Neoprene rod stock as piston?
Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:19 pm
I'm currently working on what I hope to be a completely tool-free piston valve. It will serve as a sprinkler valve replacement, and would be easy to build especially for anyone without a lathe (like me).
It will be housed in a 1" PVC tee with a 3/4" outlet. I found that 35mm film cans fit almost perfectly into the part of the tee that is stepped down in diameter to prevent the pipe from moving too far into the sockets. Originally I had planned to use a film can filled with hot glue as the piston, but then that would still require drilling a hole for the sealing face and bolt, plus attaching some sort of bumper.
Since I was still looking to make the construction of this valve brutally simple, I decided against the film can. So I used a caliper to find the diameter of one and it turned out to be roughly 1.25". I then started looking through McMaster for PVC stock or something with the right diameter to replace the film can. I found all kinds of stuff in 1.25", but then I noticed that they also had solid neoprene stock.
It dawned on me that I could kill three birds with one stone if I used neoprene stock:
-I can buy in 1.25" diameter, so there would be no taping involved to get the right diameter.
-It's neoprene after all, so I wouldn't even need to bolt on a sealing face.
-Neoprene is a relatively soft material, so I wouldn't have to make a bumper either.
Has anyone ever attempted this before? The stock found is McMaster part# 8629K131
It will be housed in a 1" PVC tee with a 3/4" outlet. I found that 35mm film cans fit almost perfectly into the part of the tee that is stepped down in diameter to prevent the pipe from moving too far into the sockets. Originally I had planned to use a film can filled with hot glue as the piston, but then that would still require drilling a hole for the sealing face and bolt, plus attaching some sort of bumper.
Since I was still looking to make the construction of this valve brutally simple, I decided against the film can. So I used a caliper to find the diameter of one and it turned out to be roughly 1.25". I then started looking through McMaster for PVC stock or something with the right diameter to replace the film can. I found all kinds of stuff in 1.25", but then I noticed that they also had solid neoprene stock.
It dawned on me that I could kill three birds with one stone if I used neoprene stock:
-I can buy in 1.25" diameter, so there would be no taping involved to get the right diameter.
-It's neoprene after all, so I wouldn't even need to bolt on a sealing face.
-Neoprene is a relatively soft material, so I wouldn't have to make a bumper either.
Has anyone ever attempted this before? The stock found is McMaster part# 8629K131