#4898251
Thanks, I appreciate it! The whole purpose of this build log is to help others by documenting the process to completion in as detailed a manner as I can. So many other scratch builds I'd follow would get to a certain point and then turn into a ghost thread. Or just show a bunch of pics without details with large gaps of undocumented progress in between. So I'm out to show my nitty grittes in hopes it'll grow confidence in prospective scratch builders. These things can be built in a myriad of different ways which can bee overwhelming. By showing how I did it, i hope others can either emulate (without my mistakes) or improve upon it.

I glad some are getting good use of it! If there are any questions, please, ask away here. :)
#4898442
Had off from work yesterday, Monday, September 18th, so I was able to get a little bit done before running errands.

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Started by seeing if the ion arm cap clippard barb threading worked. I unclogged and slowly unscrewed it and it felt like it was going to work. Then it broke loose and took the threads with it. Damn it! I think I should have widened the hole more to give more space for epoxie material behind the threads. Several days to let it cure did not help. I went trying to find another solution. 3 tries this way was enough.

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I thought of flipping the cap around, drilling a new hole to thread, and just filling in the old hole. So I flipped the cap around to see if this would work, but it hangs a little lower and to the side too much in this configuration. Double damn.

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While taking the cap back off I noticed the threads on the screws looked about the same as the clipboard barb's. I held the screw up to it and then put the barb in the threaded ion arm hole. Well whadayaknow! Perfect match. These screws make threading much easier.

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So I cleaned out and widened the barb hole and poured glue in it. Then I'll redrill and tap with a screw this time. Hopefully that'll work.

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Then the mail lady came! Wooooo what could it be?

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A real metal bellows, just for me! This little guy is sweet! Still not sure its $50 plus $9 shipping sweet, but I am delighted to have it none the less. Shipped fast too. There's a comparison shot of the metal bellows versus what I was working on from scratch.

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Next, I took the aluminum tape off the cyclotron. This couldn't have come out better! Not one bit of glue seeped through.

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There are some gaps I have to fill but I already knew that was going to be needed. Not sure if you can see the amount of glue used, but it was wasteful. Total overkill.

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I went and got my random orbital hand rougher upper to clean up the underside of the bumper. I was really dreading this for the longest time. I don't know why. For some unknown reason the bumper was just really intimidating to me.

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What provably would have taken 4 hours or more of repetitive lateral limb torture with a manual tool only took an hour and 25 minutes with the power tool. This turned out excellent in my opinion! I have some spots to fill and clean up, but overall this is gorgeous.

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Being motivated by the metal bellows, I drilled holes in the cyclotron and bumper. I widened the hole in bit increments of 1/64". I did this by hand as I could not get these pieces under the drill press. I could have fit them if I wanted to drill from their backsides, but I had the center marks already on their faces. Could have used the power drill, I just find it easier to keep it straight by hand.

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Already had a perfect screw that fit the bellows and was long enough too. Yay!

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Here's where maybe you guys can help. I need to decide how high the bumper should sit. My ocd likes the bottom sitting flush with the bottom of the synchronous. But then it looks too close to the cyclotron top. If I raise it a bit, it gives about 1/2" between the cyclotron and bumper. I think this looks good. What are the opinions of others? Anyone know what the real distance was?

That's all I got done. Loving it!
#4898452
Thanks twmedford! I'll play with it, but 1/2" is looking nice so far!

Thanks Hammer! Someone buy me the silicon, degasser, and resin and I'll gladly make copies lol.
twmedford23 liked this
#4898533
Got a little done after a post work nap yesterday, Wednesday, September 20th.

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Looking at the dried glue in the ion arm cap, I saw a bunch of bubbles and decided I didn't trust it to hold threads. So I drilled it out wider than its ever been and shoved apoxie sculpt in the gaping wound... er... hole. Set aside to cure. The drama continues.

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I moved on to filling in the gaps around the cyclotron ring. Made really thin epoxie worms and did the squishy thing.

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Taking a scrap corner of styrene I scraped out excess epoxie. This worked so well I'll have very minimal clean up. I scraped very slow and went around the whole thing 3 times lightly spitting on it the whole time for lube and too keep it from pulling up out of the gaps.

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The cyclotron holes needed some attention. Shove some epoxie in there too.

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Cleaned up the bumper epoxie side blends.

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Threw some epoxie in the pits and gaps on the back side of the bumper. This most dreaded piece of the pack to work on is becoming one of my favorites.

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I have two more hose barbs so I decided I wanted to use them where the injector houses connect to the littler box on the synchronous. Way early on in the build I drilled hose sized holes in the little box. So I filled them with epoxie. I used a thin strip of scrap styrene to press it up against the back side of the styrene inside the little box.


That's it.
#4898630
Have a three day weekend that started yesterday. Sweet! Here's what I got done yesterday, September 22nd. HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

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I had saved the spindle post from a spent roll of dog poop bags from target. This will be for the post between the cyclotron and bumper. Better plastic than from the body of a pen, which I find to usually be brittle. Uniform shape too. With a hack saw blade, I cut one 1/2" and one 3/4" section to see what I liked better. Leveled off my angled cuts and set aside for later.

