Blaf

Well????? Does it work or what? Blaf

Hello SoulPredator Here are a few tips that could help to determine size of your collecting drum. Circumference of my collecting drum is little less than 10cm and rotates once in 2,5-3 seconds so we can calculate out that in my case fuse is being produced at 4cm per second. My two plates holding yarns rotate at variable speed as I can increase or decrease voltage supply at my preference but generally, they make 4-5 turns in one second. Hope this helps. Something should be pointed out here; I noticed something interesting but it could be just asking too much from this amateur designs. Namely, as the fuse comes out from first (powder) die, it has certain thickness. Now it enters the second die where additional yarns are being wound around it and it inevitably comes out thicker than before. Now look at the lower plate – we can see only 8 yarns there and sometimes outer layer of yarns do not cover inner ones completely as both plates rotate at the same speed. You can see this happening on my latest green fuse sample. Remedy to this could be increasing rotation of lower plate, ie. using larger plastic pulley on main shaft or smaller one on lower plate itself. Or perhaps increasing number of yarns to make outer layer of fuse....don't know yet, but this is a problem one could face when turning the Machine into production. Blaf

Hello SoulPredator (and others too...) Well, basically yes. I do shake funnel while machine runs, checking the upper powder die all the time. When the die cavity comes half empty I do increase shaking until it's full. I was thinking about automatic ex-center shaking device too but I think it will also need constant controll of powder flow. So, for me, nothing works as precisely as human hand...I mean so far. Fine granulation of the meal powder helped a lot but could not completely solve the flow control problem. Blaf

Hello SoulPredator This is nice work in 3d, indeed. The whole construction looks nice, sturdy and ready to roll. You should just add kind of guide ring just below lower plate where finished fuse exits the die so it doesn't zig-zag within die before being rolled on collecting drum. Also, check the ratio between cog-wheel diameters and those of plastic pulleys on the main shaft and plates as collecting drum should spin at significantly lower RPM (say 1:5) then spinning plates. Maybe cog-wheels are too strong for this application and some kind of friction drive would be more convenient, but that's only my opinion. Ah, another trifle - I've read about some other guy experimenting with tracer yarn (I haven't tried it myself) and he says it doesn't help much. Maybe, if we could make it spin inside the funnel...don't know. But I know that pure meal clogs very easily no matter what you do. Shaking helps, that's for sure. I'm just thinking loud... Blaf

Hello RSDZ I wouldn't know exactly what the kitchen blender looks like inside and what kind of a motor it uses but generally, all those small electric appliances use small AC motors of rather high RPM. The final rotation of the tool is regulated by simple cog-wheel gearing made of plastic like in mixers. Other ones like coffee grinders and juice makers take advantage of a high RPM and tool is attached directly to the motor shaft. If you ask me, I would opt for DC motor and regulated power supply so that you can play with speed at will. But then, it's only my humble opinion... Blaf p.s. Do not stop on drawings only...

RSDZ, I like your drawings. It is basically the same "In line" design I used with reinforced square frame. By transport you probably mean drive, i.e. the way that pulleys are driven by the main shaft. You could position your main shaft inside (it would require some more drilling through two middle floors) or outside of the main frame. If you ask me, I would do it inside as it makes machine more compact. Collecting drum could be mounted underneath in "ground floor" eventhough there's limited space there...but if you need small quantities of fuse, it could be done quite nice. As far as I can see, roller bearings should be pressed in milled round seats in both floors...that's nice solution and much easier than mine which is more or less supported in the air. But more than anything, I like the idea that someone else's trying to make The Mighty Machine too... Blaf

Here are a few simple sieves I made from wooden sticks and some plastic screens. these screens are being used as mosquito protection or so. One of them is greenish coloured while other is greyish. Mesh size should be between 60 and 100...never cared to count those tiny square holes. Hollow frame still waits for appropriate screen... href> Joining ends of wooden frame are coated with wood glue and fastened with self-threading screws. Of course, I used that very handy 90 deg. jig while glue dried. href> Plastic screen is stretched over the frame and fastened with those small office clamps. Additional neoprene glue was aplied as to prevent spillage of whatever you sieve through it. href> And finally, we came to real use of those nice sieves. One can use them for BP granulation, mixing powders, drying stars etc. Here are some getting dried right there... href> After drying is complete, these small plastic shelves come handy for storage. href> I believe you all know how to use wood saw, screwdriver and some glue so detailed instructions on how to make those frames are intentionally omitted. Blaf

Nice pumped stars Warcore! Compliments for your first cylinder shell that went off so well. Movie you posted is little blurred but your star burned seriously blue. Congratulations! Blaf

Hello Duvel Can you tell me what "mal" is? I couldn't get the point, sorry. So, you've made MagnAlium yourself in open air and nothing bad happened...I've read a few reports on this before and one of the guys supressed alloy & air reaction by tossing some Sulphur over molten mixture which produced Magnesium Sulphate or so which formed protective crust over the top. Now, when you told us it can be done so easily, I'm definitely up to do something myself... Blaf p.s. Come again with that "mal" thing, please...

