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sethb6025 Community Member
Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 248 Location: York, PA US
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 9:44 am Post subject: |
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Simply amazing, very cool to see it in the original case! _________________ Wait; I'm having one of those things! You know; a headache with pictures? |
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stephen210 Community Member
Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 196
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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OUTSTANDING!!
Great work guys.
GREAT JOB!!!
I could go on and on....
Steve |
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andy Community Guide
Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 6237 Location: Rochester, NY
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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That is truly awesome. Giving back to the guy who has given so much to this hobby. Very cool.
Andy |
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phase pistol Community Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2006 Posts: 1147
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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Now I'm going to have to go back over this entire thread to appreciate what's been done.
Awesome job! Well done. |
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FenGiddel Community Member
Joined: 11 Jul 2009 Posts: 368
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Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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Great work! Now that you've "got access to MU-TH-UR now", use it wisely... |
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SKIN JOB 66 Community Member
Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Posts: 2724 Location: FRANCE
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:39 am Post subject: |
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Completely missed the end of the story, just saw the final pics a minute ago !!!
WOW, awesome result !!! Bravo guys !!!
(BTW, did you complete your Mu-TH-UR key box, too ?)
Fred _________________ THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST |
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Mike Rush Community Member
Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Hertfordshire, England
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:50 am Post subject: |
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Thanks.
I must admit there's been a somewhat slack period where I haven't touched the box for a while. But there are plans to get back on it, don't worry! _________________ Mike
"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley" |
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SKIN JOB 66 Community Member
Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Posts: 2724 Location: FRANCE
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:07 am Post subject: |
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Great news Mike, can't wait to see your next update on the box now !!!
Fred _________________ THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST |
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Mr Webber Community Member
Joined: 13 Apr 2008 Posts: 1824 Location: Terra Australis
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:09 am Post subject: |
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A benchmark achievment and a great back story, congratulations. _________________ Formerly offworld66 |
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joberg Community Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 9447
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Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:58 am Post subject: |
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Ditto here: eager to see the box being built. |
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Mike Rush Community Member
Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Hertfordshire, England
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 8:16 am Post subject: |
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Okay... I know this has sat around for too long.
To open the box, I've never been able to find a spring which is right. (At least, not somewhere that sells them in units of less than 1000!) My research has taught me that the kind in the photos is known as a torsion spring, and also that they come in different configurations: 90º, 180º, etc. I need a 180º type - that is, it tends towards a straight line (and thus opens the lid). I simply haven't found them 'for sale' anywhere though. So that's been a problem.
Recently I was standing at the bathroom sink and I looked down and there was one of my wife's hairgrips. I stared at it for a second. It contained a spring which looked just right!
Obviously I didn't steal it and rip it apart. No, I went out and bought the cheapest, tackiest hairgrips I could find.
There are many shapes and sizes available, with various sizes of spring. I deliberately chose smaller, weaker springs since my box is only foamex. If the spring is too strong, there's a chance that it will rip the foamex apart.
After a little gentle coaxing the springs were removed.
Then, just the other day I was walking in the park and saw this on the ground. It's a broken piece of a much larger grip. What a coincidence! Well, it might not be useful yet but you never know.
Yes, I picked it up. I'm not proud.
To make room for the spring, the hinge will need the centre section removed. That will involve cutting my lovely (expensive) 3D-printed piece!
I removed the hinge from its temporary home, lined it up on a cutting board, and scored both sides with a scalpel.
Soon it was off. I must say this printed plastic is very nice to work with. Not too brittle or too soft.
I then replaced the hinge piece and assembled the box, incorporating a spring onto the hinge rod.
If the plastic hinge looks bent, it is. Those pieces are just lightly stuck down with small pieces of double-sided tape. I don't want to glue them until I know everything is right!
What I found was that the spring was by no means strong enough to open the lid.
I had one more idea. I reassembled everything, this time including three springs.
The result was better, but not enough to reproduce the nice, sharp action seen in the film. I might need to go back and buy larger hairgrips. However I am aware that the temporary fixing and the bending of the plastic may be affecting the results, so I think I'm happy to work around this for now and worry about the spring when everything's a bit more final.