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Speaking of the bumper, I grabbed it and cleaned up the epoxie from 2 days prior. Came out super smooth, like baby Oscar's hiney.

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Clutched the cyclotron and cleaned up the step ring. Then I rubbed out the window interiors smooth. The sides of the window rings were really dirty, so I got them too. I lightly went over the entire surface of the cyclotron, just to pretty it all up.

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Since I was working in the cyclotron and bumper area, I decided to get the window lens situation settled. I got the red acrylic where I wanted and traced around it so i didn't have to keep realigning. I taped the acrylic in place and transferred the bumper post hole to it. Then I removed the acrylic and hand drilled the hole out so I didn't crack or chip it.

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I fastened the acrylic to the cyclotron with the post bolt and a nut. Then I traced the windows to it. This was so I knew where I could drill some screw holes to a) keep the acrylic from spinning and b) keep the corners pressed up to the cyclotron underside. I drilled the holes making sure to keep them within the window ring areas for more material to drill and tap into. Then I refastened the acrylic, taped it so it didn't spin, and transferred the hole locations with a bit.

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I wrapped some tape around the drill bit as a depth guide and preceded to drill the under side of the cyclotron with the drill press. Next, I tapped each hole with the screws.

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I widened the holes on the acrylic and then attached it to the underside of the cyclotron using the post bolt and 4 screws.

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And then exactly what I was trying to avoid happened. Booooo. The screws somehow still managed to make a pimple on a couple window rings and cracked the glue pushing the ring up on another. Grrrr. So I used my masochist toilet paper block and wiped away the pimples and leveled out the raised ring. I'll have to shove some epoxie in there and clean it up.

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I reattached the cyclotron to the synchronous and was about to attach the n-filter since its the key to the cyclotron's position. My mind was still on how I have to epoxie under the raised ring which made me think to epoxie the n-filter gaps between it and the cyclotron. So before attaching the filter I traced around it and spread a thin layer of Vaseline around the traced area. This will keep the epoxie from adhering to the filter as I want it to remain removable.

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After attaching the n-filter I threw on the 1/2" post tube spacer thing I cut earlier. Then put on the bumper and screwed the bellows down. Man I love that thing! I lined up the bumper as horizontally perpendicular as I could and used attacks of 18 playing cards per side to level it. These cards were a great way to dial this in with an adjustable means. I liked the 1/2" spacer positioning so much I didn't even try it with the 3/4" tube post.

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I stared at some reference shots for too long and measured center on the bumper sides. Using the reference shots, I eyeballed and marked the height of each hole to be drilled. I measured that and copied it to the other side. I then removed the bumper, hand drilled out the pilot holes, reattached the bumper, re-horizontally positioned it, carefully taped it in place, and transferred the pilot hole locations to the synchronous generator. I was hoping my building of the synchronous generator was a little off and the holes would go through a cosmetic plate for structural support. Nope, my skills are just too good and the holes ended up right on the seems between plates.

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So I gooped the hell out some scrap styrene pieces and clamped them behind the seems. This should give a good amount of structural rigidity to the bumper mounts.

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Finally, I had a rematch with the ion arm cap. I leveled its top and marked with a bit where I wanted to drill. Took it to the drill press and, well, drilled it. Then I tapped the hole with the cap screw and was super happy to actually witness threads this time! I screwed the clipboard barb elbow on and, hallelujah, it worked! Its not super tight in that it feels like it could strip the threads if over tightened, so I'll probably hit it with quick tight during final assembly. I'll be hitting everything with quick tight. So... yeah, null issue to remember lol.

That's it for Friday's progress. Day 1 of 3 this weekend. :)
twmedford23 liked this
User avatar
By Batfly
#4898631
chris.yarrow wrote:I have no words. This is my favourite build of all time. You've set the bar pretty high, sir!

WOW! What can I say other than thank you! That's super humbling and glad you are liking it. I hope this can inspire people such as yourself to try it with confidence. It just takes attention and patience.
#4898666
Woo, worked on the pack for 9.5 hours yesterday, September 23rd! Sure, 2.5 of those hours was research while waiting for glue to set, but it was still work. Buckle up. This is going to be a long one.

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I removed the clamps holding the bumper mount braces in place. Then I flipped the shell over and realigned and attached the bumper. I used the playing cards as levelers again and taped the bumper in place. I drilled pilot holes into the synchronous generator. I didn't have to reattach the bummer to do this, but I wanted to make sure the drill bit trajectory lined up with the bumper holes.

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Removed the bummer and stuck the bit into the hole and drew a line on the top of the synchronous as a guide of its path angle. I widened the holes and did the same for the other side.

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I started each hole's first few threads by threading with an actual tap bit, then threaded the rest of the way with the screw. I find this makes for a tighter, more secure fit when working with styrene than using just the taping bit. Metal is a different story.

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I widened out the holes on the bumper and rasped them out with the screws.

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Using lovely GB1 style brass washers, I attached the bumper. Super pleased how it came out! I could put some washers and nuts on the inside of the screws, yet it seems super sturdy without washers already. It doesn't move, wiggle, creek, or show any signs of weakness.

