Yard Sales

Something I have been more adament about lately is traveling to local yard sales to see what is for sale. In the US, and probably many other countries- a yard sale is usually held at the home or a community gathering- where you sell all of your junk for cheap prices. It is kind of like a flea market in a way, but smaller. I check there for motorized toys (heh people think I will play with them! Nope, I hack 'em for gears, motors, cams, what not) and potential (but rare) super soakers or any other item that tickles my fancy. You never know what you may find at yard sales. Sometimes, people have no idea what they are giving away.... I will remain quiet!!

Lucky Star and Transformers Both Taken Too Far

Hyjacked from Danny and member MumMum (go Maryland!) from DannyChoo.com. This is the first time, and one time I will express this emote: LOL!

Katana Collecting

. . .Yeah I eventually had to say something about this. I had a fun time this evening learning about my 1045 Masahiro Bamboo Katana- personally. I successfully managed to disassemble the sword. It was not as bad as I thought it would be- I got to look at the tang and it was indeed rough and dirty. Oddly enough, Longquan Forge did not add a signature to the tang- so there is no signature.

That may send an alarm off- however I did see black markings which appeared to be writing on the tang, and it formed a zig-zag, I dunno on that one. I do know that it is a production katana and it has all the features of a katana (and a meguki) so I refer to it as a katana, however it is NOT a true Nihongo (a true Nihongo is an all-Japanese sword and they range around $40,000 each, the museum pieces).

I wanted to learn how to disassemble a katana for two reasons. While I was at the MAAM 2008 Airshow (I'm working on the part 2 movie) a gentleman was selling a katana he claimed to be an officer's katana. It was indeed heavy and the fittings appeared genuine, as well as a respectable amount of wear to the saya (scabbard/shieth). What I should have done, if I had had the money was request to inspect the tang (bottom portion hidden in the handle) under the conditions that if the meguki (pin that holds the hilt to the sword blade) was bad anyways that it wasn't my fault =p. It appeared to be a Type 95 or Type 98 1935 production run. Back then they had katanas issued to soldiers which were made by machine and sharpened; many have a serial number printed on the collar of the sword.

The hidden beauty of japanese swords is that the hidden tang can tell you an entire history lesson. I cannot read Japanese, but I am fairly familiar with katakana symbols so I would know what japanese writing looks like, but would not be able to read it. Confirmation of a smith's signature and wear (a tang is always left rough and dirty- the aged look is part of the sword's value, don't clean it!) and I would pick up the sword. There was one fishy thing about it, actually two. One was that the sword had wavy lines throughout the blade- this means that it was not forged but made by a different process and folded- which does not fall into line with a machined WWII blade for Japanese soldiers.

Second, he was selling them by blades clearly made in China- they had China printed on the blade itself and the hamon (wavy line) was unoriginal on those pieces. I call 'em wall hangers, but they were sharp and I could not determine stainless steel or not. Actually I have a third- he had no problems having me touching the blade. That is a big NO NO, this adds rust and corrosion to the blade from oils on the human hand. Either he knew it wasn't genuine or he was not educated, OR he simply told me what he knew about the piece from another person or vendor. The katana in question was genuinly heavy- but the other chinese ones by them were even heavier. That is why looking at the tang is important- if I see a signature or machinist serial number then I would buy it, despite the absence or presence of a full kissaki (the way the end of the blade is shaped, I love certain shaped kissaki like my masahiro).

To my best guess, without looking at the blade I would assume it is made of damascus steel, but I have to be very careful about that and I will request to see the tang in the future. I want to get back into collecting eastern swords now that I have some money- and I am restricting myself to one sword purchase a year under $400USD. I want a shirasaya katana this time (one that has all wood fittings and no guard), I'm not sure but I am happy that production katana are at reasonable prices (just darned expensive!). It's either eastern swords or WWII militaria, and I will probably have to wait until I am out of college to begin collecting WWII militaria. Why do I want a compound for a home? hehe so I can have all of this stuff secure.

I was off work today and I am off again Tuesday, so I will think about making a how-to video- I just oiled the blade and if I touch it again I may scream profanities (because touching it will require another oiling). I dunno, I am just hooked on the beauty of japanese blades- the grain on the swords after a polish is absoloutely breathtaking- I cannot explain it any other way. The choji oil too (anti-corrosive agent), mmm it makes my room smell uniquely Japanese; I love the aroma.

link

Northrop Grumman/EADS Ready to Build; Boeing Says Tanker is Better

Continuing on the tanker contract the Air Force awarded to Northrop Grumman/EADS, Boeing continues to assert that they should be awarded the tanker contract. There is no explicit reason given other that Boeing claims it has a better aircraft and that the company could create more jobs for workers. Boeing has convinced the GAO (Government Accountability Office) to talk suggest to the Air Force that they reopen the tanker contract.


