View new posts | View your posts Filandrius' Particle Thrower - MAJOR UPDATE 03/14

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I'm having a hard time getting my hat light into the gun ear. How do you do yours? Did you thread it?

No I didn't. Couldn't figure out the thread, and I didn't want to risk forcing my cap into the hole (it's rude) I drilled a clearance hole so that the whole base of the cap would barely pass through (with threads, it's 5/16") Then I put just a little bit of tape on the threads. That way the cap goes in with a (non-permanent) tight fit, and stays there. I will do the same thing in my box (the 5/16" hole is already drilled) With resin parts, I would've used a smaller hole (let's say 19/64") and screwed it in. Put that isn't possible with aluminum, except if you don't mind damaging something.

Thanks dude! It worked like a charm



As soon as I get my orange hat light I'll really be in business!

The light cap thread is a royal pain the the barack!

They must be either metric, or NPT. None of the taps I have match it.

Hey no problem, Vince. Happy to help.

Yep! Exactly my point. That's why I used tape. No fuss, no muss!

Speaking of fussing, I went through an update tonight that was a little nerve-wracking. I finally got my replacement rub-down transfers (and I'd like to use this opportunity to thank John a whole damn lot; he saved my life ) So I applied them, and installed the switches of my gun kit. The last time I did that, I utterly destroyed my paint job. So it's make it or break it!



Good news: I made it. The transfers are applied, I didn't messed any, and the installation of the switches went well. Can't really tell how relieved I am right now. I lost sleep over this.



Everything's straight, no chips, nothing. It almost went TOO well. Mmmm... Seriously, I'm not going to install the instrument bar just yet, I'm waiting for that Arcolectric red indicator; I'm going to try and plug it in Exoray's kit (don't laugh! Flynn told me how! )



The other side, with that darn diagram and the little red arrow that almost applied itself. Also reinstalled the top gun knob. It's almost complete now; if I had everything in hand I would complete that thing tonight. But I'm still missing a few things that I want to install before finishing the light kit installation; the white Arcolectric cap, the reflector for the vent, and the aforementioned red light. Asides from that, it's done, baby. (Where's the smilie for "shit eating grin"?)

Stay tuned! Won't be long now.

Do you have a spare dry rub of the discs next to the power bar LED's? I ruined 3 of them already That's a tricky spot.

Are these really so hard to apply ? i dont have any but reading this almost makes me glad im going for airbrush this time (yes, i know it will be a pain in the ass too, haha)

Oh, great thrower too, its getting better and better

bigi I would doubt that most people could pull off airbrushing them on. But after seeing your build I know you'll do an amazing job. I can't wait to see that!

Nope, sorry. I feel your pain, they're kinda hard to come by. I was lucky to find a spare set to replace the one I destroyed when I repainted my gun.

No, they're not that hard to apply. They're tricky, yes, but it can be done. After 2 sets, I'm actually confortable with them. Ironically, it's not the bar graph that gives me the most trouble, but the diagrams. The rest is a lot less tough.

Airbrush?!? If you were anybody else, I would call you crazy. But you? Can't wait to see the results. You'll put the transfers to shame.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment. It's appreciated.

It will look great but he needs to get the gun first!

No worries, I'm about to ship it.
But I am working on 5 of them right now. Labeling everything is keeping me organized.

I see the rub labels are a bit tricky to apply.. I guess I'll have to stick with my printed ones ^_^

Meh, it's not that bad. It's just that they're getting a little hard to find.

Update: I got those white caps from Andy. Its incredible how much a little bit of plastic can look good.



Arcolectric cap, baby! One of the 3 parts I need to finish this thing. My patience is being tested, right now.



Since the last cap got here, I started really installing the light kit. All the LEDs are in, so are the switches. I tried to tidy things up a little by using small zip ties, I think it worked (a little ) I doesn't really matter, since the inside of the box won't be visible at all (I will be installing a reflector in the gun vents) You can also see the 6-32 nut rivets I used in the box; I don't think I showed them before.



It's starting to look like a finished thrower. It's only missing the instrument bar and the base plate on these pictures. I'll install them only when everything's finished; I'm a little superstitious at this point.



The other side. Nothing new to see here!

Stay tuned!

Hello my good man,

I hate to jack your thread but since our throwers are almost identical and I never bothered to make a thread I thought I might just post this here. I made a pretty good find today. I've been wanting to get the vent light figured out for a while.

The flashlight reflector is what I too also did.


Only I took it one step further! I put a 12v incandescent bulb in there. . .



That's right, you just got double high-jacked by some Heavies!