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Mixed up some apoxie sculpt and shoved it into the gaps on the n-filter with a narrow scrap stick of styrene. Just like Jenna Jameson says, spit is the best lube. I used an xacto blade for between the filter and cyclotron window ring. The Vaseline applied the previous day should do well keeping the epoxie from bonding with the cyclotron and synchronous.

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Squished epoxie under the cyclotron window ring that raised up the day before. Used the same scrap corner that I used on the cyclotron step ring to scrape away excess and minimize clean up. I didn't do this for the n-filter as its round, so is the side of the cyclotron. It would have been messy, like your... I digress. Lol.

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After researching measurements for friggin 1.5 hours, I measured and cut out two 2"x 2" squares for the male vhook base. Screw the hyphen, but I'll put it here for search sakes, v-hook. There, you happy search engines?!

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Globbed up one of the squares with glue and laminated it to the other square. Used a square to make sure the squares were square. Hehe. Clamped down in the center, then the edges, lastly the corners to get excess glue out. I spread around the glue that squished out to aid in clean up.

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After an additional half hour of research, I decided to just measure the female v-hook on the thrower (woah, auto correct put the hyphen in. Ok, unscrew the hyphen, I guess) to come up with my own dimensions.

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I marked out the measurements (came in 1/4" per side for the v-hook spacer) and connected the dots. Then I scored and snapped out the pieces.

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Cleaned up the edges and rounded the top edges.

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Lined up the hook and spacer and traced the position. Applied glue and laminated them together. Used the clamp again and squished out excess glue from center out. Spread that out on the top and bottom. I carefully scraped it away with a blade for the side corners. I set these aside for an hour to cure some.

In that time I researched, yet again, for the entire hour of curing. I was looking for the angles of both GB1 and GB2 versions hooks. I found 20° and 30° respectively to be what is considered the correct angles. My plan was to incorporate both for an adjustable v-hook angle.

During this period of enlightenment I held up the hook to the screen with an image of julz' renderings of the GB1 elite plans. I squinted an eye and marked where the center of the two mounting holes were. I then measured that distance from top and bottom. The top hole center, according to my squinty eye, is 7/16" from the top. Bottom hole is 5/8" from the bottom.

I also idealized the placement of the four block mounting holes. These are different for every pack as they just drilled willy nilly and screwed, those heathens! I wanted them to fall in the center of the ribs and be equidistant from the sides. I marked four dots 3/8" in from the sides.


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After the hour of angular research, the glue had set enough for clean up. Cleaned up the four sides of the block and top and bottom of the hook.

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I then drilled out all the marks of the hook and base on the drill press. I tapped only the hook screw holes as I was still needing the base holes for later.

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I loosely screwed the hook to the block through the bottom hole. Put a pencil in the top hole and drew a curve while rotating the hook.

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I clamped the base block in place using a scrap piece of styrene to keep it in line and level with the gun mount face. Then I screwed the holes into the gun mount. Removed the base and widened the holes on the gun mount.

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Tapped and cleaned up the base holes.

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I made marks at 20° and 30°. I then used a ruler and "connected" the marks to an eyeballed center of the hole. Then I extended the lines so I could see them past the hook top.

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I loosely reattached the hook and made a pilot divit for each angle while lining up the center line of the hook to the angle lines on the base.

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Removed the hook and drilled out the GB2 hole in the base. I started with this hole as I'd rather have more ergonomics. This would be the only thing glaringly GB2 on this pack. The hole accidentally was a bit under 30°, which brought it too close to the GB1 20° hole. So I didn't even drill the other hole. Great thing is, if I end up not liking the GB2 position, I can always remake another base for 20°. I might just do that anyway to have the option.

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Decided to make recesses for the heads of the screws that hold the hook to the base. These screws were all extra and perfect size, so I didn't want to have to get more. This will also greatly aid in attaching the base to the gun mount. Speaking of which, I loosely attached the base to to gun mount using only two screws just to hold it in place. Then transferred the hook mounting holes to the gun mount. I drilled these out incrementally widening by 64th" at a time.

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Lol, I have to use pliers to get screws into the furthest holes. I also tightened them with pliers going at a maddening pace of a quarter turn at a time! The internal gun mount brace means I'll have to buy two 6-32 5/8" screws as I only have these 1/2" guys left over. Only a few threads make it into those corresponding base holes. I'll get them when I buy my paints and motherboard material. Got the hook attached and couldn't help but...

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Hook the thrower onto the pack! Woo! Seems like a crazy angle but it looks just like GB2 screen captures. I just have to figure out if I can get the barrel tip mechanics in the gun with the added electronics of the plasmas tube. This will help having such s protrusion behind me. Originally was just planning to fix it in the extended position. Maybe I will make the GB1 20° base after all if I wack too many things or people while turning.

I like how this came out overall. I feel the v-hook screw head recesses in the gun mount greatly improve the process of attaching the base. Lines up so smoothly.

