#4843839
I have no idea, it just sounds like a bad idea to me... LOL!
#4843846
Wow, I'm so tired. Another long day and only about 2 hours of free time tomorrow to put the pack back together. It's going to be close. My upgraded pop mech still hasn't showed up yet, thank you Canada Post, but I did get most of the parts attached again and I finally tackled the front grip. Not too bad, not perfect, but not too bad. I didn't drill all the way through like I was afraid of doing.

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I am really wondering about the rear grip. I measured my handle and measurement from the top is:

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And from the bottom:

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I'm not sure if this is too long. Comparing it to the Sony photos and trying to match the angle here.

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I'm just not sure where to put it. If it's close to the Tb/ib it looks wrong, if it far back it's awkward too. I don't know. I'm probably just too tired to look. My searching on the site wasn't going well either. I'll see what I can find again tomorrow (or in a few hours really).

If Canada post doesn't deliver tomorrow it'll be back the my matty thrower again. I don't want to really rush the thrower just for tomorrow and next weekend in Edmonton. Still have lots to figure out on the electronics. Good night everyone!
#4843847
Just checked the tracking on those parts and they only arrived in Richmond, BC today (16th). Drat, I doubt they will make it to Calgary, get sorted, AND delivered tomorrow. Bummer.
#4843849
How much of a distance do you have between the TB/IB and the grip? It kinda looks like you don't have a lot of room there...
#4843853
You might explode yourself but it WON'T be from placing the battery near the magnet.

There have been occasional reports of li-ion batteries spontaneously combusting. I'd guess these arise from manufacturing defects resulting in an internal short. It is a real concern, especially given that these packs are closed securely and removing the battery quickly is difficult, but the risk is very low.
#4843859
PssdffJay wrote:I'm not sure if this is too long. Comparing it to the Sony photos and trying to match the angle here.
Not claiming screen accuracy here. Mine measures 8-1/4 inches from top weld to end. You're going to want 3/4 to 1-inch between the instrument bar and the grip. I went with a distance that felt good for my hand to activate the switches and press the button. That left about 1/2-inch of tubing at the end of the handle.
PssdffJay liked this
#4843860
bishopdonmiguel wrote:I went with a distance that felt good for my hand to activate the switches and press the button. That left about 1/2-inch of tubing at the end of the handle.
I did the same exact thing! I doubt any of the packs were fairly uniform down to the centimeter in this regard, as long as there's generally about a 1/2-inch from the end of the tube to the end of the grip... I felt it was rather important that I was comfortable holding the wand in my right hand, especially while firing... I don't think anybody wants to strain their hands and wrists while at a con, and demonstrating your pack going into overheat mode (since that's always a spectacle to see with the venting and the loudspeakers blaring the overheat alarm, everybody loves it)...
PssdffJay liked this
#4844381
Saskatoon was a blast! A long, boring, straight drive, but fun once we got there! There are lots of photos but here are a couple of my favourites. Lots more on the Facebook.

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And we finally beat the sample campaign while we were there.

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alphabeta001, Smeghead liked this
#4844382
But time for some updates. After a couple days rest I attached the rest of the knobs onto the thrower and tackled the pop mech. It arrived Monday, our post put it in regular instead of expedited when I came into Canada, but there would have been no way I would have had enough time to get it installed.

RJ has great instructions on how to install so I won't rehash that but here is what I did on the inside using his springs rather than the elastics.

I got 2 of the springs from RJ and this one is attached to the bolt that is holding on the rear cylinder and then attached to a lock nut on the arm. You can see the old extra hole where the guide rod used to be on the original version.

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The second spring is attached to the bolt that is used with the latch and then I was able to slip the other end on the 4-40 inside the barrel. That was a pain to get on. What I did was use a precision flat head screw driver and slide the other end of the spring over it, rest the screw driver on the end of the bolt, and using a small allen wrench, push the spring down the driver and onto the bolt. It took a few tries but it worked in the end.

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I took Phil's idea of adding in some foam where the bolt slams into the thrower body because it is pretty forceful. I had some scraps from my neck foam and cut a small piece for that. It helps cushion the blow quite well.