Boeing claims that the process for choosing the tanker was unfair and riddled with errors. The Air Force claimed that it had reviewed both choices carefully and chose NG/EADS's design because it had fit the criteria or exceeded it. The GAO says that the rulings for the tanker contract did not fit the required criteria (I assume that is the Air Force's criteria).


Northrop Grumman and EADS both claim that they are ready to begin the manufacture of the new tanker which won approval for a contract from the Air Force. Those that support the Air Force's decision say that the ageing fleet of KC-135 tankers must be replaced soon for both the Air Force and the pilots who fly and operate them. NG/EADS claim that any delays punishes air force personell who operate the current fleet of aircraft.


Personally, this is a big problem. I am a firm believer that our military technology should be developed at home. EADS, the parent company of Airbus (I think? I know both are related) is french based and is in the business for large commercial aircraft. Some say that Boeing is becoming selfish for the tanker contract because EADS is a direct competitor (and so is Northrop Grumman), but I feel that Boeing actually has a good excuse for complaining.


Another problem is that the public does not know exactly what is being shared with whom and exactly what is going where; that is classified information. I am sure that military technology will not be shared with the french company Airbus/EADS and I remember reading somewhere that explicitly said that Airbus was building the fuselage and components necessary to make the aircraft fly, and that Northrop Grumman back at home would finalize military technology and utilities. What each company does, where they do it and how they do it is classified information- in short I would tell you- I don't know.


With that, I would throw the "I want military technology developed here at home!" arguement out the window, and would say that such accusations are based purely on suspiscion, and those accusations have rightful grounds. French technology in the past has provided technical support, engineering and supplies to Iraq in the 80's for Saddam Hussein's Nuclear Reactor. They have also had no qualms about exporting their products and technology to the highest bidder, regardless of affiliation or standing. That, I have a problem with. One should recognize, however that EADS is a seperate company, and although French they are not controlled by the government. Building frames in Europe, however does help their economy and not ours, but makes overall costs cheaper. Thus, we have something known as outsourcing.


What are your thoughts on this? I can't come up with a decision. I would stand behind the Air Force if they thought the NG/EADS build was right for them, but I think Boeing has a good excuse for interrupting the deal by having the GAO step in. The main question boils down to this:


Is legitimate discussion of the benefits of an all American company, Boeing brings to the table worth further delaying the tankers? Also, is it right for us to outsource products for our armed services, even if military secrets are not shared?

Oh, That Which I Crave is Blue and White

I'm by no means a slacker- I am bored this summer and couldn't find a better image.



I am getting very BORED this summer, and hopefully work tomorrow will keep me busy until the end of August. I love Penn State! I love burying my nose in the library for 3+ hours! I love my major! I love talking to professors and other people within my field! I like playing with things that can very well kill me! GAH I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE UNIVERSITY NOW. It is a heartbreak to be away from campus this long, and it has been what, a month and a half since I completed my last final?





I am so eager to start that I am pre-reading the text for the next few courses! The nice thing about some of these courses is that the sister course uses the next half of the book you had the previous semester- so I will use "The Fundamentals of Manufacturing" not only for IET 101, but for IET 215 and IET 216 as well. To get the best kick start to my next semester, I am going to read my notes again and make sure I am ready to tackle stuff like CNC coding, Axial Loads, Shear Stress of shafts (I had no idea there was shear stress exerted throughout a shaft until I read the book! I figured there was some kind of stress).





Since I am not taking Calculus I this semester, I am saving myself a miserable semester and I will be about as productive (a little more productive) this semester than last semester- they are throwing in MET 206 now which is Dynamics (study of moving bodies). Semester 4 (Spring 2009) is where things get hard. EET 114, Calculus I and two other courses which I can't recall the names of. 4 classes! Why should I be complaining! Because Calculus, especially at Penn State is really friggin' hard. Electrical Engineering isn't my strong point either- I am somewhat weak with it and it is one of the subjects I will buckle down on this summer and over Winter 2008 break.