In hindsight, I wish I made the hook with two laminated pieces of styrene and rubbed it down 1/16". Also should have added 1/16" to the hook and spacer width. Still might just remake this whole part, hook and base. It's a super easy piece to fabricate so I'm not too worried about it. Time will tell as its fully functional now as is. I'll just have to see how it is in the wild while wearing it.

That's all for Saturday, September 23rd.
twmedford23, Kingpin liked this
#4898718
TK5759 wrote:What size bolt are you using to mount the bellows? Length and thread?
Good question TK! Let me snap a few pics for you.
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The screw is a 1/4"-20 x 2.5"

Didn't need it that long. It's just what I had. The threads on the metal bellows is only about 3/16" deep. You can see how much is sticking out the top of the bumper. Hope that helps! :)
Kingpin liked this
User avatar
By TK5759
#4898719
Batfly wrote:
TK5759 wrote:What size bolt are you using to mount the bellows? Length and thread?
Good question TK! Let me snap a few pics for you.

The screw is a 1/4"-20 x 2.5"

Didn't need it that long. It's just what I had. The threads on the metal bellows is only about 3/16" deep. You can see how much is sticking out the top of the bumper. Hope that helps! :)
Dude, I love you in a totally heterosexual way. :cool:
#4898720
Lol TK. Been hitting the mood slime hard again I see? Back at ya man!
TK5759 liked this
#4898737
Alright alright alright! Achieved my goal of working on my pack all three days of my weekend. Here's the work from yesterday, Sunday, September 24th.

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First of all, I started the days progress with a weather headache. I pushed on through. First, I unscrewed the N-filter and it came off surprisingly easier than I had expected. The Vaseline works a treat as a masking agent. Only downside is the need to thoroughly clean the surface after use. No biggy. Gotta clean EVERYTHING before I even prime the sucka.

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Grabbed my flat gritty guy and gritted away the excess epoxy (posting this from a laptop and it tells me epoxie is really spelled epoxy. Well shucks, I ain't goin back to correct nuttin cause the puter said I know diddly of grammars). Then I hit it with some finer coarse gritty stuff to smooth it out. Damn, damn, DAMN that came out perfect. So glad I took the effort to fill those gaps.

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Cleaned up the epoxied cyclotron window ring. Used my old buddy, Mr. Foamy Grit Stick, and hit the side of the ring and cyclotron surface around it.

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Decided to make the cyclotron cable clamp. Grabbed a, say it with me, 'scrap piece of styrene' and cut it to 3.625" (3 5/8") long. I made marks 1" down and then drew the center line. Then grabbed another scrap piece and drew out its center line as well. I drew a long straight line on a piece of cardboard and matched the two middle lines to the cardboard line and taped them down. Then set my calipers (I missed you dude) to a radius of 5". Placed one end of the caliper on a 1" mark, and the other end on the center line of the other scrap piece. Finally, I scored out a 5" radius curve. Scored and snapped it apart. Put a piece of mini rock trap paper (think fly paper, but for mini rocks) on the side of the cyclotron and rubbed the first clamp piece against it to smooth it out. This was not fun! I ended up using a smaller piece of mini rock trap paper and wore away areas little by little by hand, putting it against the cyclotron to keep checking where I needed to remove material. Pic of that process coming up on the second clamp plate.

Note: I researched this before making them as I knew Stephan's plan were inaccurate. I read that it was supposed to be 7/8" x 3 5/8". So I made one that size and it really didn't look right. Then I made one 1" tall and and it looked spot on.

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On to the second plate. Marked up another scrap piece. Look how perfect the measurements fit! This is the last scrap piece this long at 1" I had. Really didn't want to cut a whole new piece just for this. So, I used the same method above sans the cyclotron rubby rub bit. Just rubbed, checked, rubbed. Worked much better (less fingers/elbow/arm being mad at me).

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I knew through research that the screw holes were 1/2" in from the sides, but wasn't clear on their distance form the top. So I held up the plate to the screen and did my squinty eyed guestimation technique. Made some marks and placed the head of the screw on it to see if it looked right. Came up with a distance of 5/16" from the top. Marked that, made pilot divots, and drilled it out.

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I stack the newly drilled plate on top of the other one. I transferred the hole positions to the lower plate while holding them against the ring step (took holding hand away to snap the pic). Took it to the press and drilled it out.

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I glared at and scooched the plates around until it looked right. Then I used an allen wrench in one hole and the bit in the other to keep them lined up. While pressing them both up to the cyclotron step ring I transferred only the left hole position (right in the perspective of the pic) to the face of the synchronous generator with the bit. Then drilled this hole by hand and tapped it with the screw. I don't show it every time, but I do have have to clean up the surface after every time I tap a hole. Heyoh!

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I widened the screw holes in both plates that only the bit was just in. Then I placed both plates back on and screwed in the one screw. I pressed them up against the step ring and made the other pilot divot on the synchronous. Drilled the second hole out by hand and tapped it. Then cleaned up my mess.

