gabrielleigh
07-23-2012, 11:24 PM
I have been toiling away in my studio trying to get this prototype finished for a customer. I finally got the thing together today and I am quite happy with it. What you see below is representative of "steampunk" style artwork.
This is one of the world's only mechanized smoking accessories, and likely the only one that features a fully-operational, completely wooden mechanism. The mechanism is a gear-driven iris like what you will find in cameras (especially older ones). The entire mechanism concept comes from Chris Schaie, with contributions from Michael Schnorr and quite a few other Shopbot forum members. The thread with all of the inspirational ideas and photos can be found here:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=795
Thanks again to the people who created these mechanisms, I think it is amazing that people can collaborate to come up with cool things like this iris mechanism. Even more amazing is the fact that people freely share these ideas so other people can piddle around with them and come up with neat applications for them!
I have linked a few different views of the pipe so that you can see pretty much every aspect of how it looks and how it functions. I took the basic "gear drive" principal that Chris and the other guys came up with and I modified it to include a very industrial-feeling wooden knob that spins on an axle which runs through the middle of the green drive gear. I machined a spiral cut groove onto the knob so that you have good grip when you twist it between your fingers to actuate the iris mechanism. All the screws that adorn the pipe are brass, which goes along with the whole steampunk theme.
The upper body of the pipe was machined from a slab of african bloodwood, the lower half was cut from a slab of walnut. Gears are all central american cocobolo, the green drive gear is cut from a piece of emeraldwood I had laying around. Actuator knob is bloodwood, too. I did some cool celtic knotwork v-carving inside the top of the pipe, as well as on the bottom of the pipe too.
This is a highly complex series of cutting files that create this pipe. I will be spending the next few weeks streamlining and refining the cut files to try to trim off unnecessary and redundant cutting time.
I use the following bits to achieve all of the different cuts to make this pipe:
End Mills: .0313" two flute spiral cutter, .0937" two flute spiral cutter, .250" 4 flute end mill.
V-carve bits: 40 degree 1/8" shank Dremel v-bit from Home Depot, 90 degree 1" v-bit standard router bit.
All of the precision gear cutting and other parts that make up the mechanical iris are cut out of .125" laminates that I make here in my shop. I use the .250" end mill to plane the laminates to my desired thickness first, then I switch to my tiny .0313" end mill to cut out the precision mechanical parts of the iris. I actually "tack weld" the laminate down to the table surface using lots of tiny dots of super glue. I put a few dots under where each part will be, and then I cut them out and the super glue "welds" them to my table surface so I don't have to use tabs to keep the parts in place. Then when the cutting is done, I pry off the excess material and then I use a razor blade to slice the parts off the table surface. It works great, and eliminates the time consuming job of removing tab material from tiny precision parts with delicate edges.
The main pipe body is mostly cut out with the .250" end mill, and I use a smaller .0937" mill to do the tighter spaces. All of the celtic knotwork is v-carved with the 40 degree Dremel v-bit. The edge beveling around the outside of the pipe body is all done with a regular 90 degree 1" v-bit.
Thanks again to Chris Schaie and the other people who contributed to his mechanical iris concept. It is great that people like them will share their work so that other people like me can find neat applications for their ideas.
Top view of the pipe:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe4.jpg
Mechanical iris closed:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe1.jpg
Twist knob to open:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe3.jpg
Cool four-fingered grip:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe2.jpg
See more below
This is one of the world's only mechanized smoking accessories, and likely the only one that features a fully-operational, completely wooden mechanism. The mechanism is a gear-driven iris like what you will find in cameras (especially older ones). The entire mechanism concept comes from Chris Schaie, with contributions from Michael Schnorr and quite a few other Shopbot forum members. The thread with all of the inspirational ideas and photos can be found here:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=795
Thanks again to the people who created these mechanisms, I think it is amazing that people can collaborate to come up with cool things like this iris mechanism. Even more amazing is the fact that people freely share these ideas so other people can piddle around with them and come up with neat applications for them!
I have linked a few different views of the pipe so that you can see pretty much every aspect of how it looks and how it functions. I took the basic "gear drive" principal that Chris and the other guys came up with and I modified it to include a very industrial-feeling wooden knob that spins on an axle which runs through the middle of the green drive gear. I machined a spiral cut groove onto the knob so that you have good grip when you twist it between your fingers to actuate the iris mechanism. All the screws that adorn the pipe are brass, which goes along with the whole steampunk theme.
The upper body of the pipe was machined from a slab of african bloodwood, the lower half was cut from a slab of walnut. Gears are all central american cocobolo, the green drive gear is cut from a piece of emeraldwood I had laying around. Actuator knob is bloodwood, too. I did some cool celtic knotwork v-carving inside the top of the pipe, as well as on the bottom of the pipe too.
This is a highly complex series of cutting files that create this pipe. I will be spending the next few weeks streamlining and refining the cut files to try to trim off unnecessary and redundant cutting time.
I use the following bits to achieve all of the different cuts to make this pipe:
End Mills: .0313" two flute spiral cutter, .0937" two flute spiral cutter, .250" 4 flute end mill.
V-carve bits: 40 degree 1/8" shank Dremel v-bit from Home Depot, 90 degree 1" v-bit standard router bit.
All of the precision gear cutting and other parts that make up the mechanical iris are cut out of .125" laminates that I make here in my shop. I use the .250" end mill to plane the laminates to my desired thickness first, then I switch to my tiny .0313" end mill to cut out the precision mechanical parts of the iris. I actually "tack weld" the laminate down to the table surface using lots of tiny dots of super glue. I put a few dots under where each part will be, and then I cut them out and the super glue "welds" them to my table surface so I don't have to use tabs to keep the parts in place. Then when the cutting is done, I pry off the excess material and then I use a razor blade to slice the parts off the table surface. It works great, and eliminates the time consuming job of removing tab material from tiny precision parts with delicate edges.
The main pipe body is mostly cut out with the .250" end mill, and I use a smaller .0937" mill to do the tighter spaces. All of the celtic knotwork is v-carved with the 40 degree Dremel v-bit. The edge beveling around the outside of the pipe body is all done with a regular 90 degree 1" v-bit.
Thanks again to Chris Schaie and the other people who contributed to his mechanical iris concept. It is great that people like them will share their work so that other people like me can find neat applications for their ideas.
Top view of the pipe:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe4.jpg
Mechanical iris closed:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe1.jpg
Twist knob to open:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe3.jpg
Cool four-fingered grip:
http://i713.photobucket.com/albums/ww132/gabrielleigh/PlanetaryNavigatorPipe2.jpg
See more below