I SHOULD be taking Calculus I this semester (semester 3) but it will put me on overload. Taking this summer was supposed to fulfill the credit- and unfortunately in week (3) of 6 it became statistically impossible to pass (I had to get 90's when I was scoring 70's even on a curve) so I had to drop the course. I feel bad about it, but many people that were in that class said this was their 2nd or 3rd time taking Calculus I. The instructor also did something that really pissed me off- and I won't go into details about it. So I may be set back a little bit- as long as semester 5 has courses that are not dependant on me passing Calculus II then I am fine. If not, or I must pass Calc II by the end of semester 4, then I am in trouble. I may need to add an extra year to getting my degree to pass. The benefits- hey I get a year off, but the bad is that I am not learning and that I would be behind. Many people take extra time to finish, however.





Luckily Semester 3 is just a sweater and not a nail biter. I plan on working hard and I would like to get in the library even more often to bury myself in research journals, technical articles and news that surrounds the realm of Engineering. Boredom is my enemy right now- I like to keep going and I want to continue to learn all that I can. A month max is all I need to recharge and prepare myself for what lies ahead. I am addicted to this stuff! I want to keep going and I want to get better. Year 1 opened a whole new world to me, and I have three to go (let's hope).

Soaker Watch

Water warfare is a past hobby of mine, and recently I have been attempting to repair some of my old water guns that are in need of repair. I was happy this evening to find a CPS 4100 pullrod that I needed and I will install it tomorrow more than likely. This post will serve as an update on super soaker prices on Ebay- some of these old guns are very rare and very expensive. You would think there would be hundreds of these things on Ebay- wrong. They are very rare and are worth a lot of money. I get asked a lot by other people about my collection, and I tell them that they don't make 'em like they used to.

Why collect them? They are fun, I think they are cool, they are now worthy of being a collector's item, they were an item from my childhood, AND they are great for sneak attacks/adding fuel to a small water balloon fight. If neighbors invite us to a BBQ and there are water balloons, out come the soakers... I still love 'em, play with 'em and repair them to keep them in working condition for years to come. The best time of year is to buy them during the winter when they are the cheapest. A lot of these below will end with much higher costs. I think I will limit myself to one or two per year to spend frugally- or I could snipe some during the winter, mmm....


Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
____________________
CPS 4100- $61.99 Link


Monday, June 30 2008
_________________
CPS 4100- $80.99 Link $95.99 END
CPS 4100- $39.99 Link
CPS 2000 MKII- $135.00 Link $137.50 END
CPS 2000 MKII- $91.00 Link
CPS 2000 MKII- $56.93 Link
CPS 2000 Mk II- $66.00 Link
CPS 2500 *caution- aged*- $29.99 Link
SS50 Aniv Ed- $40.95 Link $40.95 END
*Jump on this* Monster X- $23.18 Link
Monster XL MK II- $40.50 Link


N/A
____
Monster X- $107.00 Link $134.50 END
Monster XL- $35.98 Link $96.00 END
CPS2000 MK I- $22.50 Link $217.50 END
CPS 2500- $142.50 Link $142.50 END
CPS 3200- $120.00 Link $132.50 END
Cps 4100- $65.59 Link $98.00 END
CPS 1700- $62.95 Link $145.45 END
SS100- $65.75 Link $75.25 END

M4a1 Walker Bulldog Progress, Part 3

I've been working on my Walker Bulldog and I have made a few more progressive changes to the model. Later today I am going to finish painting the wheels once and for all so that the job is done. I installed the antannae bases and I was not satisfied with the plastic antannae. To fix that problem, I cut off the plastic antannae and drilled a hole with my pin vice. I then inserted some steel rod I had laying around that was already black in color. The result is that the tank looks much more realistic to me.



I also went ahead and installed the 50 calibre machine gun. I wanted to iron out how I wanted it to be positioned and I went ahead and did that. I also pin viced (very carefully) the exhaust holes near the barrel of the browning. All that's left to do is repaint the top of the browning because I used a sharp x-acto knife blade to get rid of a protruding seam left from the injection molding process.

I called up an old buddy (a fellow engineer) to confirm I had the right circuit set up for a lighting system. I said "what the heck" and decided to include the lighting system, so I did go out to Trains and Lanes as I had claimed before and sure enough they had fiber optic. The system runs from a 9 volt battery. I chose a 9volt because I already had a couple of pieces that would fit on top of 9 volt batteries, and figured it would be less of a hassle. By the stats on the LED package, the LED will take a maximum of 4.0 volts with the current at 20mA. I used this data to find out the internal resistance of the LED and then proceeded to find what value resistor I would need to wire in series so that it could eat the other 5 volts. I came up with 250ohms. I searched my resistor stash and found a 256.7ohm resistor. Perfect!

