so the tool travels back exactly 0.250", and there you go -- your front end will now be exactly 1/4" long. The direction of the cut is going to be toward the chuck (which means you have to be very alert and careful, or you'll crash your tools into the chuck).

IMG_0210.JPGIMG_0211.JPG

Now you set the DRO to 0" again. So when you make your cuts, you just bring the tool back to 0, and make your next pass. All it takes is three or four passes, and I use the auto-feed (very dangerous this close to the chuck unless you're very careful) to get a nice, even finish. Now, if you look carefully, you can see I'm cutting the shaft a bit longer than it needs to be. It's actually about 0.265" long at this point. That's just a little extra to make the parting easier.

IMG_0212.JPG

Now here's where the magic happens -- I pull the tool back to exactly 0.250" so that my part will be exactly the right length. Then I stick a copper wire in the front of the piece.

IMG_0215.JPG

That's there to keep the piece from falling into the chip tray when it comes off. Trust me, there are better things to do than carefully go through shredded metal looking for your part. Such as starting your next part. :p

So now I just nudge the tool forward. That wall's very thin now, so it just falls right off with a beautiful finish.

IMG_0216.JPG

Now, I just switch tools and face off the front of the stock again...

IMG_0193.JPGIMG_0194.JPG

And do it over. Just lather, rinse, repeat until you get this:

IMG_0218.JPG

That's the JL piece on its side in front, the six perfect ones in the middle ground, and the four flawed ones in back. After a second look, they're actually still useable.

So that was today's work. Tomorrow, I'm laser-cutting acrylic P1 readout covers (or whatever they're called), and then hopping back on the lathe at 6 to finish out my 1/4" brass stock and my aluminum tube. That's the plan, anyway. My mileage may vary. :p
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0204.JPG
    IMG_0204.JPG
    1.3 MB · Views: 98
  • IMG_0205.JPG
    IMG_0205.JPG
    794.5 KB · Views: 83
  • IMG_0198.JPG
    IMG_0198.JPG
    1.1 MB · Views: 82
  • IMG_0207.JPG
    IMG_0207.JPG
    683.7 KB · Views: 83
  • IMG_0214.JPG
    IMG_0214.JPG
    1.7 MB · Views: 76
  • IMG_0213.JPG
    IMG_0213.JPG
    943.4 KB · Views: 86
  • IMG_0208.JPG
    IMG_0208.JPG
    762.2 KB · Views: 81
  • IMG_0209.JPG
    IMG_0209.JPG
    996.6 KB · Views: 77
  • IMG_0210.JPG
    IMG_0210.JPG
    1,018.1 KB · Views: 91
  • IMG_0211.JPG
    IMG_0211.JPG
    978.1 KB · Views: 87
  • IMG_0212.JPG
    IMG_0212.JPG
    998.5 KB · Views: 78
  • IMG_0215.JPG
    IMG_0215.JPG
    874.1 KB · Views: 92
  • IMG_0216.JPG
    IMG_0216.JPG
    629.5 KB · Views: 89
  • IMG_0193.JPG
    IMG_0193.JPG
    865.3 KB · Views: 82
  • IMG_0194.JPG
    IMG_0194.JPG
    1,007 KB · Views: 93
  • IMG_0218.JPG
    IMG_0218.JPG
    942.6 KB · Views: 94
Last edited:
Today's output:

IMG_0236.JPG

That's it for the P1 collars and P2 rings -- I used up all my stock. Plenty on hand now for my own projects plus trades. Yay! :)

The acrylic meter cover on the far left is from the JL kit, and the other three are the best results I got today on the laser cutter. Still dialing those in, but I'm quite close. The goal is to avoid doing them on the lathe and the bandsaw, because that would be a HUGE pain. If this goes well, I'll only have to sand one side clear on each one.

Details tomorrow, including amusing pix of the charred corpses of my not-so-good acrylic attempts.

fire_marshall_bill_by_metalmike91-d5pfug8.jpg

Remember, kids -- it's all fun and games till somebody burns out an eye!
:p
 
So last night I had some laser fun with the acrylic pieces. Sadly, not everybody made it.

rauterine_device-sperms-contraceptives-gcun138_low.jpg

Still more tasteful than Gilbert Gottfreid.
:p

It's easy to get carried away, cuz lasering these things looks so cool!

IMG_0219.JPGIMG_0230.JPGIMG_0232.JPG

Turns out it only looks cool.

Here's a hint: full power is too much.

IMG_0233.JPGIMG_0235.JPG

Take a close look at the second picture. The piece is bent.

apieceoftheactionhd0300.jpg

Canna use full power? What is there worth living for?
:p

Here's another hint: don't try and do a full run till you're sure you have your settings dialed in correctly. There's such a thing as overkill.

cropped-Fotothek_df_ps_0000010_Blick_vom_Rathausturm.jpg

So... can I tell my wife we got the spider?
:p

Long story short, I learned how to dial in my settings, but I'm still not quite there.

IMG_0237.JPGIMG_0238.JPGIMG_0239.JPG

Mine on the left, JL kit on the right. You have to look closely, but there's a definite rippling effect there from the laser. I could sand and polish that out, but I think I can reduce it a lot by powering down the laser even more and doing multiple passes. I'm hoping to really cut down on the post-work.

The frosted side you can see in the first and third photos is the result of using deep engraving to shave down my stock 3/8" acrylic sheet to 5/16" (because acrylic doesn't seem to come in 5/16" sheets anywhere). Then there's a final raster pass to smooth out the nasty roughness left by the engraving. That leaves a frosty surface that's very easy to sand and polish back to clear.

So as much of a pain as it is to find the magic pixie fart settings for these things on the laser cutter, here's what it would take to make them from rod stock:

  1. Start with 1" cast acrylic rod, and turn down to 9/10" (0.88").
  2. Leave the stock in the chuck and sand/polish back to smooth and clear.
  3. Part off the desired length.
  4. On the bandsaw, carefully slice off two or three sections of the correct height (about 1/4"). You're cutting the rod in the same direction as if you were whittling a stick, parallel to the center. This will leave you with a big central core of the acrylic rod, which is basically waste.
  5. Before slicing your sections into individual meter covers of 5/16" width, sand and polish the cut surfaces (the "bottom" side of the meter covers) back to clear.
  6. Finally, slice out your individual meter covers. The first and last ones will need sanding and polishing on only one side, but all the middle ones will need both sides done.
That's the most efficient way I can think of to do it. And even if there's a slightly less agonizing way to get it done, it's still worse than sitting through Season 3 of Nikita.

thewaytoedenhd0112.jpg

OK, now it's a tough choice.
:p
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0233.JPG
    IMG_0233.JPG
    1.2 MB · Views: 121
  • IMG_0235.JPG
    IMG_0235.JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 133
  • IMG_0219.JPG
    IMG_0219.JPG
    1.4 MB · Views: 88
  • IMG_0230.JPG
    IMG_0230.JPG
    794.3 KB · Views: 97
  • IMG_0232.JPG
    IMG_0232.JPG
    769.5 KB · Views: 98
  • IMG_0237.JPG
    IMG_0237.JPG
    941 KB · Views: 111
  • IMG_0238.JPG
    IMG_0238.JPG
    854.4 KB · Views: 96
  • IMG_0239.JPG
    IMG_0239.JPG
    783.4 KB · Views: 98
Interesting wrinkle. Turns out the laser cutter cuts in a conical shape. So the thicker your material, the more out-of-whack the profile will be. I got the exact settings dialed in after almost four hours of experimentation and calculations (don't get scared, people, I used computy tools, cuz math). :p

There's one more trick I want to test, which is changing the focus of the laser between passes, but if that still gives me wonky results, I'm doing these on the ShopBot. It means a lot more sanding and polishing, but still WAAAAAYYY less work than machining them out of rod.

In the future, I may put the time into making myself a pressure pot so I can pressure-cast things like this, but certainly not for this project. The other alternative is machining molds for the injection molder. That would be great for output, but aluminum block is a bit pricey, plus the mold has to be perfectly polished. Otherwise, you'd have to sand and polish out the tool marks from the finished pieces, and that kinda defeats the point of casting them.

