SECTION

3.12

ANKLE CYLINDERS

Ankle Cylinders

3.12

I began by cutting some PVC pipe down to 6.25 lengths.

The Home Depot near me carries JM Eagle PVC brand,
whose 1 pipe has an outer diameter of 1 5/16. Smaller
than Club Specs 1.375. Perfect.

I made a tool to keep the PVC pipe from moving while I

cut it. The dowel rod is a tight fit into the PVC pipe, and
the block keeps it level with the table. A small screw keeps
the pipe from rolling.

The flat section of the ankle cylinder is cut from each

length of PVC.

The two cylinders for the outer feet are cut.

Ankle Cylinders

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Instead of trying to cut the grooves into a piece of pipe,

I went the opposite direction. I am adding strips of .020
styrene to the outside of the pipe. That brings the diameter
up to Club Spec, and I dont have to try to hold it in place
and hand roll the pipe on the bandsaw blade to add the
grooves.

More strips were added on for the other sections. I used

Gorilla Glue to glue the styrene to the PVC. I had to rough
up the matching surfaces pretty well, but the bond is great.
Gorilla Glue does foam out of its boundaries, though, so
a bit of cleanup with the X-acto blade is required. Thats it
for the cylinder.

For the endcaps, I traced a circle around the outside of a

bit of the same PVC pipe. The trace is always a bit larger
than the original, so it gets me close to the final 1.375
diameter.

Using the arbor for a Dremel drum sander, I put the circle
on the drill press and ground it down to perfect with a
metal file and a sanding block.

Ankle Cylinders

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For the protruding bit on the end, I glued up three pieces

of 1/8 styrene, for a total width of 3/8.

I stuck a vinyl template of the profile onto the block, and

cut it out on the bandsaw.

This is the freshly-cut block.

I hand-sanded the curve down on the ends, then puttied

and sanded the surfaces smooth.

Ankle Cylinders

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There are two half-circle details on either side of the end

bit. I stuck vinyl templates of them on .020 styrene.

They were cut out with a hobby knife and the curve was
smoothed slightly on the belt sander.

All four components of the endcap are glued together. All

I need is one perfect one...

A bit of 1.125 dia. dowel is milled down a bit to make it a

tight fit to the inside of the PVC pipe Im using.

Ankle Cylinders

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It is centered and glued onto the underside of the

endcap.

Here is the final product of that buildup. This will be recast

in resin for the eight endcaps needed for all the ankle
cylinders.

Here are the two basic components of my ankle cylinder:

The tube and the endcap.

The cylinder is primed with Krylon Fusion Nickel as a good

metallic base.

Ankle Cylinders

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The top coat is Rustoleum bright Silver.

The endcap is primed, sanded, primed and sanded again.

Now its ready to mold.

A two-part mold was made for the endcap. Four casts

were poured, and they came out beautifully.

This pic shows the assembly of the cylinders. The endcaps

are a very tight fit, so they dont need glue.

Ankle Cylinders

3.12

The resin endcaps are primed and painted.

The cylinder is masked off, and the middle section is

painted R2 blue.

Masking tape all removed, the finished cylinders look like

the real thing. Im satisfied with them.

For mounting, I held the cylinder in place, and drew lines

across the ankle along the open edge of the cylinder.

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A regular piece of 3/4 plywood is cut down to fit inside

the ankle cylinder, and a wood screw is predrilled and set
in place.

Holding the bit of wood in the middle of the lines I drew

earlier, the screw is screwed all the way into the ankle.

The cylinder is placed over the strip of plywood, and a

small screw and a washer in each end keep the cylinder
on.

The end caps are tight enough to simply be pushed into

the ends and turned the right direction.