Kaigelu 316 Plunger Filler: Vacuum Release Chamber

Lacking just the right tool to create a bell shaped vacuum release chamber at the bottom of the barrel, I freely admit coming within a hair's breadth of ruination. The end result does work, but less gracefully than I had hoped for - there is a pronounced step between the vacuum cylinder and release chamber that can be felt as a jolt at the bottom of the plunger rod's travel.


Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

Vraiment, I couldn't give a twirl of Hephaestus' tongs! I was taking the plunge (groan) as much for an exploration of this creative filling system as for the end result. The synopsis of this chapter in the traveller's tale is this: using a small cylindrical grinding head, followed by an small egg shaped grinding head, does not combine to make a medium sized, bell shaped release chamber. It gives a ledge, followed by a smooth bell shaped transition from barrel to release chamber.

Hollowing out a pressure release chamber near the bottom of the barrel.

Hollowing Out the Vacuum Release Cavity

The photo above shows what I was aiming for; the red highlighted area to be left untouched as the vacuum  cylinder, and the wider green area as the vacuum release chamber. The latter had to be cut above the barrel threads, so I popped some spacers onto the drill's mandrel. This really helped keep things under control - all I had to do was hold the drill and barrel together as I walked it round the circumference, to keep the thing cutting at a set depth. The polishing head shown above was of course useless, it took the rough steel heads to get things going.

I'm not even going to mention the ugly attempts to smooth out the ridge, or the haphazard north-south channel I ground as a muddle-minded aid to air and ink exchange when the barrel is near empty, so let's wash out the swarf in preparation for tomorrow's big finale.



"Flounder's Mindthots",  À Suivre...
Everything south of the blind cap is complete: the barrel with its vacuum release chamber, the control rod with its Goossens spindle & sliding seal, and the packing seal up top to keep all that watertight. All that remains is Forming the Blindcap, in which the Kaigelu's barrel finial (the plug on the end) is hooked up to the control rod, and outfitted with a snap ring. See you Monday :-)