Personally, I can see no mistakes here, gramatics is OK as well. Rules are here to be followed or kept to as accurately as we can. This is not democracy...we could make suggestions, though. Thanks for this Mesh5! Blaf

Deadman rides again... By "spare parts box" I ment various crap I had lying around my flat and basement...and believe me, there was (and still is) plenty of that. So, I haven't got any specialized box with spare parts for building Fuse Machine exclusively. It was just a phrase. If you need to buy everything, I estimate you wouldn't spend more than say....30-50 $. This includes main-shaft, bearings, main DC motor, pulleys and belts, base construction etc. Your work is not included, of course. It would be impossible to estimate time I spent building this toy. But from seeing it first time on the Net and having the Machine finished, there must have been at least two months...which doesn't mean I worked every day on it. I mainly spent my time discussing all aspects with one of my friends (consuming enormous quantity of espresso) while actual assembly lasted not longer than 5-6 hours. The most important is – I never tried to rush things up...if I've had, It would have been done much quicker. So, no straight answer again, sorry. You should know I've done this from curiosity reasons (See, curiosity doesn't necessarily kill cats but leads sometimes to more elaborate outcome). I had no commercial intentions whatsoever, and I hope it stays like that. Moreover, I invested too much love in process and this machine became like a pet to me. Doing things with heart is never as lucrative as someone might think... Hope this suffices for some time... Blaf

Yes, these little machines are all over the Net for some time and I'm about to make one myself. And they're really simple to make...even with a tilting feature. As for that green mixture you posted, unfortunately I can't get hold of Red Gum here (they don't even know what it is) but I've got hefty bag of PVC powder in my basement. Also, one of these days I'll make some Copper (II) Oxide and try it instead of pure Copper. Ah, 4-th of Jully, you Amers know how to make life a glorious venture, at least once a year... Blaf

Thanks for that green formulation...though, there's something about ground copper that doesn't give me much hope. See, when I asked if you could post your images, I already knew there were other sites describing star rolling in detail but just thought it would be nice to have our own slide show from a member of the forum, not imported stuff. As for mentioning other sites here, try to avoid that too as it is supposed that we all know for them already. Not to mention revealing chemical sources... Blaf

Right, that final crackling sounded exactly like dragon eggs were on somewhere...but you couldn't see any flashes here. As for video, unfortunately I haven't got a digital camera (for now), just simple Hi-8 VHS camcorder whos rechargeable battery almost died. Blaf

Hello Deadman It's OK with me and I hope with others too. Have you made some sort of rolling mechanism or you just do it manually? Whatever the case is, it would be nice if you could post some step by step images....what do you say, heh? I haven't made my star roller yet, I have everything lying somewhere around here but have other priorities for now. As for lead shot, I must admit I don't like it as a general idea because it has certain weight and can easily end up in someones eye. Ask rabbits or ducks what they think of it, he, he, he. Lucky you to have access to chems which impart colour to you stars. Here in old Europe, we have no chance to purchase them. At least I can't. And this is not from Sept. 11-th only, those stiffened laws are in effect for long time now and I believe will never be loosened. Sad but true... Blaf

Ah, fire gel....well, I didn't know what it is either but I found it in my supermarket one day and took it immediately for experimentation. It comes packed in a funny fat tube which looks like containing hair-gel, the stuff you put in your hair to stiffen it. It even looks like it when you uscrew the cap and squeeze it a bit. It smells very nice, slightly reminding of alcohol or so. It's primary use is to start fire at fireplaces without using quantities of paper or so. You just squeeze some of it, say...2-3 cm on piece of wood and light it...it burns with pale flame with bluish envelope while gel slowly melts down. No bad smell comes out while burning and all in all I like it. Before this I used those white fire-starting cubes based on petroleum but this is much cleaner. Besides, you can mix stars with it.... Blaf

OK, we have to attach some name to this type of star, evethough it's nothing new there. I'll tell you what I did and you can refine or develop it furtherly. Mixture is simple: 70% meal 10% Al flitters 20% fire gel No Dextrin was used here as I wanted to see how it works without it. Fire gel, I suppose you know this stuff which comes packed in plastic tubes. I mixed everything in ceramic coffee-cup and left it for a few minutes so that gel evaporated a bit. Then I filled my smallest plastic syringe and pumped some stars. At start, they were prety sticky at touch and I left them to dry on piece of wood. They had a grainy Al look and felt rough around surface. After a day, they dried and I lit a few with no problem. One of them crumbled when I pressed it hard....so maybe some Dextrin could be handy. I expect further developments from you guys... Blaf

