graphite rod

What grade of graphite is required to make a piston rod and piston for a Jan Ridders coffee cup engine.Also is it easy to machine and thread.Whiich supplier is the best to get it from.

Frank

When i made my Ridders heat engine I just bought a graphite rod from ebay. It worked fine rom the viewpoint fo threading and turning - just very messy (tape the vacuum hose near the cutter)

pgk

From my experience, if you are going to thread then dense, fine grain is best. Noggin End have a good selection:

**LINK**

HTH,

Rod

Thank you both for the information ,I now know what to order and do.

Frank

Drop me a pm with your address & an idea of what size lump you need & I'll have a word with my MD. (I work for his graphite supply & machining company).

He has been amenable in the past to me raiding the oddments box for a suitable piece of fine grained isostatic graphite for this purpose. All that has been asked in return is that the recipent sends in a picture of the finished product.

He provides the graphite & I pay the postage - make a donation to charity if you would like, but not compulsory !

Nigel B.

The filthiest workshop I have ever been in was our EDM department, everything was covered in black dust and combined with the foul smelling oil from the EDM machines it made a hellhole, I have never missed repairing those machines. I hope you and your workshop recover from the graphite experience.

Mike

Edited By Mike Poole on 24/11/2020 22:56:51

Many vacuum cleaners pull the air through the motor so be sure that the very fine dust will stay in the bag and not get deposited in the motor, I doubt a one off job will cause a problem but if you use a lot of graphite then it might be worth checking the motor for any deposits.

Mike