[ARC5] ARC 5 AGC problem solved

WA5CAB at cs.com WA5CAB at cs.com
Thu Jun 16 19:48:44 EDT 2005


One possibility would be a pipe or large tubing cutter with a groove machined 
in the rollers to straddle the rim.  I have a dim recollection of having seen 
one once.  As it certainly wasn't designed to open up A.R.C. capacitor cans, 
it must have been some specialty tool.  Maybe something for cutting off a 
flared or double flared tubing end or something like that.  Max tubing diameter 
might have been too small, though.  Cutting grooves in a standard cutter's 
rollers would be an interesting challenge.

If there is a holesaw of the proper diameter, you'd have to remove the pilot 
drill to avoid a large hole in the middle of the disk.  Which means you'd have 
to hold the cap can firmly.  Best way would be in a lathe's 3-jaw chuck, with 
the cutter mount in the tail stock.  Bad thing is that most hole saws cut a 
pretty wide kerf.  You'd lose quite a bit of the disk.

The tubing cutter approach seems to me to be the best bet.  A variation given 
availability of a lathe might be to mount the cutter wheel to the tool post.  
That way you could cut right next to the rim (no rollers on the back side).  

I'm just guessing that the cans are stiff enough to stand the stress of 
chucking in a three-jaw and getting pushed sideways by the tool-post mounted cutter 
wheel (if not, a collet would certainly work but that's more hardware to have 
to have).  But if so, that would be the quickest way to do a batch of cans in 
a hurry.

How messy are the cans when you open them?

In a message dated 6/16/2005 4:33:14 PM Central Daylight Time, 
arc5 at ix.netcom.com writes: 
> >.... Why did you decide to part them off in the middle 
> >instead of right at the rolled lip?..
> 
> Frankly, because I couldn't find a cutter that would
> hold the work steady and cut around the can any closer
> than about 2/3rds up from the bottom.
> If you know of one, I'd sure like to get it.
> I did try to "hacksaw" right below the lid once,
> but if I mounted the can with enough force to allow
> the saw purchase, it "boogered" the can up, leaving
> it scratched and dented.  I also tried cutting under the
> rim with a Dremel tool, but it was hard to control
> and I ended-up maring as many cans as I got open.
> And I didn't like all those tiny brass particles flying
> around my radio parts; you know they're
> like guided missles, looking for the nearest varible
> cap or pot to invade.
> The pipe cutter made a neat, easily-sealed cut that
> looked pretty good if you didn't use too much epoxy
> to seal it.  You can file the cured epoxy down, too.
> Cutting out the mica may still be the best answer.
> Someone more skilled than I needs to give us a lecture
> on the the best way to do it.  The Xacto knife and
> I did a pretty ragged job; it keeps sliding-off toward
> the center, making an uneven hole.
> Hey- is there a hole saw that's the right size??

Robert Downs - Houston
<http://www.wa5cab.com> (Web Store)
MVPA 9480
<wa5cab at cs.com> (Primary email)
<wa5cab at houston.rr.com> (Backup email)


More information about the ARC5 mailing list