Scratch Build – In Progress Metaversa 02: Ada

That's good to hear. Maybe I'll order that videotape I've been wondering about...

 

Today, I have been mostly building the pump assembly...

We start with the Enginia D5 pump cover that I obtained from China. This is an assemby made from black acetal, consisting of the pump head cover, the pump body holder and a rubber O-ring. The Llaing D5 pump is basically screwed between the two halves with the O-ring to make a seal.



As you can see, Freedom Punk (who manufactures these items in small numbers on a CNC lathe at his workplace) paid a lot of attention to reproducing the channels in the pump head:



All equipped with G1/4 thread openings, of course.

To visually counterbalance the fittings of the flow sensor below the reservoir, and to just pimp things up a bit, I made a brass fitting for the pump inlet. For this I used 40mm bar. A bit wasteful since the maximum diameter of the fitting will be 35mm, but it's what I had so that's what I used...





Lot's of measuring as I went along. The ribs are just to add visual interest and to balance the ribs in the reservoir.



After tapping and drilling out, the result:





And the test fit:



Originally the aluminium pump holder ring was about 63mm inside diameter, to accomodate a brass ring which in turn would hold the 60mm diameter D5 pump body. Since the Enginia covers the whole pump, that had to change a bit. The enginia cover is 74mm diameter, so some boring out was performed. Et voila:





I am now awaiting some Bitspower True Brass C47 fittings to bridge the res --> pump part of the loop with some 12mm OD brass tubing. Annoyingly, the fittings are out of stock, so we'll have to be patient...

Next I'll turn my attention back to the switch lever assembly of which you saw some parts recently. I'll be cutting a clevis and dowel arrangement with some silver steel for the pin. A lot of delicate hand work...

 

UPDATE!!!



I think I may need new pants

 

^ THIS!

 

Truly amazing build this is

 

To much awesomeness, going on here . Looks amazing.... I hate you lol

 

I missed an update!?!? That huge tapered connector is brilliant. Pity you didn't have 60mm bar instead of 40. It would have been insanely wasteful, but the taper, man! Can you imagine that taper?
Bitspower fittings? Why not a custom bridge-thing?

 

60mm bar would be very wasteful... but after cleaning up the top of the thread a bit (there was a tiny bit of swarf that stopped it from screwing all the way home), the edge of the taper now sits flush with the top of the pump housing, which is altogether neater. It took a bit of measuring and guesswork on how much the O-ring would compress to get it that way, so I'm pleased it worked out.

I've thought of a custom bridge thing but I'm undecided. I need to keep some visual coherence with the rest of the piping throughout the build, and the last time I did too much customising I painted myself into a corner when it came to upgrading the hardware...

Currently the plan is to use 12mm brass tubing and clear coolant. But I've also been looking at clear tubing and black coolant, reminiscent of motor oil. There's pros and cons to both... I just can't quite decide!

 

May I present another update on the progress of this device.

As you may know, I recently turned some rods from 10mm square brass bar to be part of the actuating mechanism of the power/reset lever. Today I have been mostly fashioning the dowel and clevis hinge. More action with the trusty piercing saw was required, which cuts through 10mm brass cleanly and quickly. It is all about the right blade with the right tension...



Then some work with a flat and a square diamond file to finish off:



A lot of hand work here, done in the manner and with the tools of Victorian clock makers.



Next with the use of some engineer files (******* cut followed by 2nd Swiss cut) I rounded the ends...



...and with the hand drill I made the 3mm holes. Next was a test-fit with 3mm silver steel for the hinge pin:



After fitting through the hinge and gently hammering home (the trick is to ensure a snug fit in the holes) it was --again with the piercing saw-- cleanly and easily trimmed to size.



And below the resulting hinge mechanism:



And the result back in place on the frame:



The switch action:



Apologies for the blurry shots; it was getting dark and the worklights do not reach very far.

 

Yummy!

 

Pure awesomeness man...

 

Are the hinge pins only held in place with friction, or is there something else keeping it in place (e.g. c-clip or slight mushrooming of the pin's end)? I'm interested to see if they work themselves out over time.

 

Friction. The trick is to make the holes in the clevis a snug fit, but the hole in the other arm slightly large so it doesn't make the pin rotate with it. I had to gently hammer the pins home. If that fails I can widen the ends with the right type of punch.

 

Holy crap! Not only does it look awesome but things move and do stuff.

 

Any excuse for some model engineering.

And praise from you?

 

Machined metal is very nice,I love your work.

 

And again...



Thanks!

 

My desire to buy a lathe has come back.

Looking sweet.

 

With all the (polished?) brass, it's starting to look like the alu needs gold anodizing. I've seen plenty of high end HiFi gear gold anodized, looks great.