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I widened the other set of plate screw holes in both plates, put them in place, and screwed them down. It was then I decided my headache wasn't going to permit me to do anymore work. There's a bit of a gap between the clamp and step ring, but it's less than a 1/2 mm, so I'm not worried about it. Took an ibuprofen and called it a day. Happy with this weekend's progress non the less!
Last edited by Batfly on September 25th, 2017, 7:53 pm, edited 4 times in total.
twmedford23, Kingpin liked this
#4898738
I work with Styrene a lot with my other props so I am fairly familiar with it. I was just wondering how heavy your pack is so far.

With my first pack build I was trying to go with very light by using Styrofoam for the majority of the construction. I did use wood for where the wand mounts. Later on I replaced some parts with 3D printed stuff.

I was wondering about weight because when I was making the bumper I started to make it out of solid Styrene and it got fairly heavy. (Styrofoam was too fragile) I then tried Expanded PVC sheets. This was much lighter material but then that also started to get heavy as I layered the stuff together. I eventually went with a 3D printed bumper when I got a 3D printer.
#4898741
I'd need a scale to answer that question lol. The bumper, if you go way back to when I constructed it, isn't solid. It has the two sides, then cross members with the top and bottom skinned on. The wings are solid though.
#4899089
Mother puss bucket! I'm 3 days behind on updates. Will get to that soon. Sorry guys.
twmedford23 liked this
#4899100
Friday, September 29th, I got a little progress done after work. I decided to start getting the electronics sorted in the thrower. Time for rapid prototyping!

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I inserted the spongeface bezel and gbfans bar graph into the thrower body. I traced the edge of the circuit board just to get an idea of what I have to work with. Removed the graph and bezel. Then marked the ends of the circuit board on a scrap piece of styrene. Alway save your scraps! Made sure it went past the lip of the bezel. Since this piece was so small I just free handed a straight line between the markings while scoring with a razor. Snapped the piece pieced off.

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I had to make some risers to clear the solder points on the board. Marked this out on the board and cut some more scrap styrene the size of the marked areas. Rubbed down the long base piece as it went past the lip of the bezel. Glued the posts onto the base.

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Traced out the circuit board holes and guesstimated their center positions with the top of the razor blade swirled around. Drilled these out by hand and tapped them with the screws. Came out great. Doesn't have to be petty, form over function for the guts.

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Threw some glue on inserted the bezel and pressed the circuit board down for a minute. Very happy with the results.

This is all I got done before it was dinner time.
twmedford23 liked this
#4899112
I had off Saturday, September 30th, and continued working on the electronics of the thrower. This electronic work is when I start to feel like I'm really working on a proton pack. That just me? Lol

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Needed to secure the acrylic wand tip/ plasma tube combo. I took a thin walled pvc tube I had for something or other and drew a line down the side. Then I cut along that line with a hack saw blade. Once done I pressed the tube closed and sawed again to widen the cut. This was to make sure there was room for the wire and solder point without any pressure applied said wire and solder.
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I forced the tube open and slid in the plasma tube. The plan was to hold the tube on with compression against the white rubber that held it in place of its original plastic housing. When ones of those rubber parts came close to a plastic widener while sliding it in, I'd remove the widener and then force the tube open again, but below the rubber part. Then slide the tube farther. I used a stick like piece of styrene to push the rubber parts around as need. When everything was in place, I removed the widener and it compressed tightly around the rubber securely just as planned.

Had to redo it all as I had forgotten to place the aluminum wand adapter on first. Ooops lol. Went faster the second time haha.

Cut and glued on four centering spacers to the outside of the tube. Set it away to dry.

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Went on to fit and secure the gbfans wand kit main board. After placing the board in a ton of different locations in the thrower body, I came up with an idea. I traced the board onto some scrap styrene and cut and snapped it out. Didn't document this.

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I cut out four rectangular spacers for solder point clearance on the back of the board and glued them on. Traced the holes onto the spacers and waited 10 minutes for the glue to set a bit.

Then I drilled the holes out, tapped, and screwed them. Checked hole alignment. Looks good.

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I cut down some of the screws protruding up from the button plate with the hack saw blade. Then I glued the mounting point to the inside of the gun track/bottom plate cover. You see where I'm going with this?

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These are pretty self explanatory. I test fitted the ribbon cable, it was a tight fit to get my fingers in there, but I got it. This'll have to be the last part I attach after the switch and light wires, etc during final assembly. Unless I get an extended ribbon cable somehow. I wonder if spongeface is reading this? Lol.

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I grabbed the wand tip assembly and wore down the centering posts to fit in the barrel.

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After inserting the tip innards into the barrel, aluminum adapter included, I straightened out the tube along its rotational axis. Used the trigger tip top edge sighted to the gun body top to achieve this. I marked the innards in case I need to service it in the future to make lining up easier. Then I drilled and tapped through the barrel coupler and into the tip extension tube. This'll keep it all in place.

Sure, I'm a little sad I won't have the tip extension feature, but I planned this in a way that I can implement it in the future. I'd have to run wires from the plasmas tube through the corrugated tube into the pack and house the plasma tube board in there. Speaking of which...