Three small skyrockets with payloads were fired a week ago to celebrate my aunts birthday. Look, to be honest, I don't need any special occasion to launch my rockets...this is just to make things more serious. Two of them were straight rammed BP rockets while third one was half BP, half mixture of BP and Al-flitters (see Aluminium Flitters topic). Of course we waited until 21,00 to enjoy the effects thoroughly. First two were carrying a dozen small pumped stars each, first was filled with Gold & Silver Rain stars and second with Reeper Silver stars. They both worked superb, spread was good considering granulated BP burst charges I used. Of course, and again, burst went off at about 50 mts, too high for this size of rocket. The third one (50%BP-50%BP+Al flitters) was carrying a mixture of small firecrackers (you now those Chinese made tiny red crackers connected into belts of 100 pcs each?) and a dozen pumped gel-stars (see Stars topic). These were packed into simple tube made of craft paper which fitted nicely on top of rocket motor. This one was really nice to watch flying...it was leaving bright tail of shining Al pieces all the way up where it bursted spraying stars and producing a chorus of little cracks after they burned. It was really lovely...and kids were happy. At least these worked nice which I can't say for my Toubillion...see appropriate topic, please. Blaf

A week ago I fired another one with wooden wings, this time with wings twisted at substantially steeper angle...I thought it would help but it didn't. The blody thing did not fly! It spinned all around the concrete floor sprinkling white sparks and humming like mad, but it couldn't lift off. The nozzle was definitely too wide. This tourbillion was rammed almost half a year ago and the composition could be deteriorated by the time, don't know. Anyhow, the shame was on me again as my cousines sons were expecting some performance... No comments, please. Blaf

Of course they were...I could see respect deep in their eyes all day long. But no, there was no payload this time. It would have been waste of stars as we were there during daytime. Thanks for positive feedback... Blaf

Launch report Look back to my post from April 27-th 2006. in Nozzle Forming Tool topic. You'll see a bigger rocket motor with nice smooth nozzle (thanks to my nozzle forming tool) waiting to be fired. In fact, I did it a week ago. I was camping with a few of my shooting buddies and basic plan was to sight in my big caliber rifle, nothing else. We took Jeep Grand Cherookie, loaded it with gear, drove two hours from our town and ended up on 1600 meters above the sea level, in beautiful deep valley, almost on top of the mountain. To open shooting festivities, I took my CD unit, 15 mts of wire, one bridgeless match, rocket motor....what, I forgot to take a stick! We looked at each other and went to search for anything that would stabilize the rocket. It was useless of course, what we could find was too twisted or short. Trees in the mountain do not produce much straight branches, you know, so I took what we had at hand. It was blasphemically bent, short piece of overdried tiny branch, not more than 60 cm in lenght. Too short for this size and weight of motor. But you see, my reputation was in question here....so launch was not to be cancelled. I connected everything, placed my rocket (bleah!) vertically between two large rocks, charged the CD unit and handed it over to my friend to fire it. We performed a countdown, just for fun, and he pressed the Button. My electric match worked as expected and the rocket went off, leaving brownish trail of smoke. Trajectory was slightly arched (due to branch-stabilizer) and at some 80-100 meters it started to rush downwards, while still burning. A small but thick forrest of beech-trees was some 250 mts from us....and my rocket was falling down right in the middle of it! Fortunately, burning ended much before. Conclusion: 1. The burn time was too long. Remedy: Drill longer core next time. 2. Trajectory was disastrously arched. Remedy: Use straight stabilizer of suitable weight. Blaf

Any idea is worth considering but separating particles using different mesh sieves is simple and efficient. Any further sofistication would be entering the professional waters...personally, I never make large batches of anything so I wouldn't go that far. Blaf p.s. I'm not discouraging you so go your own way...

Yeah, those came out small due to high rotation speed of this little coffee grinder. The only drawback is small capacity of its container. I think I tossed a small amount of table salt in to ease grinding and to prevent sticking. As for "big flat Al bits", we should experiment with different milling media shapes. I milled my foil with ball media...which is less effective shape than hexagonal or cylindrical one...to be honest, my milling lasted too long. Maybe your flat chunks would have been scattered into powder if you used any of those odd shaped media. Of course, this is only my loud thinking... Blaf

Here you can see the difference between bal-milled and ground Alu-foil. This small pile is ground in electric coffee grinder for a few minutes. I have tossed little chunks of foil into container and switched it on for a minute while constantly shaking it. The container became warm very quickly so I stopped and left it to cool down a few minutes. I repeated this several times and here we are... href> Particles are more granule-like ones and it would be interesting to put them into ball-mill for a few hours and see what comes out. These granules work well as spark producers in fountains...other uses are yet to be revealed. Blaf

Here are threee small piles of what came out of my milling jar the other day. It was Alu-foil that's been milled with steel balls, remember? href> Coarse flitters are on the left, finer flitters in the middle and finest (almost powder) are on the right. Blaf