fire piston (made from aluminium)

You may have recently seen the Instructable I recently released: simple fire piston.
After building it, I want to try to improve the process further.
It\'s a bit difficult, but no fancy tools are needed to make it.
If you have a saw that can cut metal and wood, as well as some files and drill bits, you can make one of them.
This iblel also includes a small wooden box so I can put all the parts together.
In addition, it would be a very beautiful gift to give someone.
For those who may be new to the fire piston, its role is to let you ignite the charcoal cloth without any form of fire.
Once the charcoal cloth is lit, you can use it to ignite your fire.
It works by compression and hot air until it reaches a temperature of 260 °c (500°F).
It\'s hot enough to ignite the charcoal cloth and create a Ashes that can be used to ignite your fire.
In step 7, I introduced how to make charcoal cloth.
If you would like to know more about the fire piston, please check this link. Parts:1.
Aluminum tube. Size 10mm: hardware store 2.
Aluminum bar. Size. 6. 3mm (1/4 inch).
hardware store.
The size does not have to be exactly the same as I used.
Something as close as possible. 3.
Wood pin-size 8mm hardware store 4.
Small door handle.
Hardware store 5.
EBay\'s hardware store.
It\'s better to buy a bunch of assorted ones, because it will give you more choices.
I found that the O ring I purchased from eBay worked really well. 6.
Wooden box. eBay7.
Bubble hardware shop.
I used some foam on the old mat.
Little tin-eBay
I just used a small mint can. 9.
Small bottle-ebay10
Silicone plumber grease (
This is O-ring lubrication).
You can add oil but I was told this could damage the O-ring.
You can buy this at any hardware store (
Pipe part)Tools1. Grinder2. Drill3.
Epoxy glue4.
Hand saw5. Files (small ones)6.
Sandpaper-240 grit7. Vice8.
Stanley knife or exacto knife.
The hammer cylinder is the aluminum pipe pushed into by the piston. Steps:1.
Cut a pipe with a grinder to make it about 160mm.
This will be the main body of the cylinder.
I \'ve done 130mm shorter, as the side note says, and it works fine.
It\'s a bit tricky to get it to work, however, so I suggest starting longer.
The reason is that the air is compressed more in longer pipes. 2.
The next step is to archive the end of the tube.
You want to remove any burrs to make the ends smooth and flat.
I find the best way to do this is to put the tube in a vise and grind it carefully with a small flat file.
The cylinder end is gradually thinner.
In order to facilitate the contact between the piston rod and the O-ring, you need the interior of the conical tube.
I just used a small, circular file that was getting thinner inside.
Then I just have some sandpaper to smooth the edges.
You want the tapered edges to be as smooth as possible so that the O-rings are not caught and torn.
The first one I did was like this, and I didn\'t add the knob to the end of the cylinder.
After several attempts my palm inside killed me and it was a bad mistake.
I decided to add a small door handle at the end of the door.
If you look at the other fire-fighting pistons on the Web, you can see that my practice is different from most because they usually attach the knobs to the rod.
I found it to work just as well as I did, but you can also add the knob to the end of the bar if you want.
How does this step block one end of tubeSteps: 1.
You need to modify the knob so that it can be better installed on the pin.
First cut off the cone part of the knob.
Once you remove this, you should see a hole in the bottom at the top of the knob. 2.
Use a 8mm bit to enlarge the hole to make it large enough so that the pin can be placed tightly inside. 3.
Place the pin epoxy in place and leave dry.
Once dry, short-pin if necessary (
All you need to do is reach out about 15mm from the knob, the end of the cone pin so it is easier to get into the tube and add some epoxy to the pin. 5.
Push the pipe to the pin with a hammer;
Tap the top of the rod gently and enter the PIN.
It is also a good idea to bypass the edge of the pin a little so that the glue has something to catch and also helps to fit into the rod.
Once the rod is at the bottom of the pin, keep it dry for a few hours.
Finally, you can add some beeswax or paint at the end to protect it. Steps:1.
The length of the piston should be the same as the length of the cylinder.
This will ensure the piston is long enough.
Mark and cut off any excess parts. 2.
The two ends of the next lever make them smooth and burrs-free. 3.
The best way to make the groove I found is to use the side of a small and thin file.
Put the end into the drill bit and fix the drill bit in the auxiliary drill bit.
Push the side of the file onto the aluminum bar and move up and down slowly.
Take a moment and don\'t go too deep or too wide.
The groove should be only as wide as the O-ring. 4.
Check parking regularly.
Once you have a uniform groove, remove the rod from the drill bit and add the O-ring to the groove.
If the O-ring is even in the groove, then you can see if it fits the tube.
The important point is that
Make sure you add a little oil to the O-ring.
This will ensure it moves easily and smoothly inside the tube.
I didn\'t do this initially, and my O ring was stuck in it all the time. 5.
You need to push the rod into the tube in order to test.
When you push the rod down, you should feel the \"Buff\" of compressed air \".
This will force the rod to rebound again.
If you find that the bar doesn\'t bounce or it\'s hard to push into the tube, then you either need to make the groove bigger or start over.
If your first couple doesn\'t work, don\'t despair, it may take a few turns to make a good seal.
Once you feel the air forcing the piston to \"buff\" up again, though, you\'ll know when it\'s right.
To make sure the charcoal cloth has a seat, you need to drill a hole at the end of the aluminum piston. Steps:1.
Fix the piston in vice2.
Find the center of the piston and mark it with the center punch3.
Carefully drill a hole at the end.