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I found areas on the button of the plasma tube board where I could put spacers underneath between solder points. I cut styrene to fit those spaces with about 1/4" sticking out. Glued them on. Then I cut a couple pieces to retain the board in place and keep them off the v hook screws. Glued those on too. I just didn't feel like doing more hack sawing, lol. I drilled into the sticking out areas of the spacers, being very careful not to drill all the way through the bottom plate cover. Tapped the holes with the screws. Three screws in total.

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I screwed the plasma tube board down and then had a short moment of panic. Did I leave clearances for the connecting ribbon cable from the pack board? So I plugged it in and look at that! Almost like I planned for it, but I just lucked out. Phew! What a relief.

At this point the thrower is ready for paint. I have to solder some wires between the plasma tube and board and power wires to come off the light board. I'm thinking of using some small Molex connectors for easy removal of wand innards or board separate from one other without desoldering.

This is all for that day.
#4899197
Finally some time to post what I got done Monday, October 2nd.

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Sunday, the day before, I picked up a 2'x4'x1/4" sheet of mdf after work. Didn't do anything with it as I was tired. I had the next day off anyway.

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So Monday, I removed the bumper and placed the pack in a corner of the mdf sheet. I didn't think this through enough which will pan out later. Enough not-so-subtle foreshadowing...

I held up a piece of styrene and traced around the shell with the pencil in the styrene. This was to get an 1/8" over(under?)hang to allow for clean up of slight mistakes and for forgiving wiggle room.

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Using a ruler I connected 1/8" out from the corner of the bottom right gun mount fin/rib to 1/8" out from the last cosmetic plate on right side of the synchronous generator.


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I set the board up on my Jerry rigged saw horses. Cut off the excess mdf on top and to the side with a jig saw. Then I came in from the sides taking out pieces little by little, cutting on the traced line, then in from the side again to connect to the cut line area. Some lines between outward angled lines I'd come in at a curve into the middle of a line. Cut it off with a straight cut from the outer edge. Then I'd come back on the same line in the opposite direction to cut the other half of the line. I could cut nice, sharpish concave curves this way. Hope it made sense.


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Then it happened! On the "floating" line between the gun mount and cyclotron, I wanted to fix a mistake with the jig saw instead of cleaning it up later. I over worked the area and cut in too far! Doh!

The sloppy green line is an approximation of hour fast in I stupidity overworked the line. This cut goes past where the pack wall would sit.

So I made some angry cuts into the shell so I would be forced to throw it away. Cracked it in half over my knee just because. Then I realised my original mistake. In my excitement to get the motherboard made first thing in the day, I forgot I planned to lay out the pack in a way I'd be able to get two motherboards if needed. The positioning and how I cut the excess off first screwed any chance at that.

So I had to go back out and get another mdf board. It's only an additional $8, but I was just mad at myself and having to backtrack.

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When I got back, I fought discouragement and planned better. I measured and drew a center line. Then I moved and rotated the pack around a bunch untill I found where it fit with the least amount sticking into the other half. I traced out the pack the same as before. Next I made sure to check the opposite side to seer if I could indeed get another motherboard cut if I screwed up again. It was good so I set it up and cut it on the half line except for the protruding area.

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Cut it out carefully. Yes, didn't mess up where I did last time. Even though it was from over working after the initial cut, you can see where I got paranoid. The cut line moves out where I messed it up last time. I didn't notice I was doing it at the time. lol

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Brought it in from the balcony and placed the pack on it. I went around and noted where I needed to clean up. Took the pack off and circled the noted areas.

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Then I used various abrasive means and cleaned up the areas. Very happy with the results.

I had already ordered mounting brackets and rivets from here but they hadn't arrived yet, so I was done with the motherboard for the time being.

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I went on to drill out the ppd. I used a bit to drill a hole for a hose barb. I did this with super light pressure very slowly to try and keep bit walking in control from the steep angle. Then I went again with another larger bit to make a counter sunk hole for the hose and loom.

Tapped it with an ion arm cap screw. These seem to be the trick to threading for hose barbs. It worked again.

The counter sunk hole walls aren't super smooth and the opening chipped a very slight amount. This actually still looks cleaner than reference photos of screen used packs. Lol. Although it did end up a little bit too far forward. This actuality might help a around the booster frame for clearance and will be a unique characteristic of my pack. Ie: I'm not concerned or willing to make another one

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Finally I finished the injector line inlets into the synchronous generator. I cleaned up the epoxie with a jeweler's file. Then I made pilot divots and drilled them out. Tapped them with screws and, tada, two more easy peasy hose barb threaded holes. Can't believe how much troubled I used to have trying to tap with the barb itself. Sheesh!

That catches us up! Till next update...
Last edited by Batfly on October 5th, 2017, 6:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
twmedford23 liked this
#4899209
twmedford23 wrote:I suspect a motherboard update.........
Refresh and look above your post, you are correct. :)
twmedford23 liked this
#4899445
Alright, past due update time! This post will be the progress from after work on Friday, October 6th. The goal for the evening was to get the "shell" mounted to the mobo yo.

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While looking at reference photos of Bill Murray's pack, I held two rivets against an L bracket to get the spacing dialed in. I tried to measure the distance of the rivets' post centers while holding them.

