Before you attempt to construct a Moran Aetheric Neuralizer for your very own, you will need to construct a power source for it, since you will need a 12 volt DC supply to test each of the components during the construction of it. This post will describe how to build a rather striking one, with a bill of materials including the source I used for those materials, when I could get the websites of the vendors I used to cooperate.
To construct the Moran Aethero-Galvanic Exciter you will need the following materials:
1/2" pine:
4" x 8" (1 off) for the base of the box
4" x 5" (2 off) for the end pieces
5" x 9 3/8" (2 off) for the front and back
5 1/2 " x 9 3/8" (1 off) for the lid
Hinges (2 off)
Hook-type catch (1 off)
I used a Shutter Hinge kit which had all the parts I needed and more, but came with a steep price tag. The linked version is cheaper than the one I bought, but appears to be identical in detail.
5/16" eye-bolt (2 off)
Spring Clip (2 off)
Webbing Belt
I'd like to say there's an off-the-shelf belt that can be used but I had to make one from an unsuitable webbing belt and a make-your-own eyelet kit. Source the belt in an Army Surplus store. Buy two, you'll need another for the Neuralizer.
12 volt, 7 or 8AH lead/acid battery (I used "Battery Supersite" as my vendor and was very satisfied by their service and expeditious treatment of my order, both of which was first-rate. I've used this vendor more than once and never failed to be favourably impressed).
20 gauge hook-up wire, three or more colours
Spade connectors (2 off) for the battery connector.
NEMA L5-15R receptacle (1 off) Home Depot stocks these and I used theirs, but I can't make their d____d website show it to me.
You'll also need a matching plug and you'll need it now so you can size the hole in the case for it. See the comments about the receptacle with regard to Home Depot, which is where I got mine but the blasted website will not cough it up.
12 volt, 60 mA double pole double throw relay (1 off)
AAA battery holder (1 off)
Long stem potentiometer with on-off switch (1 off)
Inline fuseholder.
Two ampere fuse(s).
Lumin Disc, green (1 off)
1/2" copper 90 degree elbow (2 off)
1/2" copper pipe T fitting (1 off)
1/2" copper pipe for joining above (less than 1 inch required for this purpose; extra will be used for Neuralizer construction).
Red sillcock hand wheel (1 off)
You will also need a 12 volt battery charger capable of charging the lead acid battery. I use a car battery charger from this company that has given years of good service.
You will also need a couple of 1/4" hex nuts (1/4 - 20 is a common size), a washer sized to slip over the potentiometer shaft but not to exceed the diameter of the copper T by too much.
I used the following tools, which you will need to have or find equivalents for:
Drill Press - 16mm chuck, 12 speed. (This seems to be a close match to mine, but I've not used it myself)
Table Sander
Palm Sander (Mine's an old Black and Decker. This is the one I'd buy today)
Router Table c/w router (This router is exceptional value for money) My router table was the least expensive Sears model made some 20 years ago and is no longer available, or I'd recommend it.
Biscuit Joiner
30 watt soldering iron
Dremel Tool configured as a router. Can also be used instead of the drill press as a polisher and sander in a pinch.
Sanding drum kit for drill press.
Twist Drill Bits - 1/16th thru 1/2" sizes This set seems properly spiffing. Mine was put together over the years from various sources.
Hole Saw - 2 1/2" diameter
3/4 inch Hole Saw, spade drill bit or Forstner bit
Dial Caliper.
Electrical Solder
Electrician's tape (black and another colour, preferably red)
1/4" Ogee Bit with edge guide
3/8" Rabbet Bit with edge guide
1/4" Straight Bit
1/8" Veining Bit
Clamps big enough to squeeze the box sides together. I use Irwin "quick grip" type but any with a wide-enough throat will do. If you are using clamps with steel jaws use wood shims to avoid dinging up the box. You'll need about six to make the box in one go.
