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Post  Admin Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:37 pm

Quite awhile back I said I would write a how to on making reeds out of floppy disk material (the disk housed inside the square shell). Since most people no longer use floppy disks and many people who have owned a computer before the early 2000s likely have a stash of them somewhere in their home. Why not put them to use again? Maybe a little better use than they were really made for. If you don't have any of them or don't want to destroy the ones you have, you can often find them for about $3 an unopened box from most thrift stores.



The first thing you will want to do is find an "unwanted" floppy disk.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Imag3410



You will want to start opening it by removing the metal sliding door, after a little bending and twisting, this should just pull right off along with the spring. I would save that door for a later project.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Imag3411



The shell should pull apart by separating the two halves from the end where you removed the metal door.
How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Imag3412



Remove the ferric oxide coated mylar disk from the separated shell halves.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Imag3413



Now its time to cut out the reed. There are different ways this could be done, I have tried several ways since I took these pictures about a year ago. In the picture, I used some double sided Scotch tape on a stainless steel reed then stuck onto a rough piece of mylar cut from the disk. I then trimmed the edges with a scissors using the factory reed as a pattern. That works good but sometimes the reed can come out looking a little rough. I have not noticed any decrease in engine performance due to the rough cut reed (as long as it was cut to the correct shape and size). Another way I have tried was to trace the factory reed onto the disk with a fine point permanent marker and then carefully cut it out with an xacto knife. I have also experimented with different shapes, one of which was one that was made using a star hole punch with the points trimmed and rounded a bit.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Imag3414


The ferric oxide coating on the disk should not harm the engine any and will slowly wear off with use. If you want to remove the coating before use, a little acetone should do the trick.


Last edited by Admin on Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:24 pm; edited 4 times in total (Reason for editing : RESTORE MISSING PICTURES)

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Post  RknRusty Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:55 pm

Thanks for posting that. I have plenty of old floppies. Have you put any of them into extended use? I wonder it they work and last longer with circlip or plastic retainers, or if it matters at all. I have a bunch of Bees with both types that I need to assemble, I think I'll give it a try.

Note to self: add this to my project documentary list.

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Post  mitchg95 Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:18 pm

thats a great idea thanks for that tip, i might make some tomorrow night after class
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Post  Admin Wed Aug 22, 2012 6:27 pm

I have used the reeds before in both the "e" clip and plastic retainers, as long as they freely rotate, they do work. You could also do the suck and blow test before assembly to make sure it seals. I don't run the engines all the time so I don't know if they will last longer or not. They seem to be the same as the factory mylar reeds. The different designs that I have tried sometimes do and sometimes don't work. The punched out star ones did work (a regular star with 5 points, not like the old Cox "star" reeds). I have also cut out one that worked quite well but was a pain to make that I will have to make and post a drawing of (unless I can find where I put it).

I would say that these reeds and the venturi gaskets that you can quickly make are more of a "band-aid" until you get actual factory replacements. I have noticed that the venturi gaskets made from the silicone tubing do eventually split after being in place for a long time. I don't notice a problem when they are running but when you instantly go in for the disassembly for the long term storage cleaning, the gasket splits. I have only noticed that happen in engines that have been sitting for at least a year. As for the reeds, I'm sure those could last much longer. All I notice on the reeds is the oxide coating slowly wear off as the engine is used. I don't fly my engines so they don't get extreme use so I really can't say how fast they wear out.

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Post  microflitedude Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:27 pm

I have done this before. Works great.
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Post  Admin Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:06 pm

To make venturi gaskets out of a piece of fuel tubing, https://www.coxengineforum.com/t308-quick-and-easy-way-to-make-venturi-gaskets

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Post  Cribbs74 Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:17 pm

I have to wonder how those reeds work. They are half the thickness of the standard ones. I would love to hear from anyone who has used them over a long period of time.
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Post  Admin Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:36 am

cribbs74 wrote:I have to wonder how those reeds work. They are half the thickness of the standard ones. I would love to hear from anyone who has used them over a long period of time.

Yeah, they are a bit thinner than the original cox reeds. I too would like to hear how much use these can take.