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I scored lines on each bracket based on the post measurements I took. I also measured the length of the bracket base and made a line half of that across the base. I started to mark pilot divots on the intersection of these lines on one bracket...

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...when I decided to check the markings to the rivets. Good thing I did! The rivet edges in the pic are touching under my thumb. You can see the post centers are farther out than the scored guide lines. Whoops. Measure twice and drill once, you know?!

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So then I scored new lines 1/8" out on each side. Held the rivets up and this was too much. So new marks were made 1/16" out from the originals. This looked perfect. So I marked all the others as such, made pilot divots, and drilled them out with the 3/16" bit. I test fitted the rivets and was pleased with the result.

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I just thought this long aluminum burr that came off the drill press looked cool.

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I test fitted the rivets against the motherboard while inserted into a bracket since both the board and brackets together are 1/2" thick. It didn't leave much material for the rivets to do their thing.

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So I decided to counter sink the holes 1/8" in the aluminum brackets. I found the depth I wanted and set the stop nuts on the drill press to that and drilled. Test fitted the rivets again and things look much better, instilling me with much more structural confidence.

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Took a moment noticing the mounting screw placements in reference photos and drew four lines on the motherboard at those positions. I placed the brackets at those spots centered on the markings and traced their sides.

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Then I checked for clearance inside the shell and marked what needed to be removed.

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I measured the width of the shell at the bracket placement points and added a c-hair more for wiggle room. Transferred that distance to the motherboard starting from the traced shell line that is already 1/8" in from the edge.

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Lined up the brackets to their markings on the mobo and taped them down.

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I cut, scored, bent, and snapped out the material need for clearance.

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Tested the fit of the shell on the mobo and taped down the brackets. By god I did it on my first try! Perfection. If I slam the ass of the shell right up onto the bottom two brackets it lines everything up exactly where it needs to be with a perfect 1/8" lip of mobo space all around the shell. I raised the shell up to show placement of brackets in relation to the shell. Don't know why I didn't take a shot of it laying flat at this point. I swear it did lol.

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Using the 3/16" bit, I poked through the tape and twirled in the hole locations to the motherboard. When that was done I removed the tape and labeled the brackets and their corresponding locations. Then I drilled out the holes with the 3/16" bit on the press.

It's not documented with photos, but I practiced popping a few smaller flanged 3/16" rivets into some scrap styrene I drilled out. I highly recommend this. The rivets takes some force, and then the pop can be startling. You can also get a feel for how the tool needs to be repositioned back up onto the rivet post after the first pull. Of course, if you already have riveting experience, you can skip the practice, duh.

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I put the rivets through the holes from the bottom and held them up while I placed the brackets over them. Clamped the bracket down and used the rivet pop gun tool thingy from the underside on them. So glad I counter sunk these suckers! I did these in two to three pulls each.

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Repeated the process on the others. Love the results! Super happy with the rivet head spacing. These brackets are so secure, the mdf would most likely break first if it were to.

Oh, heeeeeeey there Missy! Nice photo bomb. [emoji14]

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I, again, consulted reference photos for the mounting screw heights off the motherboard and started drilling on the ion arm side. I felt the shell shift as I hit aluminum with the spinning bit. I immediately stopped and decided to start from the bottom since the travel is only up and down with no play at all side to side. So, with the shell pressed onto the bottom brackets, I drilled the left bottom mount hole, tapped it, and screwed it down (drill and tap process shots are of right bottom mount after I did the left). Then the right and then the gun mount side.

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Went back to the ion arm side and surveyed the situation. Yep, it indeed shifted 1/8". Lol, I was so paranoid about it moving again that I clamped it down before drilling even though it had three screws in it already. I drilled out the shifted position not sweating such a small difference. Luckily it was so small that the washer covered it up.

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Speaking of the washers: I know they weren't brass washers for the mounting screws in GB1. These were to be used only on the bumper, but I love the look of the brass so much I'm going to get 4 more and use them on the mount screws. I think it'll be a nice touch for my own idealized pack. It's super easy to change if my mind ever does also in the future.

That was all for that evening.
#4899510
Had off Sunday, October 8th. I woke up, ate breakfast, and eagerly went to town.

Sometimes, when I don't know where to start, I just blank out, stare off into space, and then get hit with sudden motivation.

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This was such a time. Once my space gazing was done , I took my smack of motivation and got up to grab the blue acrylic for the power cell lens. Holding it up to the back side of the power cell, I marked just inside its walls. Then I connected the marks with a ruler. Scored along the marks quite a few times with a fresh exacto blade. This stuff sucks to cut! The blade likes to skip and slip as you pull it and is just a royal brat on the acrylic. Then, when it came time to snap and break, it did so in a jagged fashion making a need to break off the sharp little jaggies. Glad I didn't need the surrounding material for anything. I don't know why I didn't use my scroll saw. Hindsight blah blah. Oh well.

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Cleaned up the sides and put in some angled edges, bevels, chamfers, what-have-yous to clear the excess glue in the corners.

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Thar it goes all fitty fitting like!

