By Tacos
#432387
this may be a stupid question as i'm not knowledgeable on using riveting but how exactly did you attach those tanks? What kind of rivet gun or whatever should i get to use? BTW this build looks amazing....i'm not sure if it was said but where did you get the "red ball" from? & what domes did you use from Home Depot or material to make them
By gEkX
#432522
Tacos wrote:
how exactly did you attach those tanks?
I marked three spots on both sides of the Large Tank Plate.

Then used a 3/16" drill bit on those spots.

Held the tanks in place and marked the drill spots.

Then used the the same 3/16" drill bit and (keeping it perpendicular to the surface of the tank) hit those three spots on each tank.

Some 3/16" rivets that had a 3/8"-1/2" Grip range.. pop pop.. done.

This pic shows it pretty well:

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Tacos wrote:What kind of rivet gun or whatever should i get to use?


I picked up a Craftsman Rivet gun from sears for around $16.

Very similar to this one:

http://www.sears.com/tekton-rivet-gun-w ... ckType=G29

I saw them at Harbor Freight as well. This was the nicer one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools ... 94100.html

If you can drill a proper hole you can use a rivet gun.

Also, Always make sure you deburr metal surfaces.
Tacos wrote:BTW this build looks amazing....
Thanks! :cool:
Tacos wrote:i'm not sure if it was said but where did you get the "red ball" from?
That was a 6" plastic ornament; it came in a set of 3 as at Hobby Lobby. I have an extra one if you need it or:

http://www.christmasdepot.com/Christmas ... Ornaments/

I did a nice thick coat of Rondo inside of it.
Tacos wrote:& what domes did you use from Home Depot or material to make them
Two of these..

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... QdtUR0sp8E

..One of these..

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ecodZ ... QdvSh0sp8E

..and a lot of fiberglass/bondo work.
By Tacos
#432525
Hey thanks a lot I really appreciate it! I wouldn't mind taking you up on that offer for the 6in ball either :) ill PM you so we can discuss it. Hope my slime blower will turn out this nice.
By gEkX
#433553
FunkPunkTwang wrote:Have I told you how awesome your build is going lately?
Thank you sir.

The kind words and pointers from everyone really means a lot.


Here's a little update.

To mount the two side by side hoses I used a little bit of that black tape I sell to hold the hose in place on the PVC fittings:

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Used a hose clamp to secure it down and then wrapped it with some more tape.


I've been putting it off for some reason.. but I finally tackled that weird bottom plate.

First thing I did was take some quick measurements and came up with 1.5" for the Width and 6.5" for the Length.

The Length was the tricky part... having only a ruler and protractor at my disposal for measurements; I did have to play the guessing game a bit.

Anyways, I came up with 1" length for each of the Flat portions and 1.75" for the Angled portions.

Then, with some simple math I found 6.5" for the overall length.

The angles I came up with were 120 degrees and 60 degrees.

So I cut a strip of 1/8" aluminum, drew my measurements on the inside and got to bending.

I used a couple clamps and a scrap piece of styrene placed in the middle on the line I wanted to bend.

Then used a tool very much like this..

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools ... 98728.html

..(I went with the "cheaper" version that didn't have the lock on it) and bent it until it was 120 degrees, flipped it around and did the same thing for the other angle.

I put one end 1" into a large metal Vise like this..

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10” woodworking vise
Model 42494
Harbor Freight

... and bent it back until the bottom piece was parallel to the top, flipped it around and did the same for the other side.

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While I was cutting the the lower bracket I cut out a little 1.25 x 1.25 square.

Truth be told, I went with 1.25 for the width of the original bracket and it just didn't look right.. waste not, want not :)

You can kinda see it in this pic:

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Then a couple rivets later..

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Close up:
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Getting the elbow squared away..

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..and mounted.

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I'm not really happy with that hose but its a decent replacement.. for now.


Now we come full circle, Spotlights

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See how they sit with the base angled back; that's not right.

Also, the light bases should sit closer to the tanks.

So, I marked some spots.

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Pulled them off and drew a line around what I wanted to cut off.

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Secured it..

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..and keeping that funny angle that they sat at in mind, trimmed them down.

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Nick-a-tron's beautiful lower tray.. I'm still debating on how exactly to mount it.

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I couldn't resist setting it all up for a couple pics:

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I'm starting to get the light portion of the electronics together.

I have most all the components I need so, just doing some breadboard stuff and looking code over for examples that can help me jump-start getting my own code together.

I think, spare a few resistors, I have most of the positive connections sorted out.

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I'm using a Micrel MM5451YN with the Arduino for the lights.

