Make an Iron Man Arc Reactor

Step 4: Make the top ring assembly

The top ring assembly is made just like the spider frame assembly- it's cut from 22ga steel sheet but you could also use brass sheet or plastic. I oxidized my steel assembly to get the black finish but a sharpie pen or black paint would also work. There are three 3mm bolts that go through the spider and slotted ring- there is a nut on the backside so the assembly stays put when everything is put together in the final assembly.

There is a central ring that is made from aluminum but it could also be made from plastic and painted silver. It's held on with some thin copper wire and a few dabs of glue from a glue gun.

The last bit is a coil of coper wire that has been formed into a ring. I used wire that was coated red- you could use a marker to color the wire. The wire was wound around a drill bit, formed into a circle and then glued together with a glue gun. The coil ring is then placed around the bolts.

Comments

[gcharlow]

what did you use to cut the aluminum ring out of the block and make it all smooth, can you please give me a step by step u used to cut the ring of of a block

[Honus]

I didn't cut it from a block of material. I cut it from a scrap piece of thick walled Aluminum tubing using a lathe. You could cut one from a piece of PVC pipe and shape it with a dremel since you don't have access to a lathe.

[Tidus-74]

Ok thanks ! And Wich means did you use to bend the part in this step ? (spider top view)

[Honus]

I just used needle nose pliers to bend it.

[gcharlow]

where did you get the aluminum ring

[Honus]

I made it from a scrap piece of aluminum.

[collin93]

Do you recall what gauge red wire you used under the top ring? I know it isn't really that critical, I just want to make sure that it is big enough to hold its shape, but small enough to easily wrap. Also, just wanna say that you did an awesome job making the ovals in the top ring. What a trooper! I'm starting on my reactor right now and it's coming super slowly. Any tips on cutting perfect circles in the acrylic? Thanks so much!

[grundisimo]

They sell hole saws(like a drill bit) or you can buy a flat drill bit.

[Honus]

I'm pretty sure it was somewhere around 20ga to 24ga. Just take your time cutting the acrylic and sanding it. If you want it really round you could have it laser cut. :)

[jamesbondd]

Honus, how did you cut the ovals into the top ring?

[Honus]

I used a jeweler's saw.

[royfang]

dam must've taken ages.

[applecake]

Hey Honus, what method did you use to oxidize the sheet metal?

[Honus]

I used a hydrochloric acid based oxidizer I have at work.

[tastysam3]

what is the length of the aluminum ring

[Honus]

It's .120" -it's shown on the drawing.

[tastysam3]

u wrote on the image that angles are at .120" not the top and bottom lenght

[Honus]

No angle is specified- it's not critical. The cross section measures .120" x .120" so it's .120" in length (depth.) You've got the ID and OD so what other dimension do you need?

[Shadowbear98]

To make the slots on the top ring assembly, could you just drill them out with a drill press? I am assuming it would be less difficult to drill them out rather than saw them out.

[Honus]

You would have to drill the ends and then file in between- it would probably take just as long.

[tastysam3]

i dont get the measurements like .220 are u using millimeter centimeters or inches

[Honus]

From Step 2- "All the measurements used in the drawings are in inches and they are really just to be used as a guide"

[tastysam3]

thank you

[mike.mdl]

 what do ID and OD stand for? and i assume measurements are all in cm?

[fungus amungus]

Inner Diameter and Outer Diameter

[SKCM]

 Were the slots cut using the same process as before ( drill hole, feed sawblade, cut with jewelers saw etc.)? It isn't easy to find thick enough aluminum for certain things as well like the center ring. I've been using acrylic but man, that is hard to cut.

[Honus]

Yep, that's how I did it. For Aluminum one place I've used is onlinemetals.com -they're great and you can order very small quantities and they'll cut the metal for you.

Acrylic can be a pain to cut as it it gums up saw blades. I used a scroll saw and just went really slow.

[Pitcrew00]

what did you make the actual metal ring out of? With the oval slots? did you have that machined or how would i go about doing that?

[histava]

can you give me a more clear map on step 4 and the measurements im having a hard time seeing it lol. my friends think i cant make one i just want to prove i can so ya... and i think this is really kool. [e-mail]

[Honus]

If you look at the top of the drawing there is a little box with an "i" in it. Click on that and you can download the image in its original size. If you do that you can clearly see all the dimensions. If you have any other questions just let me know!