Cone forming video as promised

[GRIM]

I have had several requests to show how I make my cones, so I have put together a bit of a photo / video presentation ,

I have attempted to cover all the steps from paper template thru to finished cone ,

This is NOT the best way to make accurate smooth cones , there are other ways , and slip rolls are likely the best way , this is just the way that I do it, they are crude but cheap, and require some practice to obtain acceptable results ,

This link should take you to a company that sell cheap slip rolls , in the USA

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=36698

This link should take you to some plans ,

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/rolls/rolls.html

and another with some nice photos

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33819

There are lots more on the web , search home made slip rolls ,

Back to how I do it,

The shafts you see were originally part of a woodworking machine , they have some grooves down them for lubrication in their original home , they also have holes down the centre for the same reason ,

Sources for suitable shafts might be, scrap dealers , used machinery dealers, half shafts from auto wreckers , or you could even buy cold rolled bar from a steel supplier ,

About the only machining needed is to drill the holes through the ends for the bolts , a drill press is the best way to do this, the only important thing is that the holes are a clearance fit for the bolts and line up reasonably well ,

A limiting factor, is the diameter of the shafts, these ones are about 1 ¾” diameter and about 20” long , so I cannot form cones / tubes smaller or longer than this, using this rig , there really is no upper diameter limit , and the length is limited by the distance between the bolts ,

The Video editing program was giving me hassle , kept crashing , and the comments started to get all out of sync , so I never got to complete the thing ! , just the same the basic idea should be more or less clear,

About the only thing missing is to show the use of hose clamps to pull everything together for tacking prior to welding , so here is a photo ,

Heres the link to my video presentation ,

http://www.mediafire.com/?fmyznljhwgm



I hope this information is of some use to someone,

Joe

[Fricke]

Hi GRIM!

Nice tutorial!

Almost the same approach that I use to fabricate my cones. I usually cut my templates ~3 mm bigger than the final template size. That way I have as I feel a better guide to the final size. But that´s my own method

I use the same principle of tooling as you use, But I also have a small 3 in 1 slip roll, brake and guillotine cutter that is good for up to 1 mm sheet metal. Made in china that lasted 1 week until the casting broke. But a few cast iron rods later is´t as new.

One thing that I usually do with bigger cones is I bend them in a bigger brake. There is a nice demo on the net called Design 2 Fab. good for ~2 months, that you can use to print templates for gores, cones and other sheet metal shapes. And the templates have bend lines (whatever number of bends you like.) I use it to make round to square transitions and gores for my GT engines. And You can select how many pieces you like to print the templates in. Good for the Square to round parts.

Nice work on the engine! =) I´ll have a go at the thunderchine engine later in the year as time and my other projects allow me to build it.

And I agree on the flap-disks they are way better than a normal grinding wheel on the angle-grinder, better control and finish with those disks.

[metiz]

Thanks for the effort man, suprisingly simple but seems to work great! I'll defenitely try to make something like that in the future - out goes the broom stick

Man, I thought you were in your 20's or 30's!

[GRIM]

Man, I thought you were in your 20's or 30's!

No, sorry to disappoint, I am in fact an OLD FART ,