Not 100% sure about going in tomorrow -- kinda still behind on the housework. I hate housework.

spring_clean_digtial_clutter.jpg

Wonder if I can build one of these? I have an Arduino and some casters laying around...
:p
 
...So as much of a pain as it is to find the magic pixie fart settings for these things on the laser cutter, here's what it would take to make them from rod stock:

  1. Start with 1" cast acrylic rod, and turn down to 9/10" (0.88").
  2. Leave the stock in the chuck and sand/polish back to smooth and clear...
Save yourself a few steps http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/plexiglass-cast-acrylic-rod/ACRCAR-875_2
I've used extruded rod with good results and it's much cheaper, but cast rod cuts easier.

I cut it on the bandsaw to make discs 5/16 wide, and sand and polish the sides smooth. Then I hot glue the disc to a piece of wood (to give something to hold) and cut the disc into two meter dial sections, then sand and polish the bottom surface. No lathe, no laser, just a bandsaw and some sanding. I need to cobble together a means to power sand plastic without melting it, but other than that this works out fine.

Of course it would save a lot of steps to use half round stock, but it doesn't exist in 7/8in size.
 
Save yourself a few steps http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/plexiglass-cast-acrylic-rod/ACRCAR-875_2
I've used extruded rod with good results and it's much cheaper, but cast rod cuts easier.

I cut it on the bandsaw to make discs 5/16 wide, and sand and polish the sides smooth. Then I hot glue the disc to a piece of wood (to give something to hold) and cut the disc into two meter dial sections, then sand and polish the bottom surface. No lathe, no laser, just a bandsaw and some sanding. I need to cobble together a means to power sand plastic without melting it, but other than that this works out fine.

Of course it would save a lot of steps to use half round stock, but it doesn't exist in 7/8in size.

, That's definitely easier, but the diameter needs to be 9/10, not 7/8, hence the lathe -- nobody makes 9/10 stock that I'm aware of.

One way to power-sand plastic is with lots of coolant, like with one of those gemstone grinders, or at low speeds. When I sand it on the lathe, I don't go over 250rpm with very light pressure. Sanding and polishing on the lathe is the easy part -- the lathe does all the work. You can also just tap the piece against the sander and turn frequently.

Anyhoo, the method I suggested is more for doing 20 of them, not one or two. Between the Galileo rack, a mid grade or two, and various P1s, plus some for trade, I need a drawerful. For one or two, yeah -- that's the way to go. The economics of doing this at Techshop goes beyond any one task or project. To get the most out of my membership, I need to learn these machines very well, so I can sign up for a month or two, run all my stuff, and then hold my membership again. That way I can take my aluminum rings and retire to Florida. :p
 
Off to the shop tonight! Can't have the lathe till 8, so I'm going to work up those little brass holders for the P1 thumbwheel shaft. I have a ludicrous 6 feet of 1/4" x 1/16" brass strip, so I think I have enough to really screw things up before I figure it out. :p

Right now, I'm thinking I'll cut out a number of little strips on the shear, carefully mark the holes and bend lines, and then drill and bend. Sounds efficient, right?

I'm sure tomorrow's post will contain an amusing story detailing exactly how and why I'm full of Clintrump. :p

[EDIT -- Going tomorrow, got hung up today. Toldja I was full of Clintrump.] :p
 
Last edited:
Stayed home today doing artwork for the laser cutter and a few other things. Here's the artwork:

Screenshot 2016-10-13 20.09.04.png

That's the most efficient layout I can come up with for a 12" x 12" sheet of 0.063" (16GA) aluminum I have from last year. Here's how it's going to work:

I'll powder coat the entire sheet in whatever color strikes my fancy (meaning whatever's in stock in the lobby). Then I'll put the powder-coated sheet in the laser cutter and engrave the black areas down to bare metal, which is probably just one pass. Then all I have to do is cut the shapes out on the bandsaw (after making sure it has a fresh blade), and grind/drill/file them down to shape till there's no more powdercoat showing.

You can do it with paint, but that tends to rub off when you're working with the piece, hence the powder coating.

The P1 side rails are traced exactly from the Wand Co. scan of the GJ original, and the comm plate is a hybrid I traced out from the "Zeta" tracing from the JL kit and the "Alpha" blueprints on Herocomm. I could have used the Zeta tracing on the Herocomm blueprints, but I forgot they were there, and ultimately it makes little difference. Since the comm plates appear to have all been cut out individually, I think a sort of hybrid is the way to go here. There's a dead-nuts Alpha in my future, but I'm still gathering parts for that, and I will be for some time to come.

The tricorder panels are traced from the CAD blueprints measured from an MR tricorder and posted on TPZ. @robn1, remind me -- was it Nick's Dad or TrekMe who did those?

Anyhoo, here's a teaser of something else I'm working on...

IMG_0243.JPG

Yes, I know it's anodized black. Let's just say I have an app for that. ;)

EDIT --

Fixed a scaling issue with the tricorder faces. I'm going to engrave this on cardboard before I do anything in metal, just to check everything. :)

Screenshot 2016-10-14 00.06.52.png
 
Last edited:
The tricorder panels are traced from the CAD blueprints measured from an MR tricorder and posted on TPZ. @robn1, remind me -- was it Nick's Dad or TrekMe who did those?

That was Trekme, he did all the tric metal and a few phaser parts too.

Looks good, but a lot of work. I've been trying to figure a way to cut those side rails more easily, maybe with a router using a template. But getting a good fit to the P1 side still takes a lot of tweaking by hand.
 
That was Trekme, he did all the tric metal and a few phaser parts too.

Looks good, but a lot of work. I've been trying to figure a way to cut those side rails more easily, maybe with a router using a template. But getting a good fit to the P1 side still takes a lot of tweaking by hand.
The router sounds like an interesting idea.

It's not as much work as you'd think. Powder coating is really easy -- it's the oven that really does all the work. There's no real work to laser cutting, since I've used this technique before to make the butt plate for my handle. Cutting can certainly be a bear if the bandsaw blade's not really really sharp. As for the grinding and filing, you're gonna be doing that anyway.

The perfect way to do this would be on the water jet, but I still haven't taken that safety class. They cut the price substantially, so I'll probably do it this year. I could cut an embarrassing number of parts in a very short time on that beast. :)

EDIT--

I've been trying to figure a way to cut those side rails more easily, maybe with a router using a template.

You know, with the right cutting bit, that could be a job for a Dremel with the plastic router attachment that looks like a cone. You can definitely get the high speed you need for aluminum on it. I'd do it in two passes, though, to keep the shear on the bit to a minimum. I'm gonna look into this -- maybe an end mill with a small enough shank could work. :)

Maybe this guy....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Got those templates cut out of plastic on the laser last night, and they look fine. Going back today to turn some emitters and maybe one other thing. Also gonna take a crack at that knob side project before I go. Film at 11. :)
 
Off to the shop at 3:15, but here's a quick report on the anodized Kilo knob. It worked a treat.

I googled for stuff on how to remove anodizing from aluminum, and I came up with an Instructable that called for some kind of grease remover. However, that stuff didn't get rid of all the color, instead leaving the aluminum an off-white.

But down in the comments section, an anodizing chemist posted at length, first giving all the reasons you shouldn't remove the anodizing (none of which apply to props), but finally got around to explaining how to do it. Here's the Reader's Digest version of the relevant part of his comment:

"That out of the way, if you still want to remove the anodize, the best way is to use a drain cleaner of some sort. Drain cleaners have sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and/or potassium hydroxide.
"**CAUTION! THEY ARE VERY NASTY AND CAUSE BURNS!!** Be EXTREMELY careful when handling these chemicals.
"When immersed, the part will bubble vigorously. You probably won't need to scrub if the drain cleaner is strong enough, plus that could cause the chemical to splash and you don't want that.
"Once all the color is gone, if you just wanted to get rid of the color, you're done. Just wash off with PLENTY of water and dry it."

