Hi All,  I love the TV show "How'd They Do That" and it got me thinking about the Lauter-Humana air motor.  Early in my career I was hired to rebuild one of these unique 'pouch-type' motors.  It was a bear because I didn't have the right tools for the job, so I made something that I've been using ever since.

The two tools are a bit difficult to explain, but basically one tool is like a pouch setter (without the outside 'lip') and the other is like the 'lip'.  I tried making a regular pouch-setting tool that did the whole job simultaneously but found that getting the cloth set to exactly the right position was very difficult because I couldn't see the outside edge of the material.

The pouch half of the tool is one of those old glass 'cups' that were (and maybe still are) used in mail rooms for wetting stamps.  (You remember -- it had a little sponge that fit into the bottom that was saturated with water.)  To accommodate the connecting pin that goes through the center of the air motor pouch, I burned a hole through the center of the cup with a white-hot metal poker.  (I didn't have any drill bits that would cut through thick glass).

The 'lip' tool is simply a one-pound coffee can that was cut down and then flared 1/4" on one end.  It's the perfect diameter for the job.

In this case, I think the pictures explain the tools much better than I can, so I'll just let them 'speak'.

Musically,

John A. Tuttle
http://www.player-care.com/
Wed, 16 Aug 2000 12:20:48 -0400