Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading
Copper Plating
unfy:
Okilidokili...
The frame is done as far as I can tell outside of some wire->clips for individual cells... whatever... I'll be heading to hardware store to pick up some cheap speaker cable or something for it. 14ga wire is just too stiff.
Ran through continuity tests just fine.
Top view of the frame, with a single cell sitting just to show plywood positioning. Power bus bars are visible and have some of the O-ring terminals in place just to make sure I had enough etc.
Underside view of the frame. The wiring mess is... well.. in an effort to try to keep all circuit paths equidistant.... heh. There's a single bolt running out the side (near bottom of pic) to hook power up to.
I probably could have done this a bit cleaner, but whatever.
As mentioned at the start, I'll be picking up some cheap speaker wire or lamp chord wire or something for the power bus -> clips for anodes. Really stiff wire would end up causing the clips to cant and other problems.
I'll possibly also look into using different o-ring terminals (smaller).
Next up - the clothespin scaffolding.
Oh, for what it's worth a friend pointed out the 'durrrrr' as to why the staple grabby things look like ass on the clothespins. Copper, steel, in an electrolyte. Durrrrrrr of course it's gonna corrode fast heh.
I picked up some hair pins made out of copper and some other stuff to experiment with if I have to.
edit to avoid post bloat:
Picked up some speaker wire.
Also went ahead and grabbed a $45 (on sale) cheap miter saw from Menards. I've still got a lot of PVC to chop up, and at $45 .... that's a fine investment compared to the time it'd take to cut it up manually. Not to mention the amount of back pain it'll save me from given my current condition.
Sadly, the hardware store folks are starting to recognize me :(.
Also - concerning bkoenig / bronze boolits: actually, if ya eat a fair amount of canned food... instant source of tin :)
unfy:
last bits of base frame power stuff done. this would be ~5 inch speaker wire with a larger and smaller O-ring terminal on opposite ends. one end attached to power bus bar, the other to mediumish the 'charging clamps'.
8 1/4" miter saw isn't quite big enough to cut pvc in a single go, requiring two cuts to make it happen. blade shroud / protection thing also kinda gets in the way. so... pvc is cut although not as pretty as would have liked. Sanded edges a bit to help out (as well as remove burrs). Will be gluing test caps to'em shortly.
gonna go kinda more complicated than originally wanted with the clothespin holder stuff. picked up a couple 12 inch side drawer slides or whatever they're called (haven't had coffee yet)... will cut them down and use as guides. will use 'something' for hard bottom stops, but also use some gate latch things for the upper stops that should be easy enough to undo / lower.
Still haven't built the scaffolding for the clothespins....
edit to avoid post bloat (feb 25th 6am):
Since no major news, just an edit.
All of the cells are constructed. Takes a while to get price tag stickers off of so many test caps. I'll have to quickly sand down some edges of the glue stuffs later. If I ever start to make kits to sell, will have to at the very least set up a better way to hold the pvc so can make cleaner cuts. Although just opting for a 10" saw would go a long way as well heh.
Eyeballed the drawer sliders, should work fine. I'll have to work out measurements next. They'll cut down in size just fine, too.
I still need to figure out how I wanna handle the clothespin scaffolding in general. I'll prolly just build it and deal with improvements if I feel the need later.
unfy:
Back pain is reducing... can hopefully get back to this project shortly. I have a general plan for the next bit of wood work.
Something I just kinda started pondering.
Is there a way to aluminum plate something ?
The idea is if it's possible to take an off the shelf bullet mold and coat it in something (say a spray or paint or plating more aluminum on to it) to get the reduced cast bullet size that'd be wanted.
Some kind of paint / spray that has to be replaced every so often might be workable.
A way to add aluminum to the mold via plating or something would be preferred possibly... assuming it doesn't come off due to heat differences with the lead etc.
Which, btw, makes copper or another material probably a no no due to thermal expansion differences.
Just a 'hmmmmm' thought.
rudy:
--- Quote from: unfy on March 01, 2013, 10:14:07 PM ---Back pain is reducing... can hopefully get back to this project shortly. I have a general plan for the next bit of wood work.
Something I just kinda started pondering.
Is there a way to aluminum plate something ?
The idea is if it's possible to take an off the shelf bullet mold and coat it in something (say a spray or paint or plating more aluminum on to it) to get the reduced cast bullet size that'd be wanted.
Some kind of paint / spray that has to be replaced every so often might be workable.
A way to add aluminum to the mold via plating or something would be preferred possibly... assuming it doesn't come off due to heat differences with the lead etc.
Which, btw, makes copper or another material probably a no no due to thermal expansion differences.
Just a 'hmmmmm' thought.
--- End quote ---
Just from a quick google search, it doesn't look like aluminum electrodeposition is something you would want to do in your apartment. It can't be done from an aqueous solution, this paper says you need molten salts to do it: http://jmst.ntou.edu.tw/marine/1/31-37.pdf Other google results showed success with ionic liquids which are just salts that are liquid at some arbitrary temp, usually around room temp. Cool stuff, but I don't think you would be able to find these kinds of chemicals.
If you want to add some thickness to your die, I would suggest nickel electrodeposition. There is a lot of nfo out there about it. I have done some nickel electrodeposition on stainless steel rods for some of my research and it had good adhesion and mechanical strength. Getting the thickness right on the die would be tricky, though, I would think...
Edited to add: I am assuming the molds are steel, I've never used one. Is there a certain reason you would like aluminum? Are molds aluminum?
unfy:
Rudy:
Yup, poured over google results as well. Some experimental ionic room temperature solutions that aren't available to simple joes like me.... and vacuum electrostatic ... and funky high temp salts etc.... yeah... no aluminum plating for me.
Do note that 'molten salt' doesn't necessarily mean 200-2000 degree salts... just salts that are liquid heh.
Lee bullet molds are aluminum. They heat quickly, are easier to temperature adjust (ie: damp on a sponge to cool), and seem to balance temperature better than some of the other molds I've tried. IE: iron / steal molds require more work for a non-mechanical bullet molding operation etc.
I'm weary of chrome or nickel due to thermal expansion differences (ie: wouldn't the plating just come right off when exposed to the 600-700 degree lead ?).
Something of interest to note --- automotive store & high temperature paint for exhaust / heads / blocks / etc.
Now, I *SUCK* using a rattle can so I would have ZERO chance of getting an even coat...
But it seems like a possibility ?
I have no idea how a high temperature ceramic based paint would handle metal thermal expansion ?
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