The size of your loaf

[Inodoro Pereyra]

I'm trying to design a soap cutter that could do a job kinda like "the tank", without breaking the bank.
Can anybody tell me which size loaves you make?
In my initial drawings I'm using 2 3/4" x 4", just to get a feel for what's needed. Would those measurements be good enough?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Jamn!]

I don't know but I am curious to see what others tell you.

 

[donniej]

My molds make loafs which are 2.5" X 3.5" X 50.5", the cutter takes them down to 1" thick bars. Dried weight is just under 5oz.

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

My molds make loafs which are 2.5" X 3.5" X 50.5", the cutter takes them down to 1" thick bars. Dried weight is just under 5oz.

Wow! That's not a tank: that's a whole army...! :shock:

Thanks Donnie. 50 inches is kinda long, but 2.5" x 3.5" would fit right in. Thanks a lot.

 

[donniej]

Wow! That's not a tank: that's a whole army...! :shock:

A very clean army :wink:

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Donnie: if you don't mind, I'm gonna borrow your idea for the wire tensioners. I was trying to design my own, but using those is much simpler, and they can't be that expensive...(I hope :shock: )

 

[Guest]

Mine is 3.25 wide 14" long and 3.25 deep. (Raising arm to be a tester for your prototype .) :wink: .

Kitn

 

[donniej]

Donnie: if you don't mind, I'm gonna borrow your idea for the wire tensioners. I was trying to design my own, but using those is much simpler, and they can't be that expensive...(I hope :shock: )

The tensioners are 3/16" turn buckles. They were ~$1.50 each from Home Depot. The wire is stainless "safety wire" for racing (I used to race motorcycles). It's $24 for a lifetime supply (1 pound)

http://www.kneedraggers.com/details/Saf ... -WIRE.html

If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure I'd use the turn buckles. I'd probably use a piece of threaded rod with nut on the end. You could then turn the rod out to tension the wire. The turn buckles work great but aren't terribly convenient to tension... especially when you have 50 tighten :?

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Mine is 3.25 wide 14" long and 3.25 deep. (Raising arm to be a tester for your prototype .) :wink: .

Kitn

Hmmmm... 3.25 is...too tall...
Let me see what I can figure...

Well, I WILL need a tester, since I don't have any new soap waiting to be cut... Do you live near Miami?

 

[carebear]

my logs are 9" long and take about 2# of oils

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

The tensioners are 3/16" turn buckles. They were ~$1.50 each from Home Depot. The wire is stainless "safety wire" for racing (I used to race motorcycles). It's $24 for a lifetime supply (1 pound)

http://www.kneedraggers.com/details/Saf ... -WIRE.html

If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure I'd use the turn buckles. I'd probably use a piece of threaded rod with nut on the end. You could then turn the rod out to tension the wire. The turn buckles work great but aren't terribly convenient to tension... especially when you have 50 tighten :?

Thanks again.
The bolt and nut system was my initial idea, but it's kinda complicated to build. I'm trying to keep the design simple for everybody to be able to build one. Anyways, I'm not planning to make it that big, maybe 12 to 16 wires, not only to keep the cost down, but because I'm making it out of wood (not everybody has a welder at home ), so I don't think it could take the strain of that many wires.
The safety wire is a great idea, thank you. I need to go to wal mart and see if they have high strength fishing line. If they don't, safety wire looks like a winner.

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

my logs are 9" long and take about 2# of oils

Carebear: how about width and height?

 

[Jamn!]

Donnie! You are the KING! Woah!! Thanks for letting us take a peek at your workshop and your cutter! That is awesome! Do you have to use both arms to cut the soap?
Did you name it???

 

[donniej]

Donnie! You are the KING! Woah!! Thanks for letting us take a peek at your workshop and your cutter! That is awesome! Do you have to use both arms to cut the soap?
Did you name it???

It does not take much force to cut, just slow, constant pressure.

I named it "soap cutter" It's just another piece of machinery... and I try not to get sentimental about equipment (that's what pets are for )

 

[Guest]

Mine is 3.25 wide 14" long and 3.25 deep. (Raising arm to be a tester for your prototype .) :wink: .

Kitn

Hmmmm... 3.25 is...too tall...
Let me see what I can figure...

Well, I WILL need a tester, since I don't have any new soap waiting to be cut... Do you live near Miami?

Well the finished bar height is 2.75 inches , I live about as far from Miami as one could get . :cry:
Kitn

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Well the finished bar height is 2.75 inches

Great! 2.75" is perfect!

I live about as far from Miami as one could get . :cry:
Kitn

Too bad... :cry:
How about a vacation...? :wink:

 

[Guest]

A vacation sounds perfect , I ll be there on Tuesday :shock:

Kitn

 

[honor435]

my log mold holds 2.3 lbs makes 9 bars.

 

[xraygrl]

Is Orlando close enough to Miami?

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

A vacation sounds perfect , I ll be there on Tuesday :shock:

There you go... Let me know which flight, and don't forget to bring a couple of loaves... 8)

my log mold holds 2.3 lbs makes 9 bars.

Thanks Honor, but what I need is the height and width of the loaf.

Is Orlando close enough to Miami?

Well, I ride a bicycle, so Orlando is kinda far...