How To: Easy O Ring Grooves without a lathe.

[trae08]

Alright ive never made a gun that required a piston or o ring grooves but im working on a new gun that does require them. So sense i don't have a lathe and i cant afford one i had to find a way to make the grooves. And i came up with this, which seems like it might work i haven't tested them yet, i wanted to make sure it looked like it worked before i bought all my parts and it does so for all of you who dont have a lathe but have access to a table saw here you go.

This is pretty dangerous having your hand close to a spinning blade such as on a table saw can result in injury so if your not familiar with how to use a table saw get someone more experienced to help you with this.

Also i was using short pieces of pipe but with longer pieces you should get someone to help you hold them

MAKE SURE YOU USE SAFETY GLASSES AND EAR PROTECTION. I dont think gloves are necessary as they may make it harder to grip the pipe. i just used them for the video.



Alright so what you do is get a table saw and whichever piece of pipe you need the groove in

here is the first pipe i used. Its 2 inch sch 40 before i cut it.




Here is the same pipe after the cut.



First what you do it make sure the saw is unplugged.
Then set the pipe to be cut against the blade and raise the blade to the level where you need the groove cut into the pipe.


Then if your saw has a guide like the one in the video set it where you want the grooves cut length wise on the pipe. i cut mine close to the end for no particular reason.


Here are some different sizes of pipe i did. The pipe in the middle is 1 1/4 sdr 26



I didn't take to many pics but here is a video which explains alot better how i did it.

Let me know what you think.


[youtube][/youtube]

[starman]

Nice how-to Trae! A tablesaw can be your best friend if you have access to one.

Thanks for taking to time and effort to share.

[jimmy101]

Nice job.

Other similar ways to make O-ring grooves;
1. Drill press with a router bit.
2. Router and router table and router bit.

Both of these techniques can use router bits. So, you can cut a v-groove, or a half-round or ... whatever shape router bit you can find. A cheap $2 high speed steel router bit should last a long time when used to cut PVC.

Both techniques need a pair of good fences (just like the table saw method).

The drill press is probably the safest technique since it can be run at a low speed. That makes it much less likely that you slice a finger or fling the workpiece at a dangerous velocity.

[maggotman]

good idea could i also suggest putting another fence on your saw at 90 degrees to the original one to keep the pipe over the blade and help keep things straight

[Sticky_Tape]

Oh cool. What is your next project?

[trae08]

Thanks for the feedback.

Its a 40 mm ( 38.1 millimeters to be almost exact) semi auto paintball gun. alot like Clides slider gun just bigger.

[jonnyboy]

Looks like it gives decent results. When I had to cut grooves I used a dremal the grooves weren't quite perfect but with a quick stand made out of wood you could probably achieve good cuts. Too bad I don't have a table saw.

[rp181]

it works well to get a piece of pipe to attach to a drill, and hold a blade to. it

[i-will]

i'm not too sure that ur groove will seal at all. looks like they r a little crooked and a saw blade give them a square cut. o-rings aren't square. there is a much safer and better way to do it. i explained it in a previous post (pretty long ago). http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/basic-f ... 16295.html i ain't haten on ur work. just tryin to help with a better way. all u need is some scrap wood, duct tape, a hinge, and a file with a round edge. set ur pipe in the groove of the tool, press the file down, rotate the pipe, then u have a pretty smooth and even groove for ur o-ring. and for a finishing touch i sprayed the groove with a clear coat spray paint for a smoother "polished" finish. it's better than actually trying to polish it for a perfect seal.