So I used Liquid-Plumr. I soaked it for about half an hour:

IMG_0249.JPGIMG_0246.JPGIMG_0247.JPG

Looky them bubbles!!

I moved it into the bathroom sink to mitigate the risk of spilling, and gave it about 25 minutes.

Then I rinsed VERY thoroughly --

IMG_0250.JPG

Uh... WTF?

Turns out you have to wipe it. The dye is just sitting on the surface, but it's completely loose. So I wiped it with a paper towel, then washed it for two minutes with soap and water and a toothbrush. That got rid of 90% of the black dye.

The rest I took off with some gentle scrubbing with a scotch brite pad.

IMG_0252.JPG

It looks like some of the dye moved into the engraved numbers, which is a good thing -- but I'm going to give it a paint wash at some point to make it really pop.

So here's the whole package:

IMG_0251.JPG
Comes with everything you see here.
ER treatment for acid burns sold separately.

:p

If you want to read the whole Instructable and the chemist's comment, here's the link.

Off to the shop! There's a lathe there with my name on it... :)




IMG_0249.JPG


IMG_0246.JPG


IMG_0247.JPG


IMG_0250.JPG


IMG_0252.JPG


IMG_0251.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back from the shop. Exhausted after only four hours on the lathe -- if I'm not this active every day, my stamina goes to Clintrump. :p

However, I'm happy to report:

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!

I finally turned a good hero emitter!

e04_image2.png

And to think, it only took you two years! Putz.
:p

Whatever. Not even condescending Maggie Smith can take the shine off this little sucker!

IMG_0253.JPGIMG_0254.JPGIMG_0255.JPGIMG_0256.JPG
IMG_0257.JPGIMG_0258.JPGIMG_0259.JPGIMG_0260.JPG

I went with a 3º taper this time, which seems to look a little better, though it made the taper longer than an inch. Also, the back hole is at 3/32" now, and I may go up to 7/64" after I test-fit the GOR bulb in there. If the hole's too small, there's still room there to bore out.

This time, I did the holes on the drill press. Still getting a little wobble there -- I think what may be happening is the bits are bending on their own, maybe from getting resistance from the walls of the acrylic or something. I know the lathe is dead true, and yet bits wobble on it when I drill acrylic. I even tried going into a 1" acrylic rod, and my 1/16" bit started bending right away. No idea whatup widdat, so I'll probably have to do some research. But if I can't get it any truer on the vertical mill, I'm out of options.

However, I'm satisfied with what I'm getting now.

Turning slowly with lots of lubricant (Tap Magic in this case) is definitely the key to getting perfectly clear holes on the inside. Also, that little divot in the tip is done at the very end with a center drill. You can also get that if you're turning the piece with a live center.

No polishing, just wet sanding up to 2000 grit.

So apart from slight dimensional adjustments, this puppy's done. I just need to confirm the right size for the bulb, and dial in the best length for the back end vs. the brass tube it hooks up to (I may have to cut it back some more), and I'll post the final recipe.

YAY!

Tomorrow, lotsa cleaning (inspection Tuesday), and a little more TLC for my midgrade masters. :)

And now, a special Trig Sidebar brought to you by Mr. Twiddleputz from whatever Nightmare High you went to...

I figured I'd confirm once and for all whether Sunking's nominal diameter of 0.88" for the P1 meter cover was correct. It is. Assuming my JL piece is correctly sized (and since it's injection molded, there would have been no reason to alter it to account for shrinkage), then its diameter is indeed 0.88". Here's the easiest solution I found for deriving the radius of a circle from a known chord length:

Intersecting%20Chords%20Trig.png


The value for h measured from the JL piece is 0.283". The value for a is 0.411". When you plug that into the equation above, you get a diameter of 0.88" after rounding to the nearest hundredth. This may be how Sunking got the number in the first place -- measuring the JL and doing the math. ;)

IMG_0253.JPG


IMG_0254.JPG


IMG_0255.JPG


IMG_0256.JPG


IMG_0257.JPG


IMG_0258.JPG


IMG_0260.JPG


IMG_0259.JPG
 
Last edited by a moderator:
This thread is more than 5 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top