It takes about 10mm deep.
Remember, it needs to be big enough to hold the charcoal cloth in place. I used a 4.
5mm drill bit for making holes.
I also found by mistake that if you put a small groove on the top of the hole, as shown in the figure, it can make the charcoal cloth easier to make.
I would suggest making a hole as usual, and if you find it hard to light the charcoal cloth, you can try adding a groove to help light the garment, so now you should have a valid fire piston.
To learn how to test it-after a bit of testing, you may find it convenient to have another knob at the end of the piston. Steps:1.
Follow step 3 to cut off the tapered part of the knob.
Once you remove this, you should see a hole in the bottom at the top of the knob. 2.
Archive the cut part if necessary.
Add some epoxy to the inside of the hole and push the end of the piston into the hole. 4.
Just a few hours. 5.
Finally, you can add some beeswax or paint at the end to protect it.
It is very easy to make charcoal cloth, and there are many good instructions on how to make charcoal cloth on the Internet.
Check out this Wikipedia link and see how it works: 1.
Cut some cloth first.
100% cotton is a way to go.
Cut the cloth into small pieces. 2.
Next, grab a small tin like a can of tobacco and make a small hole in the top.
Place the cut cloth in the tin and place the lid on the top. 3.
Put tin on the source of fire.
You will see some smoke first, and then the flame will come out of the hole.
Once the flame goes out, you should block the hole with a stick.
The reason is that once the charcoal is removed from the fire, it will start to burn. 4. That\'s it!
Your Charcoal cloth is ready to be used in your fire piston. 5.
Finally, I put the charcoal cloth in a small iron tank to keep it dry and safe.
In order to get the charcoal cloth out of the rod, it is better to have a small pick-up tool to pull it out. Steps:1.
Grab a piece of brass rod and squeeze the end in vice2.
Archive the flat part to remove any lumps or burrs and surround the end of picker3.
Finally, as shown in the figure, slightly bend the plane part.
In fact, you don\'t need to make a box because you can buy it on eBay.
However, you need to cut the foam to suit the fire piston, tin, oil, charcoal cloth and pick-up tools.
I designed two different types of boxes.
One was that I just added some Danish oil to bring out the grain and the other was that I painted red and added some \"symbols\" and I was reading Dave Addey\'s grand blog recently
Layout of the future.
In this movie, he reviewed the typesetting of different films, one of which was an alien.
An artist named Ron Cobb came up with some iconography that he called symbolic standards.
They are a way to communicate with images.
In any case, I decided to create my own project for this project, as shown in the following figure. Steps:1.
Cut the foam into a shape suitable for the box. Mark-
You need to delete this area.
You need to have the position of piston, tin, oil and pickup 3.
The cut-out field is with a knife4.
Glue the foam into the box.
Put all the parts in the box.
DoneI designed two different types of boxes.
One I just added some Danish oil to bring out the grain and the other I painted red and added some \"symbols\" I recently read Dave Addey\'s grand blog 《--
Layout of the future.
In this movie, he reviewed the typesetting of different films, one of which was an alien.
An artist named Ron Cobb came up with some iconography that he called symbolic standards.
They are a way to communicate with images.
Anyway, I decided to create my own project for this project.
They\'re not as cool as Rob Cobb\'s design, but it\'s fun to come up with some of my own designs.
So now that you \'ve finished your piston, it\'s time to get it to work.
It does take a bit of practice, but once you get it, it should work for you every time.
However, don\'t delay it if it can\'t work right away.
What you do is: Step 1.
Put a small piece of charcoal cloth into the hole of the piston.
What I did was tear a small strip from the chat cloth and roll it up.
Important: After a lot of trial and error, I found that the light of the carbon cloth is best when the edge of the piston hole is below.
If it is pushed into the hole and there is no focal cloth on the edge, then Make. 2.
Add a little oil to the O-ring.
You don\'t have to do this every time, just for the first time or until the O-ring is dry. UPDATE -
As DaBoSSs mentioned in the comments below, it is better to switch to silicone grease instead.
It does not break down the rubber like oil.
However, if you only have these around you, use the oil-
I seem to have done a good job in the past and now. 3.
Push the end of the piston into the tube until the O-ring.
Grab the tube at hand and place the knob of the piston in your palm.
Push the piston down quickly.
Remove the piston immediately and check the charcoal cloth to see if it is lit7.
If you have a problem making the charcoal cloth brighter then don\'t try again and see if the hintsno below doesn\'t push back (compression)
On the piston, when you go to push the piston, you should always feel the piston pushing back.
If not, you may need to try the following :-
Add a little oil to the O-ring-
Remove some oil by wiping the piston.
It gets dirty and you lose compression. -
Pull the O-ring out of the groove, clean it and put it back in place. -Re-
Access the groove you added.
If you don\'t get any compression, it\'s probably because the groove is too deep. -
Changing the O ring can\'t put the piston into the tube-
This may mean that you need to make the groove bigger.
Check and make sure there is no bump on the groove and it is as smooth as possible.
Although it is not necessarily perfect. -Add some oil-
Check that your O ringI has pushed down hundreds of times but still nothing --
When you push the piston into the tube, you need to make sure it is a quick, sharp action.
Push hard down, but don\'t try to hold it down and let the piston rise naturally because the compression will rise. -
Check your charcoal cloth.
If it doesn\'t light up after several pushes, change it. -
Try different ways.
There is no sure way to set the charcoal cloth on fire, so find the one that works best for you. -
Try O-rings of different sizes or replace the O-rings you are using.