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Diy Equinox One Piece Straight Shaft


Alluminati

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I use far east i3 style printers made from 2020 v-groove aluminum extrusions with wheels.

There isn't much that I print 100% solid. Slic3r has a setting where you can have areas under a certain size printed solid then use infill for everything else, that is useful for most things.

Those little white Nylon washers though, I will probably print them solid, there isn't much room left for infill anyway once I make the wearing surfaces thicker. (The test washer above just has 20% infill and 1mm walls)

 

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I thought I would update as I make progress this weekend.

The shaft is now cut to length @ 42 3/8", or 1076mm. This length is basically between the 1st and 2nd hole on the factory shaft. The length is based on my height and an all round compromise for land and water detecting.

Based upon my research, getting a clean cut on the Kevlar was going to be difficult with any kind of toothed blade, so I went with a wet diamond saw. A tile saw specifically.
After protecting the tube with painters tape, I wrapped a sheet of paper around the desired location and traced a line around the tube. The cut was then made free-hand. A "chop" style miter saw with a diamond blade, or some sort of guide on this saw would have made it easier then cutting along a line, but ultimately it was just two cuts which turned out OK. I lightly dressed the edges with some 400 grit, but this is basically how it came off of the saw, so it's a big relief having this part done.

Next I will drill the hole for the pod.
This part is slightly frustrating because despite living in a country that is supposed to use the metric system, all the local hardware stores only really carry imperial bits.

I have a 3/8" drill bit here which is 9.525 mm, a bit bigger then the 9mm hole on the factory shaft.  I was planning on dressing the hole and the top of the tube with epoxy anyway to keep any fibers from fraying, so maybe this will bring me back down closer to 9mm. Also the wall on my new tube is thicker and the stub on the plate is angled a bit, so maybe that will help to wedge it in there.

I briefly thought about printing my own bottom piece for the pod with my own stub(s) at whatever size I wanted, but I would still have to deal with clearances and potential trial and error for fit, so I will go with the factory plate for now.

Cut Kevlar.jpg

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Gah!

...and to think I was worried about 0.525mm difference in drill bit size lol.

It looks worse then it is. I cleaned up some of the fibers and soaked the rest with epoxy. When the epoxy started to setup I test fit the pod again to kinda mold the loose fibers a bit. I also put a tiny amount of epoxy on the top of the tube, behind the arm cuff.

Earlier I was debating whether or not to drill at least one hole to use the factory arm cuff. Now I know I don't want to drill any more holes in this tube without the required equipment, whatever that may be. Possibly a diamond drill bit of some sort or maybe just a plunge router with carbide teeth, assuming you could get them in the required 9mm diameters for a reasonable price. I actually do have some diamond core bits, but I think 1/2" is my smallest size, if someone had a 3/8" they could mount it in a drill press. If I had to do it again, I would for sure go that route.

Fiberous kevlar.jpg

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The hole for the pod is fixed up/ I didn't have to sand it at all, I just pushed the bottom plate on for a custom fit.

I also printed what I think is the final yoke out of black nylon. I'm too tired tonight to glue it on and have to work a bit tomorrow, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow night. I don't want to rush it, I want to set the handle tilted in a bit.

IMG_20180929_234134421.jpg

IMG_20180929_234029136.jpg

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The print quality looks quite good - as a do-it-yourself-ish guy, I should maybe invest in an entry-level chinesium printer like an ender3 or something.. :ph34r:

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The Ender 3 would be a great choice, essentially the same as what I have, (TronXY) Mine has two Z motors which probably doesn't matter much one way or the other. Actually a single Z motor would probably be easier in the long run, as long as it works smooth and doesn't bind. My dual Z motors can come out of sync easy when changing filament while the power is off. It has to be checked before every print. You won't have this slight annoyance with a single Z motor.

If you can tinker, there is tremendous value in these printers as the quality is on par with a $2,000 printer. I did upgrade the hotend to a E3D V6 so that I could do these Nylons and PETG on a regular basis.

It's hard to take a picture of 3D printed parts, but ya the quality is pretty good. There is a bit of roughness on the bottom side overhang due to not being able to use a fan on Nylon, but otherwise these are very serviceable parts.

 

2 yokes.jpg

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I thought I would post a bit of an update tonight.

The first picture shows the fit of the pod onto the DragonPlate.com Kevlar tube. The fit is good. As it turns out I didn't have to file any of those fibers that I glues in the 9mm hole that the pod bottom plate fits into, because I dry fit it a few times as the epoxy set up.

The second picture shows the handle offset to the left for ergonomics. Basically I used the factory shaft to find the angle I was comfortable with then tightened everything down including the coil. (You have to push in the Little silver button to be able to twist the factory shaft and set lengths in between preset holes.) I then set the detector on the floor and used a square to measure how much the pod was leaning over and also the angle the coil was tipped, just to keep everything the same. (The top corner of the pod rested on the square, I then measured down lower from the square to the shaft, this gave me a measurement to replicate on the new shaft. Hope that makes sense.)
I then setup the new shaft with masking tape around the end where the yoke goes, also a bit of tape on the yoke side of the joint. This served two purposes, to put pencil marks once I set the angle with the square and to keep the excess epoxy that oozed out from making a mess.

Gluing the yoke in was pretty straight forward. I sanded the stub of the yoke and the inner part of the tube a bit. I mixed the epoxy and inserted the yoke lining up the pencil marks. I wiped off the excess epoxy, then carefully removed the tape so that I didn't loose the offset from the pencil marks.

So far I am very pleased with how things are progressing. This weekend I hope to get a bit done on the arm cuff.

I forgot to mention weight. I weighed it the other day but I kinda forget what they weigh now. The Kevlar shaft is lighter by close to half I think, but don't quote me on that. That is just shaft vs shaft with nothing else attached so the difference between before and after inst huge overall. That being said, I think it does feel like it swings nicer, probably due to a higher center of gravity now. I'll know for sure once I get the arm cuff on there.

Build 1.jpg

Build 2.jpg

Build 3.jpg

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After my turkey induced nap today, I figured I better get around to the arm cuff.

I am printing this prototype below, it will be done in the wee hours of the morning if all goes well.

I haven't drawn the offset feet yet, like I did on my Deus cuff. (See earlier in thread) The Equinox is kinda top heavy, so I want to see what kind of angle, if any I can get away with.

For water detecting I don't need the feet at all. On land they would probably be needed, although the coil does already have a flat spot of it's own. I'm not totally against putting factory style feet on there, just I would prefer if they weren't there. I suppose another option would be to have a removable stand that attaches separately to the shaft for land detecting. I didn't care for this idea at first but now it seems reasonable.

I am making this first prototype out of cheaper plastic, just to check out the fit of the hardware and comfort. I am using two 1/4" x 3/4" SS machine screws and lock nuts for the clamping mechanism.

First cuff.png

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