More on all that as I get it further along. :cool:
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By Kingpin
#433558
For mounting the lower tray, you could use a couple of set of long bolts to mount the heatsink to the tray, which can in turn mount the tray to the board beneath the main tank.

Looking superb, gEkX.
gEkX liked this
By gEkX
#433574
Kingpin wrote:For mounting the lower tray, you could use a couple of set of long bolts to mount the heatsink to the tray, which can in turn mount the tray to the board beneath the main tank.

Looking superb, gEkX.
Thanks!

That's what I was thinking as well.

Maybe even two sets of bolts and some coupling nuts in-between.

I plan on putting most of the electronics in the tray so either way I need to be able to get it off for any repairs they may need at some point.

Alan Hawkins wrote:I gotta stop reading this thread or I'm going to end up building one of these...
:D Do it man.

Its been very fun and rewarding so far.
By Tacos
#438702
Just wanted to say thanks again the that "Ball" ornament...got some 10in. diameter PVC today that i'm going to use for my main tank and hopefully this weekend gonna get my gun kit made, tanks made & painted...i still need to order more stuff. But what grey color did you use on the tank? And did you use any type of gloss coat on the tanks after they were painted? If so what kind


And one last question..if you do lights and sound how are you planning on putting it in and where would the speaker/speakers go?
By gEkX
#438738
Tacos wrote:Just wanted to say thanks again the that "Ball" ornament...got some 10in. diameter PVC today that i'm going to use for my main tank and hopefully this weekend gonna get my gun kit made, tanks made & painted...i still need to order more stuff. But what grey color did you use on the tank? And did you use any type of gloss coat on the tanks after they were painted? If so what kind


And one last question..if you do lights and sound how are you planning on putting it in and where would the speaker/speakers go?
No problem man. Did you find that extra little gift I threw in there?

For the main tank I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss Classic Gray

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I didn't use any type of top coat because I want the paint to age a bit easier.

My recommendation would be, to make sure everything is nice and smooth before you put your final coats of paint on.

Also, Use some type of automotive primer... Filler primer preferably.

I plan on putting the Arduino, M5451, amp, and battery in the lower tray.

For the speakers I was thinking it would be cool to house those in the pump boxes... finding the correct size speakers that are loud enough may be a problem though.

Learning how to write a sketch is a bit mind numbing at times... but I'm learning more every day.

Oh yeah, I decided to dump the Ethernet Shield and picked up a Micro SD break out board..

It has a bit more support when it comes to adding sound files.

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By Tacos
#438741
Haha, dude i just found the little extra you gave me!! Thanks so much man! I was so excited over the ball that i didn't even think to look further into the bag lol. Also i went and got some PVC today for my tank..i'm using 10in inner pvc (outer 10.5)..i went with the bigger one over the 8in ID/8.5in OD as i have a bigger build and wanted something to fit my size frame. Also went to home depot tonight and found a 4in ID/4.5 OD x 2ft and a 3in ID/3.5 OD pvc that i'm going to use for my side tanks (gonna cut the bigger one down a few inches so its smaller). I was looking to do a 5x2 & a 4x2 pvc but home depot didn't carry anything bigger than 4in ID. I took a few pics..what do ya think?

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I also went there and looked for those domes you were talking about but they didn't have them in stock i have to order them online....i looked to see if they had any to fit my smaller ones but nope. So i'm not sure what i'm gonna use for my domes..thinking maybe going to walmart and looking for some bowls even though the bottom will be flat i might can slap some bondo on them a bit and give it some more shape. Or maybe i'll just look online for some christmas plastic ornaments or something. Gonna put together my gun kit this weekend and get that out of the way...slowly i'll work my way up to having mind complete. Thanks again!
By gEkX
#438764
No problem.

Why didn't you tell me you need the other ones? :D I have extras if you want them.

I would look around for some hemispheres that match the OD of your large tank.

Or..

http://shop.christmascentral.com/Items/ ... %20(250mm)

Something like that might work.

Make sure you start a build thread once you get things underway.

PS. Is that 10" PVC Heavy?
By Tacos
#438768
Extra's you say....i'm listening :) haha.

I will def. start a build thread once i get underway..might even put one up this weekend. As far as the PVC weight goes...its not as heavy as you would think but it def. has some heft to it. I am sure once i put on the other 2 tanks plus domes and accessories plus the alice frame it will be semi fun to wear haha. If i had to guess its prob. 15-20lbs maybe, give or take a few lbs. I was actually thinking of going with some round styrofoam balls that i cut in half and bondo them, sand em down and boom domes...but i'm afraid after a few times of being taken on and off the styrofoam bondo might start to break. I may use that method for the smaller tanks but would def. like plastic hemispheres if i could get them. Shoot me a message if you are looking to get rid of those extra ones and we can talk green :)
By knight
#442452
just a quick question

where did you get your hose's from and the mesh? was it all on ebay or from shops.

cheers.
By gEkX
#442493
knight wrote:just a quick question

where did you get your hose's from and the mesh? was it all on ebay or from shops.

cheers.
I picked the hose up from here:

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/air-co ... se-406.php

By mesh, I assume you mean the stuff I used to wrap the hoses?

