Turning Stainless Steel Bolt Into Pneumatic Engraver
Introduction: Turning Stainless Steel Bolt Into Pneumatic Engraver
This Instructables is extremely close to me because it taught me a lot about my skills. At the beginning of this project, I thought making it without a lathe would be impossible but it's not and if you think you can then you definitely can. My habit is like if I planned to do something then sooner or later I am able to accomplish that task. Definitely, with a lack of tools, it's gonna take some more time but everything is doable with sheer determination and that's what I learned during this project. I love doing engraving but going for hammer and chisel engraving is not my cup of tea that's why in the past I have been using foredom engraver but it was extremely difficult to work with because the tool didn't have a very ergonomic design and buying an expensive engraver isn't an option for me so I go with a plan of making my own pneumatic engraver handpiece. You know what's the most satisfying thing during this project, it's when you turn on the compressor and that little piston moves back and forth in the cylinder and makes an impact on the bit so that you are able to engrave any metal. The working principle is quite simple and if you didn't have a lathe then probably this video tells you how you can make one for yourself. If you have some useful tips and tricks to share then do let me know in the comments section down below. So without further delay let's start this build.
Supplies
Following is the list of materials I used to build this pneumatic engraver. Definitely, if you have a lathe then the project is rather simple to make and you can avoid using bolt for the build, but if that's not the case then the bolt and nut is the only option for you to continue this build. The bolts I am using in this are actually provided by my friend who works in the dairy company and he told that there is some modification that needs to be done on pipe flange and these bolts are no longer required, so he gave them to me because he saw my nut ring video and hoping to convert something with these nuts and bolts. I wasted a few of them but glad that successfully able to make one from those bolts. Although grub screw and M8 allen bolt I already have in my drawer.
The design provided above suited best for my compressor. Since the car, inflator comes in various sizes so your design must be according to that. You can definitely change the size of the barrel and try using a 10 mm hole and by doing that you have a lot more power in the stroke.
1. Stainless steel Bolt M16 or M20. (I use M20 since I got them but I recommend to have M16 bolt)
2. Nut according to the Bolt 2 pcs
3. M8 Allen Bolt for graver holder
4. 776
M3 grub screw for tightening the graver into the holder
5. wood for the handle
6. 4mm pneumatic pipe fitting
7. High-speed steel blank 12 mm. (You can use the back of the drill bit also. You can use any other piece also but make sure it's a hardenable material since the hammer needs to move up and down to make a stroke so it's better to make it with hardenable material)
8. Pneumatic pipe
Tools used:-
Tools I am mentioning over here are those which I used but the lathe is the tool that will ease this work.
1. Hacksaw
2. Flat file
3. Angle Grinder
4. Grinding wheel
5. Lapping Disk
6. Buffing wheel
7. Buffing compound
Step 1: Drilling the Holes
The first thing to do in this build is to drill two holes one for the front and the other is for the back. The front hole is used to mount the graver holder with the help of M8 threads and it's 25mm deep. The rear hole is a 12mm dia hole that acts as a cylinder inside which a piston moves back and forth. The reason for choosing bolt is because it already has threads at the outside and since we are not using lathe this will reduce our work to some extent.
To mark the point location I first tighten the nuts onto the bolt so that it will provide a holding location to the vise in the next operation. For the exact location of the drilled hole, I am using a center finding jig and mark the hole location, center punch it. Since I have to hold it into the vise from the back I need to remove those markings from the bolt for which I am using the file to make it clean so that it can sit flush onto the vise base. Then I drilled a 6. 776