Pool Noodle Size Tolerance

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Pretzel

Do you happen to know the proper speeds and feeds for a pool noodle to turn it down to the proper size?

Slow and slow. The key, though, is to use the proper cutting tool.

[GeeTwo]

It turns out that the noodles from Dollar General last year were only 2" in diameter, much smaller than two years ago. The only noodles we could find in town were 3" in diameter, round, cored. We came up with a way to cut these larger noodles down to 2 1/2" without a lathe or an electric carving knife, and without losing the external finish of the noodles.

We did two lengthwise cuts outward from the axis, 60 degrees apart (Swiss army knife for the test, but we'll use a razor utility knife for the real deal). We then squeezed the noodle until it is round again. Viola, the diameter is now two and a half inches! There is still a core, but it is quite a bit smaller. There may be a slightly better profile to cut than radial, but this seems to work OK. We haven't decided how to secure them to remain round, whether we'll use tape or glue (if glue, probably contact cement). We thought about welding, but quickly dismissed it as we don't know what the fumes would be like. In any case, we'll orient the "seam" to be towards the robot.