cplmac Posted July 26, 2007 Posted July 26, 2007 So I just got my aluminum roundstock delivered a couple days ago. I'm ready to start lathing the material to make 3,4, and 6 pound whistle spindles. I started on the 3 pounder today and I'm trying to decide what to use for my measurements. As it stands I think I'm going with .49 spindle base, tapered at 2.5 degrees and a length of 1.25". Has anyone machined their own spindles? If so any tips? Also anyone know if these dimensions will work? I plan on making some intermediate spindles too, somewhere between whistle and strobe but so far it's taking forever just to machine the 3lb whistle. I've been at it for about an hour and I'm less than halfway done. Can't help but think I'm doing something wrong. I've got a bag of fresh bits I'm gonna try out and see if the other bit is just spent. I'll check back later with some pictures of the progress god willing.
cplmac Posted July 26, 2007 Author Posted July 26, 2007 So here are some pics from my first attempt at turning my own rocket tooling. http://pyrobin.com/files/p7260004.jpg http://pyrobin.com/files/p7260008.jpg http://pyrobin.com/files/p7260011.jpg http://pyrobin.com/files/p7260012.jpg This is supposed to be a 3lb whistle spindle, I'm gonna press one up once I attach it to a base.
lja Posted July 27, 2007 Posted July 27, 2007 They look pretty good. I usually go with a 1 degree taper, it's less tha everyone seems to call for but it works for me and I don't need as many rammers. I also polish everything with some 600 grit sandpaper before I take it off the lathe. I see some of your stuff looks just a little rough from the tooling and thats going to make your engines a little harder to remove.
cplmac Posted July 27, 2007 Author Posted July 27, 2007 Thanks for the tip, I was wondering how I wanted to polish them up. Just finished my 6lb whistle spindle. http://www.pyrobin.com/files/p7270008.jpg http://www.pyrobin.com/files/p7270009.jpg http://www.pyrobin.com/files/p7270010.jpg
Aquarius Posted July 30, 2007 Posted July 30, 2007 Just a tip from my side:If you want to cut down on time spent (and metal waisted), you could try to make the nozzle former/base as one piece and drill a center hole in it. Then get your spindle and taper it down making sure it is a thight fit with the base. Drill and tap a hole for a set screw in the base, and you are done. This is the way I do it, and it's easy to change the length of the spindle when dialing in the toolings as well as it cuts down time with the lathe. If you look closely at my tooling here, you will see what I mean.12 mm Rocket Tooling But I must say your tooling looks very good, having a lathe around really helps when trying out ned configs on drivers, pumps or whatever!
Cherbanov Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 should the nozzle hole in the rocket be the half diameter of the totalID? ex: rocket ID 20mm, rocket nozzel 10mm (Whistle rockets)???and the core length is there any pattern for that???
Mumbles Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 Most whistle rockets have no nozzle. If you mean the core diameter, then it's not as simple as BP. There is no set ratio. The core former is actually relatively constant with rocket size. It increases a bit, but not very much. 3/4" ToolingA) 3/16" wide spindle, turned down 1 degree along length. 3/8" wide spindle turned down 1 degree along length1 3/8" long A and B are different dimensions. A gives a less powerful rocket, and B gives a more powerful rocket. My personal preferences go with B. There is a segment of former the ID of the tube, 3/16" long to give a recess. This is turned down on a 3/16" radius to the actual spindle. To give you a bit of insite to what I was talking about earlier, the spindle dimensions only grow 1/16" in the A dimensions, and 1/10th of an inch in the B dimensions for rockets from 1/2" to 1". The length is 1 1/4" for 1/2" rockets, and 1 3/8" for all other sizes. As you can see, not much change.
Cherbanov Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 if i understand you right the tooling for a 19mm ID rocket the spindelwill be 320mm long and 9,5mm wide at the botton and then slopedown with one degree to the topp. correct me if I´m wrong
Mumbles Posted October 2, 2007 Posted October 2, 2007 I think I may have stated it poorly. A and B are different spindle diameters. They will give different powers, and likely different whistle pitch. Reguardless of the diameter, the spindle is 1 3/8" long. It has a slight taper on it to ease in removal from the rocket. Normally whistle rockets are 5-7ID's long.
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