All that's left is to carefully play with the fiber optic and paint the portion outside of the hull. I have a switch wired in series so you can turn the lights on and off, but unfortunately to my dismay I found out that it was a push-in button one. That means that I can press the button to light the tank, but I have to hold the button in. Until I decide on a replacement it will do- the 9volt battery should last virtually forever (if left on continuously, it would work in upwards of 30+ hours). The tank will be neat with LEDs, maybe I should have purchased two red LEDs and did the rear lights? Nah, I am satisfied with what I have.

*Again* Youtube Deleting Anime

You may have noticed the picture above me in a lot of my anime posts. Someone has a brain embolism and said that my Rurouni Kenshin complilation was copywright infringement. Ok fine, ruin it for the other people, I could care less what gets taken off of my Youtube account because I use their service for free, so we must follow the rules yes?

You will notice the picture in a lot of my anime posts, this replaces all of the videos I had that were deleted by Youtube (not all of them were uploaded by me, just Ruroken). Sorry =/. Not much I can do. Yeah it pisses me off, but I can't and won't do anything about it to repeal the process.

M4a1 Walker Bulldog Progress, Part 2

I decided to fit some of the painted wheels back on and the appearance of the bulldog has been enhanced with painted wheels. I am going to paint the insides of the wheels as much as I can, then do the other side. Painting these wheels has been a pain in the butt, but the effect they have produced is well worth it. I would like to simulate mud on the wheel and track areas.

I also began drilling out portholes in the upper section of the turret. These were molded windows that you could paint black, but I would like to install glass windows instead (clear polystyrene). I already pin vised the areas needing attention, and I will take a special bit and carefully form the windows from the inside tomorrow. I also will drill small holes for the grab irons.

I went ahead and bought the LED for a lighting system. Using my roommate's technique I will make sure that the front lights light up. The tank is beginning to appear a lot more like a tank just from painting the wheels, and I am not even 25% done with it yet. A bunch of clear fiber optic cables will be joined together and strung through the body of the tank up to the lights. The exposed portions of the fiber optic cable will be painted black to simulate the effect of cables.

This is not 100% accurate, but it is less stressful on the cable itself (you can't bend it exactly at 90 degrees) and I am willing to take the sacrifice. The system will run on 3volts, although the LED is rated for 3.5volts. This means that the LED won't be as bright, which is fine with me. Inside, reflective tin (either a pop tarts wrapper or tin foil) will cover every fiber optic cable to reflect light back into the cable- I don't want the "empty" interior showing.

M4a1 Walker Bulldog Progress, Part 1

As a side project to my USS Enterprise, I have been working on an armor project lately that has been somewhat boring, but will be a lot of fun to finish.

I began a few days ago painting the wheels. According to reference photos and photos taken of similar models, the wheels are painted black and the interior rim is the same color as the rest of the body. I am using Pollyscale's Engine Black, once all the wheels are painted I will laquer coate them and fit them to the hull.

I also decided to paint the browning machine gun on the sprue to add a black base coat. I also painted one of the utility boxes with a black base coat. I would like each to be a lighter gray, but I am debating on lightening up the browning machine gun and/or adding metallic enhancements to make it appear as though it is metal.

The body of the tank has not needed extensive work, and the hull (and turret) came off so clean that I will not need to spray paint the body- I like the mold color (that means "good job, Tamiya!"). I have been debating on adding lights to the tank and adding a motor, but I just want to finish this piece as a model and be done with it. By no means am I hurrying, though. I will paint the headlights more than likely a reefer white or testor's white equivalent. This model should come out quite nicely- I am debating on painting some of the figures, although I am horrible at it.

Here are the references I am looking at and am trying to follow:

Bulldog Model 1
Bulldog Model 2

MAAM WWII Airshow and Re-enactments 2008, Part II

Some of the photos I took at the show are now online in one of my galleries. You can view it here.

Nintendo Caught in a Slip Up Here: I Support More Wii Space

Recently a director at Nintendo slipped up and uttered something that is reverberating around the globe and blogosphere: The marketing director for Nintendo of Europe claimed that only "geeks and otaku" were interested in more space for the Wii's hard drive. I think Laurent just pissed off a whole lot of Nintendo fans, and I am sure that Nintendo as a whole is not bias against any one stereotypical group.