#10 Biscuits
1/4" die matched to the selection of 1/4 inch nuts and die wrench (1/4 - 20 is a common size). The link is to a set that cost a bit, and you'll only need the 1/4" die for this job, but sourcing a separate die is your problem.
Plumbing kit: A blowtorch, solder & flux, brush (plumber's pipe brush - I can't get the website to show it but any hardware store will have one).
And a source of flame.
A small tube of silicone sealant, a bottle of carpenter's yellow glue and a tube of 5-minute epoxy will also be needed.
Construction:
(Refer to the drawing below while following the instructions, and note the cross-section diagram in red of the holes with special profiles).
Cut and sand the box panels to size. Cut a biscuit slot in each end of the base and a matching slot on the lower inside face of the end panels to match. Dry fit to ensure the end panels fit properly.Cut two slots in the long edges of the base and matching slots in the lower inside of the front and back panels and dry fit them to ensure a square and close fit.
Cut slots in the front and back edges of the end panels, and matching slots in the inside face ends of the front and rear panels and dry fit again.
The idea is that every edge-to-face joint will be strengthened by a biscuit, two biscuits where the length is sufficient.
Find the center of the front panel, and drill out a 2.5" hole using a holesaw mounted in a drill press set to rotate at no more than 300 rpm. Go slowly and back the saw out to clear the kerf of sawdust. When you are about 3/4 the way through, reverse the workpiece and continue. This will prevent the circular divot you are cutting from jamming inside the saw.
Using the router (preferably with a router table) and a the ogee bit fitted with a flush edge guide carefully machine the outside edge of the hole to a pleasing profile but do not go too deep. I ended up with a simple round-over rather than a double-curve because I would have had to machine the hole far too deep to get a proper ogee.
Flip the work piece over, switch the ogee bit for a rabbet bit fitted with a flush edge guide and carefully, working slowly remove the material from the back of the hole until you have a circular rabbet just deep enough to flush-fit the lumin disc. It will be a loose fit I'm afraid. I never had the time to refine this part of the construction.
Take the right-hand end panel (the end on the right when you look at the front), find the center and centerpunch. Using a 1 3/8" holesaw, drill out the hole for the receptacle. Fit the electrical socket to the inner side and make a mark or otherwise determine how far in from the outside it sits because you need to widen the hole to accommodate the plug. The dial caliper includes a depth gauge that is useful if you have a drill press with a depth control, but trial-and-error will suffice in a pinch.
The best way to remove the material is to use your drill press and sanding drum kit, sanding in a circular pattern evenly around the entire rim and test fit the plug until the plug fits easily but the gap when the plug is connected is almost too small to see. You'll be removing around 1/16" of material.
Measure the thickness of the right-end end panel and add a 1/2". In the middle of the panel, on the right side, offset by the value you just calculated plus half the diameter of the potentiometer and centerpunch. Drill a 3/4 inch hole.
Assemble the box.
Practice the assembly, which if you've done it properly will be base to ends, then back and front to that sub-assembly. Practice this until you've got it straight. Then do it some more because things will start to go wrong as soon as you begin for real, as we all know.
Apply yellow carpenter's glue to the edges and biscuits and assemble the box and clamp the parts together.
For those without access to a biscuit joiner, one can use a router to cut slots for biscuits but I personally wouldn't advise it unless the builder has much experience with the router. One could also fabricate box-joints or dovetails for the sides and cut a rabbet around the base and a matching slot in each side to accommodate it, but real joinery takes time and skill or jigs that cost as much as the biscuit joiner. I think the best alternative to biscuit joining would be to drill and peg the pieces with dowels, but I will leave that as an exercise for the builder since I already came up with a solution that works well. Simply gluing the joins with no reinforcement will end in tears, fiasco and possible injury.
While the glue is setting up, lets make some plumbing.