If so do a eBay search for 1.97" Fabric Heat Shrink Tubing; there's a couple different length options(I went with 10 ft) and free shipping.
By gEkX
#449721
Seems an update is well overdue.

Taking some advise from FunkPunkTwang, I tackled mounting the main tank.

To do this I used 3 heavy duty toggle bolts found at Lowes:

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?par ... &cId=PDIO1

I also picked up some large rubber washers:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_423447-37672-88 ... ber+washer

"Test fitting" the main tank every step thus far really helped when gauging where the mount points needed to be.

So, I marked three spots on the Tank Mounting Plate and drilled three 1/4" holes.

Then I marked the top spot on the main tank and stepped up bit by bit until I had my 1/2" hole for the toggle bolt to pass though.

I placed one of the rubber washers on the hole and then locked the toggle bolt in place.

Completly forgot to take photos of that whole process. Sorry about that.

When its done; the rubber washer should be sandwiched inbetween the main tank and the mounting plate:

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I then used the screw to secure the tank so I could mark the other two spots.

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Repeat the drilling process and MAKE SURE, washer over the hole then, push the toggle bolt though.

I forgot this once and had the cut a rubber washer so I could get it in place.

Easy fix but, kinda bothers me the integrity of that washer is compromised.. maybe its nothing.

Two more screws and its really starting to come together.

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The Tank Mounting Plate:

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Next, the Powercell or Large BUD Ind. Box:

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and the Small BUD Ind. Box:

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I plan on having the Lower Tray and heatsink mounted sometime tonight.

Also, I've made a purchase that hopefully with solve this little vest dilemma.

Cheers!
Kingpin liked this
By gEkX
#450486
Mounting the lower tray has been a bit more difficult than expected.

I ended up cutting out three lids before I got it right.

The main issue was lining up the holes in the tray to the ones on the heatsink.

My plan was to use socket cap screws from either side and coupling nuts in-between.

Measurements are key to the process of lining up your drill points and even then there may be some on-the-fly adjustments needed.

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Also, make sure your holes have a little wiggle room; this helps when getting it all together.

I used a cutting grid to help gauge if the edges were perpendicular.

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Eight screws, four washers, and four coupling nuts later..

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..and its ready to be mounted.

Now, I've been searching off and on for a viable base for my vest.

I believe I've found that; Riddell Power PM86 DB Football shoulder pads.

Now they are exact but damn close. Mainly in the shape and the location of the Velcro.

I'm thinking it may have been an older year that was used.

They were a little dirty/rusty is spots so I covered them in shout, let them sit for about 30 minutes, they threw wrapped in some old t-shirts and threw them in the wash on warm setting.

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Front:
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I'll probably cut these extra pads off and use the materiel elsewhere:

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Back:

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Some more extra padding that I'll cannibalize:

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Looks like the extra ALICE strap pads to me:

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I plan on chopping up the plastics then covering it in a leather type material for the plates on the vest:

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Some extra material and little modification and I should have a decent vest.

Happy 4th of July! :)
By gEkX
#450617
Got the tray mounted yesterday.

Here's a small list of the things I used to get that whole setup done:

Lid-
2x Small Angle Brackets found at Ace
4x 10-32 Socket Cap Screws w/ nuts and washers

Tray w/ heat-sink-
4x 8-32 x 1" Socket Cap screws
4x 8-32 x 1-1/4" Socket Cap screws
3x #8 washers
4x 8-32 Coupling Nuts

Forgot to include that in the last post :walterpeck:


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and with the correct 1/2" loom, thanks Nick!

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I can get some better pics of how it all goes together when I take it apart for paint and to stuff the electronics in there.
By _ecto84
#450662
looks great man!! i woke up this morning and the main tank cracked due to uncured great stuff..

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dont mind the hose going to the ball..its just to satisfy my eyes until i get the proper one..where did you source your that hose gek?
By gEkX
#450697
I've heard if you're using great stuff the key is thin layers.

You could probably cut most that away and cover any imperfections with some bondo.

I picked up some pond hose from Home Depot.

I would really love to fine more accurate hose myself but if you want a piece let me know what length you need and we can work something out.

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