my first build my first epipe

[Cavediver]

Lol. They need to be 7/8 OD That's the same OD as the EPM buttons.

Thanks for looking though!

 

[FnMag]

Next size down is 3/4" od. In a pack under the first SKUs number

 

[FnMag]

Lol. They need to be 7/8 OD That's the same OD as the EPM buttons.

Thanks for looking though!

I work here. Shhhhh

coil your own. Galvanized wire, copper...should be easy enough. I made chainmail with galvanized wire. Heat then quench to take springyness out

 

[Cavediver]

I work here. Shhhhh

coil your own. Galvanized wire, copper...should be easy enough. I made chainmail with galvanized wire. Heat then quench to take springyness out

I've tried that with 14ga copper, and have been met with moderate success. It's tough to get it good and flat across the top of the ring. That said, it's a better option than the ring of pipe, and will likely be what I use going forward. One good point; I've made a jig that keeps a tail that points down into the pipe; this provides a built-in place to solder the atty wire. Next time I'll try the heat & quench method and see how well it works. Thanks!

In the meantime, I'm going to keep looking for the ring; an off-the-shelf will be better and more consistent in the long run. Clearly they exist, I'm just not finding them...

 

[gwbruce]

The contact ring is nothing more than a 1 inch key ring. If you cut it where the rings come together (hope you understand that) you will end up with two separate rings. Then I just soldered my wire to the underside of it so that the part where the switch makes contact is flat. Just do a little sanding to shine it up and get rid of the chrome and it works just fine. You will have to cut a little out of the ring because at 1 inch is is to big to fit into the 7/8" switch hole. Just trim a little off the end then squeeze it together as you put it in the hole and it will stay with out having to glue it or anything.

 

[gwbruce]

FnMag, I drilled the holes on my second pipe with a hand drill. First drill the 7/8 inch switch hole with a forstner bit to the desired depth. Then switch to a 3/4 spade bit. This one of the everyday wood type drill bits. Use the long pointed end to pick up the center of the forstner drilled hole. Drill the 3/4 inch hole just short of the required depth, important to use the very point of the drill as the depth point other wise you will have a long narrow pointed hole in the bottom. Then switch to a 3/4 inch forstner bit and finish out the hole to the required depth so that it will have a flat bottom. That is how I did mine and it came out pretty good.

I now have a drill press so I am hoping my next one will come out better. Got my drill press on sale at Harbor Freight for $59.99. I know it isn't top of the line, but it should do what I need to do for now.

 

[Cavediver]

Drill the 3/4 inch hole just short of the required depth, important to use the very point of the drill as the depth point other wise you will have a long narrow pointed hole in the bottom.

If you call it a vent, it's an added safety feature

Pay attention to your setup on the drill press, and run through the process once or twice with a cheap block of pine. It can be a little tough to get the bits in and out of the chuck without moving the pipe body out of the way. Of course, you can move the pipe body and put it back, but you can wind up scraping and scarring the top of the pipe while doing test plunges (drill press off).

Thanks for the heads up on the key ring. I'll give that a try as well.

 

[FnMag]

14ga copper wire heated and smashed will temper nicely into a very rigid flat wire.

my forstner wobbles badly wallowing out the center which makes it hard on keeping the smaller hole round instead of oval. I should probably be clamping the wood instead of holding both it and the drill.

forgot about harbor freight. HD has one for $129. I bleed orange, but not that much.

thanks for the ideas guys... We got plans rolling now! I'm off tomorrow, so I know what I'm going to be doing part of the day.

last time I was off, I had a nice one going. Until I finished and realized my 510 connector was in backwards and already soldered. I was having a blonde moment or something.