My Homemade Comet Star Pumps

[Col]

Here`s a few more with a similar design, manually operated but could easily be adapted for an arbor press

[Nessalco]

Joeyz, I made up a pump like you show for 5/8" stars. Worked great! Once I got the rhythm going I pumped about 250 stars per hour.

 

Kevin

[Col]

Here`s another of my weird creations, a cheap 1T arbour press modded into a star pump. Interchangeable heads (brass hose tails) allow it to pump 4,6,8,10 and 12mm stars.The plywood table rotates through 90 degrees between two stops, so as the star is being ejected, the tube is refilled with comp. A shock cord pulls the table back to the fill/eject position. The comp depth (0-40mm) is set by adjusting the length of 3/4" brass rod inside the tube. The pic was taken before the plywood was topped with 1.6mm stainless steel sheet with a 3/4" hole cut in it. The press reverts to normal use (inserts, hemi case pressing etc) by inverting the ram and removing the star pump table.

 

[Zmuro]

That's interesting design Col, can you share more pictures or video of this device?

[Col]

Hi mate

I`ll sort you some out. There`s not much to it, a hole drilled and tapped in the end of the ram to accept the threaded hose barbs, a couple of slots for the ejection pin/rod to slide up and down and a compression spring. The birch ply "table" pivots in the original press plate hole and has a slick polished SS sheet glued on top. A hole in the plate allows comp to fill the tube in the table. Snug fitting pieces of solid brass rod are used to set the comp depth in the tube, brass shim discs allow for fine adjustment. At some point i`ll figure a way to move the table in sync with the handle so i dont have to rely so much on co-ordination and rhythm

Edited November 7, 2016 by Col

[Arthur]

 

Go to 5.33, star gang pump with wooden handles like a wire brush. It's got to be cheap and easy because thats what firework tools were then.

 

 

You could also watch parts 1 - 5!

Edited November 7, 2016 by Arthur

[Mortartube]

Exactly the same sort of pump I used working at Wells Arthur. Ours was a six gang pump (if I recall correctly), the wooden frame was mahogany and the tubing standard copper pipe with brass plungers inside.and the weight of it is a double edged sword. It helps to project it into a pile of mixture to get the powder tightly compacted on the pump, but it gets pretty wearisome after you have pumped a couple of twenty kilo mixes.

Edited November 9, 2016 by Mortartube

[JmFnG]

Thank you for sharing this idea, Joey! I will be making a few different sizes over the next few days. I love the simple yet effective design.

[vinny1892]

Joeyz, I made up a pump like you show for 5/8" stars. Worked great! Once I got the rhythm going I pumped about 250 stars per hour.

 

Kevin

[vinny1892]

Do you know of a sourse of 3/8 id tubing thats cheap for making this gang pump? The rest is just copper pipe from why i can tell for the other sizes.

[NeighborJ]

Hobby stores and mom n pop hardware stores sell brass tubing suitable for the task. I've made quite a few of these pumps with it and the thin walls cut into the comp nicely. They usually have any size from 1/8" up to 1".

[chuckufarley]

I'm pretty sure the stuff NJ is talking about is made by K&S. Check any decent hobby shop, or hardware store. If you can't find the size you need look them up online and see if they make it, if they do, then the store should be able to get it...or You can order it online

[vinny1892]

Ok thanks!! Ill take a look at my local hardware store and see what they have.

[PyroFrank]

Awesome design Joe! I made one based off yours using 7/16" brass tubing. I designed a plunger which I 3D printed in abs plastic then acetone smoothed. Seems solid enough to pump stars, I'll be trying it this weekend.

 

 

As a side question could anyone recommend what % water I should use with a hand pump like this, say for winokur 20? I know it should be more than if using a press as mentioned above.

[Mumbles]

Moisture content varies with so many things. The two most important are pressure and ambient humidity. Personally, I'd start around 15% water for body weight pressed stars, but you'll have to dial it in for location and force.

[AstroCity]

Thanks Joey for showing this. Home depot didnt have everything I needed so I ended up using a syringe and a nail to duplicate the tool. I used a hot razor blade to chop the end of the syringe off, and hot glue to hold the nail in place. I havent tested it with comp yet.. hopefully sometime this week. The stars should measure around 3/8th inch.

 

[AstroCity]

So the pump worked ok.. can't complain.