At least the theory works. _________________ Mike
"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley" |
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8th_Passenger Community Member
Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 443 Location: Hertfordshire, UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:20 am Post subject: |
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Nice work Mike ''
We have larger crocodile clips at work. I wonder if they are a similar spring.
My initial thought is they may be too big.
Colin |
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joberg Community Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 9447
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Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:21 am Post subject: |
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Great stuff Mike (yeah, as for "borrowing" personal objects from the wife is something I don't do anymore...I like my life ).
As for picking stuff off the ground or in garbage cans, there's no shame in my book; as a recycler I've found tresors over the years and a plastic bag will not stop me
Eager to see the result of your quest for the perfect "spring". |
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SKIN JOB 66 Community Member
Joined: 16 Jan 2008 Posts: 2724 Location: FRANCE
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:17 am Post subject: |
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joberg wrote: | Great stuff Mike (yeah, as for "borrowing" personal objects from the wife is something I don't do anymore...I like my life ).
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Same here !
Nice work Mike, hope you'll find the best solution for the door mechanism !
Fred _________________ THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST |
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Mike Rush Community Member
Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Hertfordshire, England
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Last time you saw the interior it looked like this:
The 'walls' are just loosely tacked in place, and are butt-jointed as you can see. I suppose I should do it 'properly' with mitre joints, so I made four more walls which you can see here, ready to be mitred to length.
One length has had a small section removed; this will be the wall on the right, and the missing section makes room for the little ball which goes on the rod, forming part of the door catch mechanism.
Around the top of these 'walls' there should be an extra, chamfered border which takes it up to the level of the top of the box. Yet again I was unable to find a ready-made 45º extrusion (there's a pattern developing). I thought about converting some square dowel by shaving half of it away, but this was very hard to do neatly.
In the end Colin came to the rescue again! He cleverly made one length at a 45º angle, then moulded it and cast up four pieces in resin for me.
This should be much easier to work with and get a clean finish (provided I don't muck it up). I'm still optimistic that a coat of Hammerite will conceal all kinds of ills, though. _________________ Mike
"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley" |
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joberg Community Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 9447
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Good stuff (and thanks Collin)...yeah, hammerite should do the trick (to a certain extend, of course) |
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Mike Rush Community Member
Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Hertfordshire, England
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:46 am Post subject: |
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I marked up the four 'walls' to just larger than required (to allow for fine tuning). Normally one would use a mitre block for this, but mine is a small one for modelling and so the pieces are too large for it. I'll have to use the sanding disc at work.
Unfortunately the sander here has no guides on it, so I had to knock up a home-made 45º angle and slide the pieces against that. It took some testing but I got there in the end.
I angled all eight corners and everything seems to fit.
The next thing is to add the sloped border around the top. Here's one of Colin's nice resin pieces placed in position.
And then, with the help of my trusty mitre block:
None of this is glued yet... as usual I can't lock it all down until I've made more progress. In this case the rod/ball assembly would have to be in position first. _________________ Mike
"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley" |
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stephen210 Community Member
Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 196
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome. Is an under statement |
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Mike Rush Community Member
Joined: 30 Jul 2009 Posts: 184 Location: Hertfordshire, England
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:07 am Post subject: |
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One thing holding me up is that the metal latch rod needs a shorter piece welded (or soldered or whatever) to it, at a right angle. I don't know how I'm going to do that yet.
To get an idea of how it will work, I made a very rushed substitute from plastic rod.
Here you can see the new rod in place, with the short section disappearing into the base.
Another view to make it even more clear.
And here's a view from the back. I added the arrow to show the action required to open the box. This action will be provided by a small solenoid... that's the theory anyway. When this is pulled, the long rod above will turn slightly, causing the flat side on the ball in the centre to disengage from the lid. Phew!
Now I have four pieces of 'faux extrusion' all mitred to fit. Here it all is in position but still nothing fixed! It's quite a delicate balancing act, believe me. I'll be glad when I can fix this thing together.
So this is the 'most complete' it's been to date!
And, just because I can, here's Colin's test key dropped in.
_________________ Mike
"We're not heroes - we're from Finchley" |
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joberg Community Member
Joined: 06 Oct 2008 Posts: 9447
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Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:34 am Post subject: |
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Wow That last pic with the key is a beauty for sure! Keep up the great work mate. |
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