Lots of folks who love the virtual console series and the nostalgic games on them want more download space so that they can PAY NINTENDO MORE MONEY so that players can play them. I am not anything close to Otaku [For those who have no idea what is going on- An Otaku is a lifestyle in Japan where one chooses to indulge in anime, manga, and the likes of the industry] and I will admit that I am not a super nerd, and I support an expansion of memory. The marketing director fails to see the wider audience that is purchasing games off of Virtual Console. In fact, VC has become such a success that they are making money off of the idea.

Maybe they want more space, but be warned- do not alienate one group and do not shut out the rest of your Nintendo faithful. I am sure Nintendo will handle the situation post haste. Bloggers and news agencies should be CAREFUL how they present this information: It may appear that this is the ideal of Nintendo when it is the ideal of a marketing director, who I'd expect to be reprimanded severely for this one. Thus they always say, you are an extension of the company.

edit- Smart move =) http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/06/geeks-and-otaku.html

http://wii.thegamereviews.com/story-1250-Nintendo-Thinks-Geeks-Only-Ones-Interested-in-More-Wii-Memory-Space.html

MAAM WWII Airshow and Re-enactments 2008, Part I

This is something that I have been planning the entire summer- a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum off of Van Reed Rd and Route 183 in Reading, PA. The show is touted as the best WWII re-enactment show in the world, as well as a fabulous collection of aircraft privatly owned and generously flown out and displayed at the museum. As my first show, I thought that it was absoloutely fantastic. In fact that does not sum up the show- the event gets you that much closer to the history of World War II. I thought I liked WWII stuff, now they have bumped me up another level of extreme!

I took some photos at the air show and I will be putting together some video on the event. Once that is up and finished I will post it. I got to do a lot of things, I met a lot of people and saw a lot of spectacular and a lot of "rare" pieces. I was able to pick up and hold a German STG 44, a Thompson 45, a Garand and a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). They are a lot heavier then I thought!

It was very encouraging to listen to the special guests talking about their war experiences. For most of the day the temperature soared to about 103 degrees farenheight (about 40 degrees celsius) and it was VERY VERY HOT. Luckily, there was a nice wind blowing and it was not as humid as Saturday. The event runs Friday Saturday and Sunday, since my mother had to take care of medical business she was not able to go Saturday, then later on I found out I would have to go alone on Sunday. It is a lot more fun to go with someone else, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly. At one point they hooked up fire hoses and began running sprinklers for people to run in.

The flea market and militaria scene was just unbelieveable. You name it, they more than likely have it somewhere in that section. I saw GI Helmets, patches, German daggers, replica guns, replica explosives, bayonets, and one thing that caught my eye was a Japanese Officer's sword. It was at a good deal too at $300, but I simply could not afford it. I inspected the blade and I would determine with 80% accuracy that the blade was genuine. I could see a hint of a hamon, but the blade had another special process done to it where clay was added after firing to give it a unique texture like that of a geological map- you 'll know what I mean when you read one. The kissaki was not a chi, and I would have preferred to see the tang before a final purchase. The scabbard appeared and felt to be genuine. The blade was also semi-sharp and appeared to have some wear beginning to it, thus I would say it appeared to be genuine- because if it isn't it is a VERY good fake. I didn't like how some swords next to his were chinese wall hangers though.... but they were priced nowhere near this one. Oh well, maybe next year. There is always a market for WWII militaria if there is interest.

My heart nearly took a drop when I saw that they were selling out of production model kits! They were expensive and I could not afford them, plus I have so many projects right now that it isn't even funny. To me it seems like they arn't selling odds and ends there- it is good and legitimate stuff. The blades I got to hold and inspect, whether knives, bayonets, daggers or swords all had wear to them and were not "razor" sharp, but sharp enough, and were not polished to a mirror sheen. The best way to evaluate the authenticity of a japanese blade is to look at the tang (the section inside of the handle). It is very easy to tell, with experience whether or not weathering/damage was intentional. If the tang is shiny and brand new- I won't buy it. If it looks like a rat tail, I won't buy it either.

This was a fantastic show! I am definetly going again next year and I am considering donating some of my time during the school year volunteering at the museum (I get to help restore things, promote heritage, preserve history, and it fits the bill for philanthropy).

Engineering some Really Annoying Problems with the Enterprise

Unfortunatly I don't know where my camera is, so I won't be able to take too many photos at the moment. (August 2008 update- I am going back and fixing images where I can -Rob).