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Post  iskandar taib Fri Nov 02, 2012 1:31 pm

Aside from the 3 1/2" disks there were also 5 1/4" ones. Not to mention things like Bernoulli and Jaz drive media (I have some lying around). Some of this material might be a little thicker. I'm thinking the thinner material might actually be better at high RPMs (for Mouse racing and the like).

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Post  andrew Fri Nov 02, 2012 4:23 pm

iskandar taib wrote:Aside from the 3 1/2" disks there were also 5 1/4" ones.

I had a PDP-1103 that used 8" floppy diskettes. You could make enough reeds for a fleet of planes.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk 8_inch10
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Post  iskandar taib Fri Nov 02, 2012 8:34 pm

Some of that reel-to-reel computer tape was pretty thick stuff, too.. But VHS tape would probably be too thin.

What I have used successfully in the past was drafting mylar - have a roll of that lying around somewhere.

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Post  iskandar taib Mon Nov 05, 2012 11:15 pm

Heh, interesting - I emailed this discussion to a friend of mine. He wasn't impressed, says he uses polyethylene! I asked him how thick (garbage bag or ziplock bag) but I haven't received an answer yet (I'll post it when I get it). Now itching to try this myself!

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Post  bnitram Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:02 pm

Hello
in my Cox Babe Bee is the reed valve also broken.
Tomorrow, I will try it with the floppy disk and then report here how it's worked out.

I'm German, so my English is not good.
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Post  Kim Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:44 pm

Welcome to the Forum, bnitram !!!!
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Post  shell shock Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:38 am

sorry to necro a topic, but would this work in the space bug and space bug jr.?
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Post  ZAGNUT Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:29 am

Been years since I've made any but I used to use a different part of the floppy disk. Under the "cloth" there is a rectangular piece of plastic that acts as a spring to keep the cloth in contact with the disk. This plastic seems very mylar-ish and is the same thickness as the original reed. Not all floppies have this piece and I don't remember which brands do....Hope I figured out how to upload the ancient photo.

David

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Mylar12
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Post  RknRusty Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:34 am

That looks like a nice firm piece of mylar that would be good for the job.

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Post  shell shock Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:20 pm

@zagnut, good find mate
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Post  RAMJETT Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:22 am

I used some old picture negatives to make them once ,seemed to work ok. I don't know what the material is but it worked well . back then my planes had a shorter life span then any reed LOL so I could not tell you how long they last.
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Post  roddie Wed Sep 18, 2013 6:21 pm

RAMJETT wrote:I used some old picture  negatives to make them once ,seemed to work ok. I don't know what the material is but it worked well . back then my planes had a shorter life span then any reed LOL so I could not tell you how long they last.
I believe that the "photo-negative" mat'l. and also "motion-picture film" mat'l. is called "celluloid".

If you save old airplane-kit "boxes" (as I do...) there may be some mylar "hinge" mat'l. in there that's leftover or even "unused" that may work. "Sterling" furnished this hinge mat'l. with their later kits. "Acetate" canopy mat'l. might also work; depending on the thickness.
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Post  andrew Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:52 pm

RknRusty wrote:That looks like a nice firm piece of mylar that would be good for the job.
That's the part that I use --- but, you generally will get only a single reed, two if you're real careful.
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Post  dinsdale Thu Sep 19, 2013 5:47 am

andrew wrote:
iskandar taib wrote:Aside from the 3 1/2" disks there were also 5 1/4" ones.
I had a PDP-1103 that used 8" floppy diskettes. You could make enough reeds for a fleet of planes.

How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk 8_inch10
A friend of mine had a PDP 1122 beside his bed for years. Worked well s a central heater too.
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Post  looperdude Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:45 am

could you do a thread on making star reeds?
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How to make reed valves out of a floppy disk Empty Reeds for Texaco slow turning engines?

Post  jeaton01 Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:24 pm

Are thin or thick reeds better for low rpm and big (8-4) props?
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Post  Cribbs74 Sat Oct 05, 2013 12:49 pm

If you have the copper beryllium reeds they will be good for that purpose. In my humble opinion anyway.

I wouldn't see the other materials being a bad option either though. Test and tune is your best bet.
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