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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:31 pm
by spanerman
frankrede wrote:They make nuts for spark plugs?
Never seen them, not even in my automotive classes.
hmm.
but I think that maybe I might TIG the plugs to keep the heat down and help prevent the sparkplug from getting too hot.
no they dont, but finding a nut with the same threads....wil be hard

Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 2:53 pm
by frankrede
rmich732 wrote:Very nice creation! It looks great! Where did you learn to weld? I have wanted to learn, but just don't know where to start (though, considering I am the WORLD'S WORST SOLDERER, I don't know how welding would work out :lol: ).

I have that same union, but in 2" for my hybrid (which I have been working on for so many months; its all done, but I need to build the Generation II fueling chamber).

Can't wait to see this beast in action!
Thanks, and I am learning how to weld at my Vocational High School.
1 1/2 hours of practice, 5 days a week and next year 3 hours a day.
I have never soldered, but welding is quite easy.
All it takes is practice.
I would recommend you try and find a trade school to learn how to weld.
Or have a friend teach you the basics.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 1:58 am
by frankrede
I can make tungsten darts, would those be better than using steel?
or would it be to brittle and simply shatter?

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:14 pm
by DYI
Pure tungsten is rather soft, but if it is tungsten carbide that you're thinking of, by all means do it. Either way, they will be significantly denser than steel, and denser is good.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:44 pm
by Ragnarok
Pure tungsten not hard? Tungsten is unbelievably hard, the hardest of all the pure metals, with a rating on the Mohs hardness scale* of 7.5 (Where diamond is 10, and 9 is half as soft, 8 half as soft again...), and a Young's modulus of 411 GPa. It is fairly brittle though, with an elongation at fracture of only 1%, whereas iron can reach up to 50%.

Tungsten is a good material (denser than depleted uranium) for darts as long as it doesn't smash. The military used tungsten steel for early kinetic energy penetrators, and you have to assume that those remained intact enough to penetrate the armour (although DU rounds destroy by deliberately breaking apart), so I don't think it will smash at spudgun velocities.

Tungsten carbide isn't as dense, but it is a lot harder, at a 9 on the Mohs scale.

*The Mohs scale is a fairly simple model, but it works just fine as an illustration for these purposes.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 9:46 pm
by frankrede
Yea, I meant tungsten carbide, with 2% thorium(tig welding rod)
Hmm, well I suppose I might have to try it out

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:22 pm
by DYI
Hmm, I was always under the impression that pure tungsten was relatively soft. Thanks for clearing that up Rag.

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:02 pm
by Zen///
depleted uranium

"On impact with a hard target, such as an armoured vehicle, the nose of the rod fractures in such a way that it remains sharp. The impact and subsequent release of heat energy causes it to disintegrate to dust and burn when it reaches air because of its pyrophoric properties (compare to ferrocerium). When a depleted uranium penetrator reaches the interior of an armored vehicle, it catches fire, often igniting ammunition and fuel, killing the crew, and possibly causing the vehicle to explode."

Wiki is kewl

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:54 pm
by DYI
Depleted uranium rods aren't particularly available to civilians though, and Staballoy (the DU alloy used in KEPs) is even less so. Frank isn't trying to take out APCs or anything (I hope), he's just shooting at targets. The pyrophoric properties and impact characteristics of DU are not really necessary for his purposes.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:58 pm
by Novacastrian
Not necessary at all, but either are spudguns in general! I would love to get my hands on some DU :twisted:

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:00 pm
by DYI
Oh, so would I. I was just saying that it wouldn't be particularly easy to get, and that the real DU penetrators are actually Staballoy for extra strength, since pure DU is somewhat soft.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:10 pm
by Ragnarok
I wouldn't want any.

I've seen DU "APDSFS" darts in real life, and they're safe enough there, the actual DU is encased within an outer shell. However, exposure directly to the stuff is bloody nasty. If you want to want to be unable to sleep for a week, I suggest googling "depleted uranium mutations" (mutations, not munitions).

Tungsten is one thing, DU quite another. Besides for our purposes, tungsten is slightly denser, so a better choice.

I also severely doubt that any spudgun has the power to crack a DU warhead into the penetrator shards that make it so dangerous.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:31 pm
by frankrede
Wowza guys,
ha
You guys all know that I won't be messing with DU for a quite some time now;)

ha
but it is interesting to read about
http://www.rense.com/general64/du.htm

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:36 am
by aaron1225
you should grind down those corners

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:17 am
by Novacastrian
aaron1225 wrote:you should grind down those corners


I say it like this because this is your first post.

1. Read the entire thread before making a comment.
2. Read all the rules in regard to posting.
3. "You should" is not the start of any decent reply to any topic.

Welcome to spudfiles :) :P