I want my 1/350 Tamiya USS Enterprise to have sound- and for a while now I have been fiddling with a sound box. Sitting there waiting for it to dry, I had an ingenious idea. I cut a book sock book cover in half and inserted the speaker into it. I pulled the material behind the speaker and used a hair tie to tie it back. BADA BING- I now have a speaker with a proper amplifier and baffle. She sounds great. I made a "control panel" for the speaker by drilling a hole into balsa and drum sanding the said hole. The Ipod sits to the right (attached with tape for the time being) and the entire setup sits snug into the Enterprise. Better yet- it is 2 inches off the bottom of the hull, meaning there is a smaller chance of something frying due to water intrusion if there is mild flooding.

Since super glue has been working so nicely for me, I super-glued the steering mechanism permanently to the Battery and electronics housing so the unit is one piece. I did this because fiddling with two seperate units is time consuming and annoying- the wires from the steering to the electronics are taped to the side of the battery housing, and not only that- the steering mechanism is centered perfectly (the rod is, anywhoo) for the rudder system. For the rudder system, I will implement my roommate's adjustment system for the push rod- adding even more customization and ease to the build- if something isn't turning correctly then I can simply adjust the rod to whatever length I want it to be at. I have a guide for it- I can just look in the Missouri and see what he did.

Here is the big cojone- I solved the prop shaft to motor shaft connection problem. Heat shrink tubing really wasn't working too well- so I looked into getting tube stuffing because it was recommended by R/C Naval Combat enthusiasts. Instead, I tried a what if, "what if I put the prop shaft into the square tubing?" and as I did I began to laugh maniacally and I used the spoonerism "WHO SAID I COULDN'T FIT A SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE?" (it was the other way around). As luck would have it the motor shaft fit too. I got all excited and ran upstairs for a battery to test it out. I was on a fast paced course and I was getting near the last hurdle, then:

brickwall. ouch.

The entire system worked isolated from the body (hull, [ Gosh I sound like an engineer ]), but only for 10 seconds. The motor slowed down and called it caputs. I did a few more tests, this time with a half of another prop rod. The system worked perfectly isolated outside the hull. From this I can write the following equation:

[ LengthX=Torque1]

where X is proportional to the mass of the prop shaft material. The motor shaft is approximatly 1:10 the length of the prop shaft and it appears to be made out of aluminum or some steel alloy. I think the motor is trying to spin this thing, and it certainly isn't spinning inside the connector- it is stopping. I think I worked the horse too much and it got tired and called it caputs. The solution is to make X smaller or get a motor that will generate more torque to equal Torque 1.

where [Torque1=Torque2]

and

where [Ttotal=Iα]

where Torque 1=torque of the motor, Torque 2=torque of prop shaft, Ttoal= Torque 1+ Torque 2, I=moment of inertia, α= angular acceleration.

So now we are back to a Physics I problem.

Torque= (moment of inertia)(angular acceleration). From this equation, it can be assumed that the longer the distance (moment arm), the greater the Torque necessary has to be. When torque 1 was exerted, it attempted to spin the connector and the prop shaft, creating torque 2. However, torque is influenced by (moment arm)*(force). It will require a greater force to move a heavier object (the brass rod). The mass of the brass rod is directly proportional to the length of the rod- the shorter the rod, the less torque necessary to rotate it.

Thus, since the DC motor barely changes speeds on a Nicad battery source, the shorter the material means less mass- which in turn means that the prop will spin faster. So with this in mind, we can conclude that:

[The mass of the prop shaft is directly proportional to the torque and angular speed of the motor.]

There is a loophole here. Although length is a major factor, we can make it an insignificant factor. How? By using a different material. Aluminum (or an aluminum alloy) has been known to compete directly with many steels. The point here is that aluminum is MUCH lighter than brass- which is a combination of zinc (roughly 40% zinc) and copper. Copper has corrosive resistant properties, but the mass of bronze is too much for these motors to handle. Thus, I need to get my hands on some aluminum or a lighter material, somewhere. I am also thinking about trying tubing instead of solid rods- but tubing has a greater chance of corrosion and damage when I attempt to repair it. Tranes and Lanes along with Hobbytown USA should have a good selection of lightweight tubing and rods.

Aluminum is so light that it will make length negligible. I will update when I try some things out. Actually- I just thought of something. It could be that the motor is spinning inside the square connector, but it is slowing down due to the load because the motor is trying to turn inside the tubing- but the friction is too great for it to accomplish (that is why I chose it). I am going to get some of this tube stuffing stuff since the motor shaft has points of contacts all around the inside of the tubing, meaning that there is no mechanical energy lost in trying to rotate inside the tubing.

Hey, what I said above still applies though- but I thought that the brass could turn with the motor. Maybe I should do both!