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:
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..
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.
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:
Then a couple rivets later..
Close up:
Getting the elbow squared away..
..and mounted.
I'm not really happy with that hose but its a decent replacement.. for now.
Now we come full circle, Spotlights
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.
Pulled them off and drew a line around what I wanted to cut off.
Secured it..
..and keeping that funny angle that they sat at in mind, trimmed them down.
Nick-a-tron's beautiful lower tray.. I'm still debating on how exactly to mount it.
I couldn't resist setting it all up for a couple pics:
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.
I'm using a Micrel MM5451YN with the Arduino for the lights.
More on all that as I get it further along.