60 replies to this topic

[nickpatts]

hehe, i got 400 3/4 tubes ready and waiting

[parabolic]

Hi

I have made myself some spindles out of 416 stainless steel. Stuart has been kind to me and let me post some pictures on his excellent picture gallery,,Thanks Stuart!.

Id like to know if they look any good, or if I shouldnt bother.

http://amateurpyro.c...tures/index.php

If anyone is interested, I hope I could make these cheap for people in the UK that cant get them easily,
Send me a drawing and Ill have a look.

Cheers
Lee

[The_Djinn]

The tools look good parabolic. Any reason for not doing them out of Aluminium ?
I havnt ever seen tooling done in stainless as it is a sparking material. If you started to turn out tools using aluminium I recon you would get qiet a lot of interest from the members on the forum especially if it comes in cheaper than ordering from the States.

Mark

[BigG]

Mr Djinn , not accurate.

Stainless still is not a sparking material. In fact, many believe that it might be the ultimate metal for pyro ? however, most industrial stainless still is alloyed with sparking metals, so one must make sure that the grade he/she uses does not contain any sparking metals.

For the tools in the picture, I would suspect that aluminium is just not strong enough. For a spindle smaller then 8mm-10mm, aluminium deforms very quickly. Nipples for drivers, that are commonly under 8mm, are made, by most professionals, with? stainless still. Bronze is also a good, yet more expensive, option.

For larger pumps and nipples, aluminium is probably the right metal of choice.

One should note - that the forums disallow commercial activity, and as such, parabolic should not post any more messages about the subject.

[Richard H]

Mr. G, Not accurate

By commercial activity I really mean running a business. Individuals making tools for other people or trading chemicals etc is acceptable.

Any potential commercial pyro retailers who want to use the forum to reach potential customers need to speak to the admins first.

[parabolic]

I apologise for advertizing the fact that I would like to help UK members out by supplying them with a cheaper alternative instead of buying from the states.

Iam not a buisness nor do I wish this to become one, just wanted to help out others who cant get a hold of tools in the UK. Price is to cover the cost of material and production.

I couldnt think of another way of telling people on this board., so iam sorry for my actions.

416 Stainless steel is all I use at work, It is an alloy of stainless, Pure stainless is expensive and hard to machine. Iam finding out if I can get some aluminium, But aluminium is expensive too. as BigG pointed out, small spindles will not hold up if made from aluminium.

Anyway point taken BigG, I will not post any more messages about the subject, on this board.


Lee

P.s ...BigG,

Can you explain what (Stainless still) is? I've never heard of that material.

Edited by parabolic, 29 June 2004 - 07:45 PM.

[lord_dranack]

416 Stainless steel contains:
Carbon 0.15 max
Chromium 12 - 14
Iron Balance
Manganese 1.25 max
Molybdenum 0.6 max
Phosphorus 0.06 max
Silicon 1 max
Sulphur 0.15 min
Can you tell from that if it will spark or not?

[Richard H]

Parabolic, I've pretty much said it's ok for you to offer tooling services, so no worries!

I'm sure you know as well as I that BigG means stainless steel. You must remember that members originate from all over the world and English is not always their native tongue. Please don't be sarcastic, It's not very smart.

[parabolic]

Sorry, Richard H,

just that I offered something special for uk folks, then got put down by someone that seems to have everything and doesnt care about anyone else being able to get things. (thats the way I felt the comment was and Iam sure other uk members too.)

End of story., BigG is doing his job, I hope he doesnt take offence at my comments, We are best buddies and hes comming round for tea and chip butties later! tonight

Lee

Edited by parabolic, 29 June 2004 - 08:47 PM.

[Richard H]

I'm pleased to report everything has been sorted out Now lets get back to the fireworks people!

Lee, can you knock up pretty much anything? What engineering machinery can you get access to?

[parabolic]

I use a 2 axis cnc machine at work
I have access to a manual milling machine, manual lathe, drills, etc..

I make rifle barrels for my job!, its great!!!

I can turn out spindles for end buring rockets and fountains, like I have on my pictures without any problems, I might have trouble with long core buring type rockets as they have a long steel pin former which tends to vibrate when machining, I had a go at making one yesterday but the tool kept pushing the long rod away due to refex which resulted in the rod being over size at the front.

If I were to make them I think they would have to be at least an 8mm core forming rod.

We only use stainless steel type 416, so thats all I have at hand, Iam gona try to get some aluminium..

I cant see that stainless steel alloy would be a problem for spindles, so long as it were for only making the clay nozzles.
once the clay nozzle is rammed, then the spindle can be removed and then the BP rammed in by a nylon,wood or aluminium rammer. This way the spindle and BP dont come in contact, avoiding a spark risk.

Iam also thinking of using nylon to make spindles and rammers, Nylon is quite hard and I suppose would take the spark risk totally out of the picture.

As for knocking up pretty much anything?,, Hmm, thats a very hard question to answer..my friend
If I have drawings then I can have a look and tell you..(please dont send any drawings of sportscars or anything crazy like that ..lol )

As for now I have no Idea of the dimensions and forms of spindles or any general pyro tooling,

just from what I have seen on the web, I decided to make some spindles and have a go at forming clay nozzles.
They came out pretty well..
I have yet to fill them with pyro mixtures!!. and see what they are like.

Cheers


Lee

[The_Djinn]

I stand corrected about the stainless steel.
Parabolic, I can see making barrels will become a lunch break job once this lot on the forum start sending you drawings and orders.
I like the idea of using nylon, I have seen a few other suppliers over the pond using it on there tooling so I doubt that there is any draw back with its use.

Mark

[BigG]

416 Stainless steel contains:
Carbon  0.15 max 
Chromium  12 - 14 
Iron  Balance 
Manganese  1.25 max 
Molybdenum  0.6 max 
Phosphorus  0.06 max 
Silicon  1 max 
Sulphur  0.15 min 
Can you tell from that if it will spark or not?

Chromium in what wakes the steel stainless. This metal does not rust even under the most severe conditions. I can't really say if it will spark or not, but it looks promising.

[Phoenix]

This is rather crude, I know, but I have successfully made rocket spindles by turning a wooden base and rammer with my lathe, using a hard wood such as plum or, oddly enough, eucalyptus, then drilling out a hole in the centre of the ramming base (on the lathe) and locating a nail through it, with an interferance fit in the wood, then filing the spinning nail to the correct taper, and polishing it with wet and dry paper. Filing like this takes ages, but since my lathe is for wood it's the only way that I can do it, but it doesn't bend like you said. (I hate it so much when I'm turning something long and thin, and it binds to the chisel and gets bent up. Wood tends to shatter and explode all over the workshop when this happens.)

[willd]

Parabolic for core burning spindles couldnt you just make the base of the spindle on the lathe, then drill a hole in the centre of it and add the nipple by putting threads on it. Also if people wanted a non sparking nipple they could easily make one to fit the rocket spindle.