HEAVIES!

You guys are heavies now too? What is this world coming to!

Reflector looks great BTW!

You heavies get out of my thread!

Seriously, that's some BRIGHT shit. Vince, did you use the whole flashlight assembly in your box? Certainly looks like it. How do you turn it on? Do you have an extra switch? And Matt, how did you manage to light a 12V bulb with your light kit? I have an extra-bright LED on mine (it's Exoray's) and I'll put it in a reflector too, but I doubt it'll be bright as this. And even if I wire one, Exoray's kit pumps 5V in the LEDs; it won't be enough for a bulb.

I'm using a 12v rechargeable battery in my pack. The 12v incandescent is wired directly to that and not through my light kit.

When I took those pics I was actually just holding the whole flashlight (minus the very top lid) up to the vents.

When I do get around to wiring this I'll be keeping the whole assembly intact and just replacing the proptronix vent light with it. This light normally runs off of 2 AA's which is 3V. I'm guessing that proptronix is outputting just around 3-4V to his vent light so I expect a good match but I'll let you know when I actually get to that point. This thrower will go to a proton pack that I haven't even started building so it's still a long ways off

Here's the flashlights just FYI http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1 ... ogId=10053

Dude, you gotta get the clear arcoelectric cap from AJ before he sells out! It makes such a difference.
http://www.gbfans.com/shop/proton-pack/ ... indicator/

He had to.
That's the thing with LEDs. They need their resistors and regulators. They're not as laid back as bulbs ^_^

Also, Vince don't forget that the light kit is already designed around LED requirements, and the kit from the flashlight has its own resistors. If you leave it intact, I think you'll need a separate power source (batteries) but to use it with the kit you'll have to disconnect the circuit around the reflector and wire the LED directly to the light kit.

This is what I think

Yeah I've considered that too, if it comes down to that I'll just strip the cone down and use the original proptronix LED.

Cheater!

If I take Flynn's kit as an example, he uses resistors to reduce voltage from 5V to 3V in all his LEDs. So if Proptronix's kit is in any way the same, you'll have to wire the assembly in the kit, resistor and all.

That's what I'm planning to do. The vent light in Exoray's kit is an ultra-bright LED like the ones he uses for the power cell... You know, the ones you can't look at or they'll blind you?

Done and done. My clear light is in the mail. I also got the real red light from Cyland... Those cliplites are been in the trash for a little while now.

Sweet! The clear light is easy to install, it just screws right in with a nut. The red one however.... PITA, You need a 9/32 Drill bit (which doesn't come in any standard bit set) for the hole, then you need to cut the assembly down short (just past the threads which there is no nut in existence for) and then glue it in somehow, I ended up using some Epoxy putty from the inside for that.

Good luck!

I like PITA.



Did you dismantle the lights to keep only the caps? I already have 3mm LEDs for those things, and I was thinking about doing just that. Because I don't think I can get 250V for the white one.

Yes, the white one's just pull right apart. The red are completely sealed so I cut it down with a dremel and the LED came right out.

Yes I got mine from Cyland, the one's AJ sells just pull apart easily but he's sold out

Latest update: I took a page out of Vince's book and got a 2 AA flashlight. No pictures for now, the reflector's been glued in the box and the glue's drying. I really like the flashlight I bought because the reflector has a halogen bulb pattern on the inside, and the real hero thrower used a halogen bulb. But the best thing is I managed to plug the whole assembly, bulb and all, in Exoray's kit. So instead of a 5mm LED, I have an extra-bright Krypton bulb! I even installed it to that the bulb can be replaced. Can't wait to show you pictures!

i just picked up a GE MR11 halogen today. Fits perfectly and should be super bright . I'll probably redirect the board's light to the rest of the gun with fiber optics.

Only problem is that its, 12V and not 3V like the one you're using. Couldn't find anything less than 12V that looked good.

As promised, pictures!!!



The reflector, installed behind the vent, with the bulb in it. Alright, you don't see it very well. I just liked that picture, and wanted to use it.



A better angle, which shows the reflector better. Here you see what I meant with "halogen bulb texture". Really looks the part, methinks.



And here it is, lit with Exoray's kit. I shut down all the lights to take this pic. As you can see, pretty darn bright.



Then I turned on all the lights. Exactly as bright. That is, "briefly blind you when you look at it" bright, even with all the lights on. I haven't tried it in broad daylight, but it's like being hit in the eyes with a flashlight (well, duh )

And that's a big check for the vent reflector. When I get my Arcolectric lights, I can finish and close this thing up. Then it'll be done! Well I think... Stay tuned!