Now I just need to figure out how to get the thrower lights to work with this.
alphabeta001 liked this
#4844384
Then I left 1/4" of space between the tb/ib and the body for the lever and it works like a dream!

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I couldn't find button head cap screws small enough to imitate rivets but I may try some small 4-40 for the weekend as long as the holes needed are smaller than the 1/8 rivets and then I can drill them bigger before I paint for final assembly. I installed the switch and the button to see how comfortable it would be and decided on leaving 7/8" closer to the body and 1/2" at the back. I think that works well.

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If I can get the rear grip on tomorrow, then I'll take this to the Edmonton expo. It is pretty cool having a thrower built now, and I've always liked the bare thrower and brown grips. Maybe one day I'll build a pack with lots of the metal exposed, but for now, this one will be finished properly.
alphabeta001 liked this
#4844548
Thanks everyone! I know I haven't reinvented the wheel or anything but it was really cool to finally attach the bottom plate again and hold it mostly completed. And to make the tube pop, that's really fun too!

I think the red tubing is too long, I just took a piece and put it in for the photo and I haven't looked up the length needed yet. The green one I cut to 7". I did use 2 4-40 screws to hold the rear grip on for this weekend and I was able to thread it. Its smaller than the 1/8" needed for the rivets so I can drill it a bit bigger when I get to attach it for real.

I went over to Micah's house last night to play Legendary Encounters Predator and some Exploding Kittens and he had gotten some dry ice from work so I messed around and took some photos. I'll post some up in a few, I have no idea if they have even turned out.

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#4878194
Jay, at one point in your thread, you were debating whether you would install one battery or two batteries inside your pack. Did you end up going with just one? In hindsight, do you find that one blue brick battery is sufficient for all the electronics in your pack (without the e-cig setup in the N-Filter)?
#4878195
I do have room to squeeze in 2 blue bricks plus a smaller battery to run the e cig. I just haven't gotten to finishing the electronics or my thrower yet. I really need to get to that.
canpara, thebigone2087 liked this
#4882760
I went with Vinny's body and front handle originally but RJ had to rebuild the front end to allow the first version of the pop mech to work because it was bent quite badly. There are photos a few pages back where I showed it. All the other parts have come from RJ or Gbfans for the clippard and banjos and grips from Nickatron. I also have a second thrower body from RJ that I'll build up as a display piece.

I strongly recommend RJ's parts. A bunch of our group has gone with his parts too.
canpara liked this
#4882767
PssdffJay wrote:I went with Vinny's body and front handle originally but RJ had to rebuild the front end to allow the first version of the pop mech to work because it was bent quite badly. There are photos a few pages back where I showed it. All the other parts have come from RJ or Gbfans for the clippard and banjos and grips from Nickatron. I also have a second thrower body from RJ that I'll build up as a display piece.

I strongly recommend RJ's parts. A bunch of our group has gone with his parts too.
Awesome, I actually just bought his wand kit, as he was offering free Gun bodies.

I see you had some trouble with the grips? Any tips on installing? What distance did you go from the body on the back grip? Did you have to modify the front grip much to fit?
#4882820
Distance from the back is relative. Looking at the photos of the screen used ones they looked like it would be hard to hit the button. I positioned mine so that the intensify button was just in reach of my thumb if I stretched. One of our members put his quite a lot closer. The front grip just had to be cut down a little bit to fit but that was all.
#4882832
PssdffJay wrote:Distance from the back is relative. Looking at the photos of the screen used ones they looked like it would be hard to hit the button. I positioned mine so that the intensify button was just in reach of my thumb if I stretched. One of our members put his quite a lot closer. The front grip just had to be cut down a little bit to fit but that was all.
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for those tips. Is the grips AJ is selling on this site the same as Nickatron's?
Last edited by tilallr1 on October 11th, 2016, 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#4884050
PssdffJay wrote:Marked out the holes for the power cell bracket. I think it's 3/16 rivets, 1/8 looked too small but I'll need to search and confirm. Right now it's drilled for 1/8 and just held in with some bolts temporally.
My apologies if you answered this elsewhere, Jay, but which size rivets did you ended up using for attaching the power cell bracket, 1/8 or 3/16"? Thanks!
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