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Roughed away up some glue globs (say glue globs 5 times fast) so the lens would sit flush. Then held in the lens and traced the powercell window onto it.


For some reason I had it in my head to get to Ace Hardware before they closed, and being a Sunday, that meant early. So I walked to the one about 1/4 mile up the street to find out spray paint had been banned in Chicago since 19friggin92! The nearest Ace outsides city limits was a 35 minute drive away in Evanston. At least that one closed 2 hours later.

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So I walked back to my car and had a nice back massage due to this lovely 15" monster powered by 1000 watts. One of my many other hobbies.


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I got 2 cans of primer, they only had one can of Ace metallic silver (the guy at the previous Ace in Chicago said Krylon makes their store brand spray paint) and 2 cans of Krylon satin black. I also got 6' of 3/4" OD vinyl tube for the thrower loom, a dpdt switch to rewire the battery, power, and charger in the pack. Up on the switch will be pack on, middle all off, and down charging port only. I got various nylon spacers and some small cap head screws to secure the circuit boards and speaker. Lastly from ace I bought red and blue wire quick connectors.

I then went to Dollar Tree and bought four $1 flash lights for their reflectors. Bonus were the unscrewable black caps that previously held in the large LEDs. Will be great for holding the gbfans cyclotron LEDs and wires. Bought a pan splatter blocker for n-filter mesh.

Then it was off to Advance Auto Parts for a can of Dupli-color truck bed coating. I saw NAMSSORG use it in his pack build for the cast iron texture and loved it. It's a vinyl spray product so it'll actually be a structural upgrade once applied.

Bumped the bass all the way back home. This fetch quest took the majority of the day at almost 4 hours! Oh well. Happy with my loot. Then I got home, popped out the reflectors, and lined up my stuff for that pic up there, lol.

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Remembering my caliper buddy came with an extra battery, I fished it out of the tool closet. Measured the power cell mounting hole centers. Then the width and length of the power cell lens. Drew center lines and measured out half the dimensions of the hole centers off these center lines.

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Made pilot divots on the marks, drilled, and tapped them out SLOWLY as to not chip or crack the acrylic. Used the new risers and screwed the board to the lens. They might be too long at 3/4". I'll see once its done and it's an easy fix if I don't like it.

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I then devised a way to hold the lens in place and give more material for the board to screw into. Full disclosure, I drew that just now while writing this post at work, not while working on the pack. Lol, not that it matters.


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I cut out side slots for some styrene "rail" risers that will have the rails screw into them. I used a hack saw blade and then scored many times between them. Snapped them out with pliers. One of them almost chipped into the visible window area, but stopped just short! Whew. Then I cleaned up the cuts with a rasp.

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I placed the lens over cut lengths of scrap styrene and cut out rail risers where the gaps I made were. Placed the lens back in the power cell and glued the risers in place. Didn't want the lens glued in permanently, so I let the glue set a few minutes before removing the lens so the risers wouldn't scoot around. Left it alone to cure.

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I quick prototyped up a reflector bracket using a sheet of paper and lots of trial and error. I needed it to clear the screws that held in the cyclotron lens acrylic. I mirrored the measurements onto some new styrene. Not scrap this time? Say what?! I know!

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I scored and cut out the bracket. Then drilled out the center and attached it with the bellows bolt. I traced around the bracket for aiding in keeping it lined up for several of the steps in the future.

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Flipped the whole shell over and traced out the cyclotron widows. Removed the reflector bracket and found the centers of the window tracings using right triangles. Made pilot divots at the centers. On the lower left circle I messed up making the divot and had to re find center. I measured the reflectors just behind the lip and locked the calipers in that position. Then I scribbed around the circles using the center points as pivots. Scored, bent, and snapped out the circles and almost cut myself doing so on the styrene points at the ends of the semi circles. So I cut those bastards points of.

Test fitted the reflectors and they fit like the bracket was designed for them. Oh, wait, it was. [emoji14]

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Attached the reflectors and bracket to the cyclotron without the lens to check their placement. Bam! Loving this!!!

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Removed the 'flectors and bracket. Then reinstalled the lens and 'flectors again. Had to cut the 'flectors out around the lens screws. You could say they got slightly de'flected. I'll be here all week folks...

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I cut some bracket risers and drilled screw holes into the reflector bracket. I taped the risers in place, attached the bracket, lined it up and transferred the hole locations to the risers.

At this point it was after 10pm, dinner was being served (we eat late) and I had to be at work at 7am. So that was it for the day. My OCD hated leaving both the powercell and cyclotron assemblies unfinished. Calm your jets OCD! It'll be ok, I promise.

This story continues... when I get some more time off!
#4899549
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Amazing work again dude!

Dat sub tho.......... it's bigger than the boot in my R53 Mini [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Thanks! Yeah, that's a hand made sub enclosure at 4.7 cu ft tuned to 27 hz. It's 36" wide, 18" tall, and 16" deep using 3/4" mdf. It's my first 15" woofer. Always had 12"ers previously. I hear low notes in songs now I've never heard before and with authority! I could never go back lol.
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