You need to assemble the copper elbows and T fitting into a manifold. Study the photographs in the blog and get the general idea of what you are doing. The elbows form a sort of "C" shape and the leg of the T points in the opposite direction. Note that the whole assembly should be flat, with all pipes lying in the same plane. This is important.
Okay, scour the insides of all the fittings with your plumber's brush, and treat the end of a length of pipe with it too. Cut off two small pipe sections with your pipe cutter, enough so the fittings will fit flush together, no longer, apply flux generously and assemble the T to the elbows.
Holding the assembly in a bench vise, heat it until the flame changes colour, then apply solder. It will flow into the microscopic gaps. You don't need gobs of solder to be dripping everywhere, just a smidge is just the ticket. Let this cool before you poke it. It takes a while.
Once cool, you need to drill a 5/16" hole in the bottom of the T fitting. To do this, clamp the manifold in a your drill press vise and run the drill down the axis of the open pipe of the T. This way you can judge the center very easily.
Take the potentiometer and clamp the stem vertically in your bench vise, and carefully fabricate a 1/4 - 20 screw thread on it using your die. Go slowly and back the die off every half turn or so. Make about an inch and a half of thread.
Clip two pieces of red hookup wire, about 3", strip an eighth of an inch of insulation from each end and tin the wire, and the terminals of the switch of the potentiometer (we won't be using the potentiometer winding, we just want the rotary action and the switch). Then solder the wires to the switch terminals.
I never found a truly satisfying way of attaching the potentiometer to the pipe, but I'll share the method I used. Push the potentiometer stem through the hole under the T fitting so it sticks out of the pipe, and fit a quarter inch nut, screwing it down until it sits just above the rim of the T fitting's pipe. Add the washer. There should be not much gap between the washer and pipe, just barely enough to allow it to turn. Add the handwheel. If the fit is too tight, run a 1/4" drill through the hole and try again. Finally screw on a second nut to retain the whole thing and tighten it down.
You should find that the potentiometer is held close to the pipe, but is annoyingly free to turn when you twist the handwheel. Add silicone sealant between the pipe and potentiometer. You must attach the two without impeding the stem rotation or making it obvious from the front. Good luck.
I hate this vehemently. If anyone succeeds in making a more acceptable and visually appealing manifold please post here telling me how you did it with your component sources. Of course, if you can find a source of potentiometers with switches that feature the nut-and-screw-thread mounting you have the option of making a small brass plate to mount the potentiometer to the box front and avoiding the issue.
Once it sets up (hours later) you can use it as a gauge to figure out where you need to drill the half inch holes for the elbows in the front of the box. Drill those holes on the drill press, then relieve the holes with sandpaper until you can slide the manifold/potentiometer assembly into place.
You need now to center the lead acid battery against the rear wall of the box and to fabricate stop blocks to hold it in place in the box. Use offcuts of wood, about 1/2" square. You need one about the length of the battery stuck to the floor of the box and two about two inches long stuck to the back wall. Make the fit snug and use glue, nails and whatever else you think will work to get it all to stick. The battery needs to be removable, but also needs to be secure when the box is in motion on your hip.
With all the holes drilled, sand the box and knock off any sharp corners, then stain it a pleasing colour. I used a medium-dark brown stain. One hint is to seal the box first so the colour is even. I didn't and lived to regret it.
Then you can position the pipe manifold in position and hold it in place - large rubber bands might work best here, and glue it in place using silicone sealant to glue the potentiometer and pipe ends into their respective holes.
I think that is enough for this installment. In the next one we'll do some really nasty electrical work
Please let me know in the comments if this article is unhelpful or can be improved in some specific way. If you have a modification of the design that works particularly well, tell me about that too.
Finally, I have no problem with you taking this design for your own use as a steampunk accessory, but would ask that your finished device be referred to by the name given here. I, Colonel Moran invented the thing, I deserve to be immortalized when you show your stunning oak-with-ivory-inlay version in some national public forum.
Practice your soldering technique before the next article.
Toodle pip!
