Squire Robin, any news?

Squire Robin, sir.

I was just wondering how your spiked cannon project was going. Last we heard from you on the subject, (unless I missed a post) you were waiting on parts for an EDM machine. How is that project coming along? Or did you decide to abandon that idea?

Any work on the carriages yet? Or are the "twins" waiting until you can dedicate more time to them?

Just curious. Photos are always welcome. :winking:

Brad

The spike removing EDM machine got more and more complicated as I kept adding extra features so it's taking longer than expected :redface:

It consists of a power supply box and the cutting head. The circuit boards should be here next week from Bulgaria. I got some splendid Russian, heavy duty, paper capacitors. Very low inductance on a paper capacitor so I should get big amps.

I just have to anodise the case before I start wiring it all up, yellow I think :thumbsup:

My head hurts.

Nice job on the machine. Very well built. Most of my electronics projects end up being housed in an old shoebox, a Tupperware container, or "that "FedEx" box I got last week". :haha:

You'll probably end up spending more on the machine than on the cannon themselves. :winking:

I'm curious...what are you expecting the outcome to be? Will you lose a portion of the cannon in the process? Will you have a gaping hole that will need to be filled in again, or will you be able to isolate it to "just" the spike?

Brad

Hi Brad

It is a precise, cold cut. In fact I should have the core of the spike left over because the cutting electrode has to have a hole down the middle.

OTOH it may not work at all, in which case I shall revert to plan B :hmm:

best regards

Squire Robin

PS: Please try to think of a plan B :shocked2:

Hey, 1500 posts, I just reached .54" :rotf:

Squire Robin said:

Hey, 1500 posts, I just reached .54" :rotf:

Click to expand...

Wall all I can say is ... dont hook that thing up to the electrodes on yor neck or we will have another Michael Jackson "moon dance" on our hands! :hmm: And stay AWAY from lightin bolts n stormy weather too! :grin:

"Its alive!" :rotf:

Davy

Squire Robin said:

OTOH it may not work at all, in which case I shall revert to plan B :hmm:

Click to expand...

What's plan "B"???

Drive it through to the breech and cut it off into small removable sections while inside the breech...

"What's plan "B"???"

Have a really good Plan A, and there's no need for a Plan B.

The EDM machine looks like a really good bet, all things considered. Even if it doesn't work on the cannon, as long as the machine is functional, it's a nice tool to have sitting on the workbench.

My Plan B would be to drill a new touch hole a little ways from the original and go from there.

At the very least, those babies would look GREAT sitting on the patio, whether they were functional or not.

Brad

The EDM that I used also had a resovoir of EDM oil. Are you building one that can hold the entire cannon. Thats a lot of oil. The vendor demonstrated ours by putting a penny on the end of the carbon rod and "burning" a perfect profile into a piece of steel. We used ours for boring very small holes for an electron microscope stage. Good luck you have a nice project to finish.

It pumps kerosene down the centre of the electrode. I hope to collect the spillage, filter it and then send it round again :thumbsup:

Ours was like a fish tank on a milling machine with a carbon electrode instead of an end mill. It recirculated the oil from the tank, sometimes with a hollow electrode, sometimes not. It would feed itself automaticlly. People would see it sparking in the oil and wonder why it did not catch on fire. I guess the spark was cool. Smoke would come out the top like dry ice in water. It was a nice tool to have.

hells bells robin! Youre not a man to do things by halves!

don't let the local mechanics know you have an edm machine - they will be queued up around the block asking you to remove broken taps! :hatsoff:

You can make a very simple EDM with a couple of bulbs a capacitor and a hand screw but you supposedly get a better cut if you do it proper :thumbsup:

Power supply now wired up apart from the pump control, (I bought the wrong size triac) hope to start testing the electronics tomorrow when the last bits arrive.

It's all anodised white, I couldn't persuade it to take the stain. Have another pic

Took a few days to knock the bugs out, but it seems to be working :thumbsup:

I think it's making the right noises, here is one of the most boring movies I have ever taken Movie 1.12 Meg

I haven't tried pumping kerosene down a hollow tool yet, but sinking a solid copper rod, 1/4" diameter, into mild steel seems to cut aroung 5mm/hour :shocked2:

Is that right?

Sounds about like mine. Yours is a bunch fancyer though.

Good job!

Robin, that's the most exciting film that I've seen today! Have you considered entering it at Cannes? The Palme D'Or is yours--without a doubt.

Russ T Frizzen said:

Robin, that's the most exciting film that I've seen today! Have you considered entering it at Cannes? The Palme D'Or is yours--without a doubt.

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Obviously you don't see very many films :rotf:

I burnt another half inch out today and it's about as exciting as watching paint dry. No reason why you shouldn't share the excitement, here's the EDM making one of it's occasional up/down cycles to help clear the gunge...

Movie 2.8 Meg

Yawn :grin:

Squire Robin

That had me on the edge of my chair! I could watch that all day! :rotf:

I've been watching it for hours, and more hours resetting the tool when the tip burnt off an I had to lengthen it.

Then the pump element burst so no more sparking 'til Tuesday when the new part arrives. Who'd have thought silicone rubber was not suitable for kerosene :shocked2: