guntoteninfadel Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 (edited) After reading a tutorial online regarding how easy it is to make a really cool, art deco plexiglass star pump I looked around the shop and figured I had everything I needed to make it except for the plexiglass. The material the author used was 3/8" which I thought was flimsy so I opted to use 3/4" oak that I just also happened to have. The first one I made looked pretty good, alignment and spacing were kinda off, but it seemed like it worked just fine. Loaded it up with star comp and voila, nice little 3/8" stars popped right out. Wow I think, I am really onto something. Well, my little "gem" locked up on the 4th press and I have not been able to get it apart without destroying it. PLAN B - Ok, should have learned something when I tried to short cut the tutorial on putting the pressure guage on the hydraulic jack! but thats another story. Ordered 1" plexi online and associated plexiglass rod. The rod was cut by mfg to predetermined length of one inch. Got the plexi in and proceded to drill a whole bunch of 1/2" holes. Alignment was better as I had worked on the drill press somewhat but the spacing was kinda iffy. Again the finished product was pretty! The pieces of plexi ended up being too large (5 7/8x5 7/8) to manipulate easily but pressing out stars I was. On a truely grand scale. Somewhere in the production phase my 1/2" rods began falling out. The glue I used apparently did not stick.SORRY NO PIC PLAN C- With all this tremendous amount of experience that I had gained (had enough stars for 4th shells and rockets!) I decided to make one that made comets. Ordered another piece of plexi but had the guy cut it in half. AND I got a cross slide drill press vise. Actually got it really cheap, it was broke and I fixed it. I think the pic attached tells the tale. The alignment was perfect, the spacing is so closer than my calipers can measure. This one has worked and worked and worked. All the regular comet comp was used, everything in the house that was or looked like comp was put into 1" comets. I tried to break it. Every once in a while the epoxy will crack, but not enough for the rod to fall out. Edited July 19, 2011 by guntoteninfadel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaokin Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hey gun, great effort there!!! If you want to further re-assure the rod to plate attachment, drill down through the plate into the center of each rod, tap each hole, and thread in a machine screw. This is best if done with a drill press but can be done with a hand drill and steady nerves. Use a machine screw with a moderate diameter and coarse thread (rather than fine thread). This will give you additional strength against the forces imposed by your hydraulic press! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guntoteninfadel Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 LOL, and why didnt I think of that! Consider it done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allrocketspsl Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 LOL, and why didnt I think of that! Consider it done! will be showing new tools soon like star plates and rocket spindles and rammers in high tech pastics,stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guntoteninfadel Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 will be showing new tools soon like star plates and rocket spindles and rammers in high tech pastics,stay tuned! Thats really not fair......... how soon? hurry...... are you done yet? is it ready yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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