[Gareee]

Sorry for the lack of updates.. I took a few days to make us an ecto rooftop for our car.

I completed (almost) one trap today. It still needs a few bolts, and a sticker or two, but otherwise its done, and I';m VERY pleased with the result!

[lookatthemonkeys]

Looks great guys! I am glad you finished in time! I am close to finishing mine, but don't know if I will be able to finish by Saturday!

[Gareee]

Well, one down at least. I LOVE the fake smoke effect! I ended up using two leds on each side to increase the visibility of the side most effect.

[Gareee]

Heres the trap on it's holster...

[The Stiff]

Yes!!!! Those lights look great!! Excellent job!

[Gareee]

The front panel also has dual flashing leds, and of course, the back red light flashes as well. We actually ended up with an extra flasher that couldn't reach the front properly, so I just covered that with electric tape to hide it.

[Leegon]

Friggin' cool man! Most excellent work.

[Gareee]

Ack! Halloween day, 10:45, and my trap is 90% complete.. and my dremel dies!

The HORROR!

And we are heading out 1-2pm... not sure if I'll make it in time now..

[jeffpilg]

Ack! Halloween day, 10:45, and my trap is 90% complete.. and my dremel dies!

The HORROR!

And we are heading out 1-2pm... not sure if I'll make it in time now..

So everything turned out well then it seems?

[Gareee]

Yep.. I finished up my trap about 4pm, and we won both the group award and the overall costume awards at a club later on. I'll post side by side pics of our traps later on.

Oh, and fixed my dremel as well!

[Gareee]

I found a few stray wip images...







I finally added some weathering to mine, and I still need to add more of the fake bolt heads, and I'll post new images when I have that completed.

[Gareee]

Well, I had them together, and I realized I didn't post pics of them side by side...

[docshiv]

Awesome work, as always Gareee!

Those came out great.

[Gareee]

Thanks. I still have some stray bolt heads n such to attach, and I probably should build the pedals since I bought all the parts for them, but at least we can use them as they are, and I can do that in my leasure.

[Gareee]

Here are a few afterthoughts after using the traps on our gear for a while:

Make the handle VERY sturdy.. I find myself always wanting to use it as an arm rest.

Either don't add wheels, or make them removable... after wearing them for a few hours, the weight and the wheels specifically can bruise your leg. Removing the wheels will remove that possibility, and they really are not seen on a worn trap anyway.

Not having the pedal is mostly a non issue.. hardly anyone notices we don't even have one between us.

[GAVAL]

Gareee, can you go into more detail about how you used tubing instead of Brass for the Axels? I dont' quite get what you did and am not sure how I'll proceed when I put mine in. I was gonna use wodden dowels too, but I don't get where the tubing applies? Is the tubing around the wooden dowel?

G

[Gareee]

You really don't use a proper axel that goes to both bearings.

Instead, I used a square dowel cut to size, and drilled pilot holes for the screws. you want those holes to match the screws, so they don;t split the dowel when you put them in.

Take the bearings to Lowe's (or home depot), and find pvc hose that cuts snugly inside the axel hole of the bearing. Buy a foot of it, probabl;y $36 cents or so.

Cut about 1/4 inch cuts off the hose with a razor blade, exacto, or sharp scissors. (If you put the hose in hot water before cutting, it cuts cleaner and easier.)

Now slip those 1/4" cuts inside the bearing axel holes. I used a wood screw, but you could use a countersunk hex bolt for a more machined appearance. (Note people will NOT see this if you are wearing the trap... it's more for yourself.)

Then just use the bolt or wood screw, and attach them into the wooden dowels.put some wood glue in the holes first, and let them dry, or if yer in a hurry, use hot glue instead. the screw/bolt will hold the bearing on securely, and you can glue (or even pre drill and use screws) to attach the completed assemblies to the base of the trap.

You can see the hose, and if you look between the bearing and the screw, you can see the cut of hose in there in this shot:



If I'd have used smaller screws, the screw would be more flush with the edge of the bearing.

