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waterjet cutting

Posted: 04 Aug 2021, 15:47
by Elliot Howells
Hiya, anyone had any success getting waterjet stuff done?

I cannot get ZDZ to reply to my emails and IAD tell me he can't supply to non-owners. I need a gear wheel and it's might just be easier to get one cut...

My DLE170 starter hangs in balance...

Cheers, Ell.

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 04 Aug 2021, 20:01
by Cliff Evans
Getting any company to cut one off's in metal is a nightmare! They will not even add parts to a sheet that they are cutting, most companies would rather just throw the scrap out. I have been trying to source someone to do this for a couple of years now.

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 05 Aug 2021, 10:48
by SP250
Elliot if it's a gear wheel you need it will need to be cut/machined more accurately than water jet cutting. Depends on tooth form, straight cut or helical etc.

Try ARK Racing in the black country, https://arkracing.com/
They speciallise in one - off starter systems, flywheels etc for track racing, rallying etc. should be able to make the smaller size you need.
I had some work done by them for classic cars a few years ago .
Not cheap, one offs never are, but a proper professional engineering job and they can do the cad design as well if you tell them what you need.
Nick Beere is the owner / MD (or was when I used them).
HTH John M

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 07 Aug 2021, 12:47
by Elliot Howells
Guys, thanks for the input.

I've decided to give waterjet a miss for now, a local company I already use does laser cutting, so hopefully they'll be able to cut me a gear as a one off, I'll let you know how I get on.

As an aside, I'm just trying to draw the gear up on fusion 360, gonna do a trial print in plastic first, I doubt it'll start a DLE170 though. :lol: :lol:

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 08 Aug 2021, 10:04
by IanT-White
Elliot , I had the same problem , I wanted a starter gear wheel for my two thirds Hanriot WW1 biplane , this uses a 425cc JPX twin with a home produced reduction drive system to turn my own 56" by 26" prop .
I couldn't get any one to make the gear wheel for less than £200 which seemed excessive.
Instead I bought a rotary table and a 1.75MM No 2 involute cutter and on my milling machine cut a gear wheel from 6" by 0.25" 6082 dural bar .
The method used was a bit unconventional including a "stop" fastened to my bench , the bonus was that I supplied an article to an English model engineering magazine detailing how I made the gear wheel plus some details of my Hanriot, the payment almost covered the cost of the above.
The gear wheel has performed really well , its started with one decompressor pushed in , usually it takes a brief spin with the choke fully closed to fire and then a second short spin with the choke half open to start and run ,using a Fiem 400 watt starter and a 90 amp automotive relay.
The difficulty hand starting the Hanriot is the uneven reduction drive ratio which is needed to move the peak stress around the drive belt rather than the same area of the belt always taking all the strain. this moves the compression point for each revolution and its difficult to get enough force to start the engine when the props in an odd / unnatural position.
That was the good news , the bad news is my milling machine motor has recently failed !. You can't win them all !
Good luck with your quest to get a gear wheel.
If you type in my name on Google I think there is a U tube video of my Hanriot flying .
Best regards Ian Turney-White

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 09 Aug 2021, 21:48
by Elliot Howells
Ian, thanks for that, fascinating, I watched the video - she flies beautifully, like a very big trainer! Looked so stable and real in the air.

Fortunately, the kind fella who supplied the bits I have for the starter realised he hadn't sent me the ring! I now have this and it's good enough to use and even better, I can make a copy more easily. I just need to buy a prop for the engine now...

I'm going to persevere with the laser cutting, it ought to be accurate enough and I only need 4mm thickness. I think the gear wheel I have must be M1.75 also, at M1.5 I can't get fusion to generate the right diameter.

I'll keep you posted and thanks again for all info, hope the milling machine isn't expensive to fix!

Ell.

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 10 Aug 2021, 07:51
by IanT-White
Elliot , Thanks for your kind remarks about my Hanriot
A friend has a large ZDZ twin ,and I obtained for him , whilst ordering one for myself , a Fiem starter motor which uses MOD 1.75mm pitch teeth on the output gear .The cutter , No 2 , which is suitable for say 50 to 100 tooth gear wheels are not that expensive , possibly about £25 .
I have another gearwheel to cut for an onboard starter on a 75% scale 1911 Deperdussin monoplane using a Weslake 342cc ( Target Drone ) motor .
Woodwork done and pulleys done , now the complicated time consuming effort with the offset prop shaft, reduction mount and welded curved silencer and gearwheel .
Do you have the details/supplier for the r/c starter relay unit you used ?
I hope you get sorted out with your starter gear , best regards Ian Turney-White

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 10 Aug 2021, 22:27
by Elliot Howells
Here's the link Ian,

https://www.rapidrcmodels.com/electric- ... 4807-p.asp

should be useful for a few modelling applications...

Ell :)

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 11 Aug 2021, 07:38
by Cliff Evans
Elliot Howells wrote: 10 Aug 2021, 22:27 Here's the link Ian,

https://www.rapidrcmodels.com/electric- ... 4807-p.asp

should be useful for a few modelling applications...

Ell :)

Also available from Steve Webb in the UK.

https://www.stevewebb.co.uk/index.php?p ... ea=Engines

Re: waterjet cutting

Posted: 07 Mar 2023, 17:46
by Elliot Howells
for those that haven't seen it elsewhere, I did manage to get both laser cut and water jet cut gears. The laser job was good, but a little rough - probably only due to the setting used to cut the main work piece I'd guess. The water jet cut gear is a work of art - honestly, if I'd bought it for £50 I'd be impressed! Both will work however and I'm. immensely grateful to both friends for their help.