Mike 8-{> Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 I thought I would give 3D printing a go and see if I could try it out with something that might be useful. I had been pondering upon a cleaning rod that was easier to carry around than either the one piece plastic rods you get with a rifle or some variety of air rifle screw together section cleaning rods. I thought about using the flexible coated wire used to hang net curtains, as recently recommended by AI, but didn't like the idea of the steel inner scratching the inside of my barrel. So I thought what if I made and set of tips to fit over the net curtain rod? You could have a cleaning rod with a swab pull through and an unblocking wedge which you can coil up and pop in your pocket. The tips would also protect your barrel from the wire core. A spot of modelling and off the design went to Shapeways last week. The finished parts turned up today. The parts as delivered, I added several together to meet some of the Shapeways design / modelling rules. A view showing the slot in the swab pull through. An assembled cleaning rod. A closer view. I am going to have to make a Mk2 as I didn't quite get the bore of the part right to fit over the plastic outer on the net curtain rod. I wasn't sure quite how close to the model the finished part would turn out so I'm not hugely disappointed that this first try didn't quite fit as I had hoped. The as-printed finish is a tad rough but the nylon is reasonably soft and unlikely to damage the barrel bore. Alternatively it is easy to sand smooth too. The material seems strong enough to do the job but I will do some field testing and see how it fares. Next steps are do some testing, sort out the Mk2 design, get some more made in tacticool black , look for a source of black curtain rod. Link to post Share on other sites
renegadecow Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Pretty cool. You can also make a segmented one using the plastic stick for a balloon. Link to post Share on other sites
bankz5152 Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Nice. Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Mike, very cool project. Could you create cleaning rods that screw together like those used on airguns? I think they will be easier to transport this way. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 8-{> Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 It should be easy to make a tip that could be fitted to an Airgun rod. That is where I kind of got the idea from. I had cut the tips off a plastic rod that came with a rifle. I carefully drilled and tapped them, they are a poor quality plastic so care was needed to avoid cracking/splitting them. I then fitted ta short length of M3 studding in to each tip, with some stud lock to stop them coming undone, so that they could screw in to the rods I already had. It would be easy enough to make the same part with a hole big enough to screw a piece of studding in to. The current design has the sprue that joins the parts together coming from inside the back bore. The idea being that it would kind of screw in to the bore of the spring that makes the core of the curtain rod to help retain it. I would have to move the sprue to the other end but that is no hardship. I don't think that getting rods themselves printed would work however. I don't think the material is suitable for that kind of application. The original objective was to make a cleaning rod you could pop in your pocket and take out on to the field. Airgun rods, while they arent particularly big, are an awkward shape to carry about your person. The flexible curtain rod means you can coil it up and pop it in a pocket.I did wonder if, once i had the design sorted, if it was the kind of thing people would be interested in buying? Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 8-{> Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 In other news.... I have just found out that Net Curtain rod and bicycle gear cable outer would appear to be one and the same thing. At least for budget gear cable outers. Both are 4mm OD so I now have a source of cheap black rod (or bright colours should they be desired / required). Aint the interwebs marvellous Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 I prefer a cleaning rod that can be disassembled into four pieces like the one below, because it takes up very little space. In fact, I've been using a steel cleaning rod for the past few years without any issues. But I took great care not to force the cleaning rod into the Airsoft barrels. If I felt any resistance, I'd back off and use thinner cleaning cloth on my cleaning rod. I'd be very interested in buying a plastic cleaning rod in similar design, though. Link to post Share on other sites
renegadecow Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 If entirely plastic then you're likely to find the threads to come undone in short order. Either have brass inserts and a screw or have the ends simply plug into each other with friction. Maybe even make them like some waking sticks for the blind: sections are hollow with an elastic cord running through them. Unfold and they lock in place. Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 8-{> Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I think that the nylon material really isn't suitable for forming a thread in. It is too soft. Also the resolution is too coarse, even with the model created with the highest resolution, and the finish too rough to support a workable thread. It might be possible with metal inserts but based on a 4mm OD rod and an M3 thread there is precious little material to make the insert out of or fit it in to. Specifically for the internal thread. The studding /external thread is a doddle. This is why the curtain rod / gear cable outer is so well suited. It has a steel core which is solid in compression and stiff/strong enough under tension but can be coiled up in to a circle as tight as 50mm dia. 3D printing isn't a particulalry cheap way to produce simple parts like tubes and rods I think. The elasticated walking stick / tent pole idea is interesting but both those applications are designed to only work in compression. Under tension they are designed to come apart easily. I'm not so sure that is a desireable thing for a cleaning rod. If you pushed a swab in to the barrel it could be a "snug" fit. However when you come to pull it out again you probably wouldn't want to pull the rod apart as you did so and end up hauling the last section out by the elastic linking the sections together. Link to post Share on other sites
PMO Gordo Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Thanks, Mike. I think I'll buy your cleaning rod pieces and glue them to my steel cleaning rod, as it is the piece that holds the cleaning cloth that might scratch the barrel. Link to post Share on other sites
Tw1tch Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I'd certainly buy a few (so I have spares) for when I sort my net curtain rod Link to post Share on other sites
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