Also of note: if you are building a trap to wear, the metal bearings WILL bump your leg when you walk around. (Ouch!) I had small bruises on my leg from them after Megacon.

If I was making them again, I wouldn't even bother with wheels, or make a interchangeable wheel base and non wheel base, one for display, and one for wearing. The bearings also do add significant weight to a belt prop that already is a bit heavy, if made from MDF.

Hmmmm... actually, I think my bases ARE screwed onto our traps. Odds are, I can make new matching bases for our traps without wheels, so they are lighter and more comfortable. Maybe another Dragoncon project?

[GAVAL]

Well, Gareee, I don't know what I'm doing wrong...the wheels all seem to be at odd angles. Maybe my hose just doesn't fit right in the axel holes, but the trap roles at a sharp angle to the left and the wheels are definately not parellel. I even went in on the wooden square dowels and sanded the edges to be at better right angles parallel to the direction I want to trap to go but it just doesn't roll straight, and the more I mess with it the more the wheel bearing seem to roll rougher and rougher. I'm afraid if I keep messing with it. (2 hours trying last night) I'll ruing the wheels to the point that it won't roll anymore.

My next plan is to take the wooden dowels and put one screw in the middle so I can pivot the front and "steer" the wheels until the thing rolls straightish.

G

[AJ Quick]

I really think those traps look cool with the simulated billowing smoke.

[Gareee]

Gaval: Hmmm... are they tight enough? I'm wondering if they just aren;t flush with the wooden dowel? Ours roll fine, and are fast because of the bearings. Maybe add a small washer between the dowel and the bearing, and make sure the screws holding them are nice and tight. If the washer is snug against the inner part of the bearing, the outer part will still freewheel fast because of the bearings inside it.

Since I did 4 sets of wheels for both our traps, you must be doing something differently then I did. Can you take a few pics so I can see what you have there?

AJ: Thanks! At night they look killer. Only downside I've found is if we loop the cable on the traps around the handles when wearing them, that of course covers up and kind of smashes down the fiberfill, lessening the effect. We'll have both of them with us at Dragoncon, and we'll see how well it looks under the bright lights there.

I might see if I can just add zip tie or something on our belts to hold the split loom cables looped on our belts, so it isn't laying against the polyfill "smoke".

BTW, shouldn't you be off playing with the router?

[GAVAL]

I'm using washers....so the only possibility is that either the wood I"m screwing it in to or the tubing I used in the middle is not square.

I feel like if I unscrew it a few more times I will have completely trashed the bearings and stripped the wood axel holding dowels. They're already not rolling well because I might have screwed it TOO tight. Maybe that damaged it?

I'll send pics. I"m thinking of the same things you're thinking of because I've tried everything you're suggesting already...the only obvious differance is my tube axels must be too small, but still, wish washers on both sides the bearings should to in straight, should they not? Tubing or no tubing?

I'll add pics to the thread of the wheels if I get a moment tonight.

G

[Gareee]

You can't really screw them too tight, because the screw only touches the inn bearing hub, allowing the outside to spin freely. You don;t want them too tight mainly because you don;t want to split the wooden dowel.

Do all your bearings spin easily? Old roller blade bearings or cheap ones can hitch, and spin slowly.. if you have bad bearings on both sides, that might account for the issues as well.

(I always used fast abec 7 bearings on my roller blades, and I tore them apart for our trap bearings, since they no longer fit.)

Bearing ratings are stamped on the inner hub.. if they are abec 1 or two, that could be an issue, especially if they are also old used bearings as well.

[GAVAL]

They spun freely before I put em on the trap. I don't know if it's sawdust, or they're rubbing in a way I can't see, or if I pinched them too hard between washers with the screw, but now they don't roll as well. They roll, but not as freely....and they're not straight so the trap curves when it rolls.

I'll try to get those pics to you...I think the bearings are ABEC 4 or 3....

G

[spiff]

These are awesome Gareee. You've inspired me to make a couple myself this season; and I love the billowing 'smoke.'

[Gareee]

Thanks! Check out AJ's for sale thread.. he has a kit coming out that looks like it'd be MUCH easier to assemble, at a good pricepoint.