Shiny key rings that glow in the dark. Lovely little presents for family and friends.
The brass keyfob cage, an enjoyable machining operation on your lathe and mill.
One of the most popular items on this site is the feature on making a small brass keyring torchby Ralph aka Divided Head. Now Ralph (who likes shiny things) is back from deepest darkest Walesland with another bright project to lighten up the winter months. This is a nice easy project though it is designed for model engineers who have both lathe and mill. Whilst too late for Christmas this latest offering from Ralph makes an ideal little gift and offers light relief to those battling with a larger on going project.
Top Tips when using the RT from the man himself
Do support the free end of the workpiece whilst machining on the rotary table.
Do remember to cross drill the tip to take the split ring.
Do cut the furthest away sections first.
Do move your support beneath the workpiece along as you go.
Do deburr after each machining operation.
Now you are going to need some supplies so you could try these for starters
Acrylic Tube
http://clearplastictube.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=35_68&product_id=270
Glow In The Dark Powder
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- A length of brass is drilled and tapped for the main body.
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- Make a threaded arbour which will later become the makings for the base.
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- Screw main body onto arbour……..
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- ….show your creativity by shaping as desired….
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- ….then polish it a little, and then a little more, remember Ralph likes shiny things !!!…..
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- the part still in the arbour, mounted in the RT having the 180 degree cut of the furthest away cutaway.
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- it’s easily calculated to leave behind 2mm of material… I love my DRO’s!
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- until the desired profile is achieved. Do remember to deburr thoroughly as you proceed for smooth fitting of the acrylic tube.
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- The cage is now completed.
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- Work out how much acrylic rod you need. (Lazy style…. No calculations or even measuring required!)
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- File the acrylic to final size if necessary.
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- Use hot glue to seal one end of the tube. Then filled with a glow in the dark (GID) powder.
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- Rammed (lightly) down with the shaft of a 2.5mm drill bit and then sealed with hot glue again.
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- Part off end of arbour leaving 2-4mm of body. Screw into another arbour and clean it up..Ralph adds a ring pattern too.
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- Screw together (loctited) and shown here with his prototype before fitting split rings.
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- Two of Ralph’s glow in the dark key fobs. Designed for the harsh winter conditions in deepest Wales.
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- Glowing eerily in the dark ! oooo…eeerrrrr….are you there mother ???
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- Don’t they just remind you of those lovely traditional Welsh miner’s lamps ?
My first attempt at Ralph's 'Glow in the Dark' keyfob. Having made one I think I will work to some sort of plan for future efforts.
John (site editor), has a go at making one of Ralph’s GID Keyfobs
Well I just had to have a try and thought I would try dispensing with the rotary table by using hex brass bar. Not everyone has a RT and even if they have it can be a bit of a chore setting it all up.
Even so it did take me rather longer than the hour to an hour and a half to produce my first keyfob. I am not entirely pleased with the appearance or the proportions of my first attempt but having made one the next should be a little easier. I will do myself a ‘crap-o-cad’ to work out the essential measurements with the aim of getting a more compact design.
As I only completed my first attempt this morning I am now waiting for it to get dark to see if they really do work !
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- Hex bar being turned down to size prior to drilling 5mm to take acrylic tube and threading M8
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- Threading M8 prior to joining to arbour and turning the cage to final size.
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- The hex bar mounted in the vice and can be turned 180 degrees for machining the opposite side. Note backstop for positioning of bar.
Hi,
I loved this idea soo much i made two of them…check out the link below
http://www.instructables.com/id/Glow-in-the-dark-keyring/
Thanks
Jonny
Hi Jonny
Thats good to hear. The website looks very interesting, must revisit when I get a decent internet connection (I’m in Spain at the moment)
John
Hi John,
Looks like you’ve been having a little fun in the workshop? ;-)
Much the same as my prototype. Took me a couple of hours to produce the first one, then it all becomes a little faster once you have the mechanics down.(was thinking you could use square bar too)
Videos are done :-) All in HD on youtube now! HD’s nice but once the 18hrs editing was done it took nearly 5hrs to upload each one!!
Hope you can link to them and they help people understand how they’re made?
Waiting for your MkII :-)
Ralph.
Hi Ralph
Yes I reckon subsequent versions will be much quicker once I work out what I’m doing ! Am thinking of trying one from an acrylic pen blank.
I find that it is important to tap the GID powder down really well as
my prototype has settled down a little more since completion leaving a small gap at the top of the tube.
John
I’m quite looking forward to seeing how it works in the acrylic stuff John.
Yes, it’s a little hit and miss. Even if you tamp it down hard it can find new space…. though not in all of them?
The powder is very coarse and subsequently would appear to have a lot of micro gaps to settle into?
Maybe one of those little vibratory shaker plate things you see on CSI would do the trick better?
I was contemplating mixing it into something liquid/non-setting and using a syringe to install it in the tube…. But then you have air bubbles and issues sealing the tube if it’s greasy etc.
All experiments to try…
Good luck with the acrylic blanks :-)
Ralph.
I’ve made an acrylic version this morning. It’s OK but would look a lot better just using the acrylic as an outer sleeve over the brass cage. May try one later !
John
Nice one John (and Ralph). I’ll pick up some of the materials whilst I’m in the UK in February and March and see if they’ll work in Canada. I have the beginnings of a plan to come up to Crewe While I’m over – fancy a pint?
Hi Ken
Good to hear from you again and I hope you have an enjoyable visit to the UK. Please let me know how you get on with your GID key fob and maybe send me a piccie or two ?
John
These look amazing john how long do these take to make? I would love to get one of these for a boss 50th in a couple of weeks.
Ralph reckons an hour or so – a nice quick project. I am not sure a rotary table is essential. I’m going to try making mine use hexagon brass bar which can then be held in the milling machine vice for cutting away the …..err…cutaways. Will you please send me a pic of yours to add to this article when you have it finished. Good luck should be sufficient to guarantee your next payrise !
John
Feature looks great John ;-)
Happy you liked them enough to take the time to produce it.
Now all we can hope for is a couple of pictures of someone else’s designs :-)
Ralph.
Thanks Ralph. I hope I have done your design and workshop efforts the justice they deserve.
Yes I shall be having a go at making one or two GID key fobs over the next few weeks. Nice to have a ‘quickie’ project in the depths of winter. Full days in the workshop are for Spring and Summer !
John