My Aftermarket Stand Broke….

[CPT_GhostLight]

I too had two of the Ebay ones break.  I could have made my own, and perhaps I will at some point, but it cuts into my detecting time. ? So I'm just using the stock stand/cuff. If it falls over, it falls over. ?

The problems with for sale 3D printed stands are with the design, the materials, and the printers. The design should have thicker sides and tops around the clip area to reinforce the structure. The typical materials vary from PLA, ABS, and PETG, which are common hobby materials. PETG is the strongest of the three, but it is not UV resistant and will become brittle after repeated exposure to sunlight. ASA, ASA/PC or ABS/PC blends, and PC (Polycarbonate) are much better materials for outdoor use products. However, those filaments are more expensive and require pro-grade 3D printers with heated enclosures to print correctly, although ASA can print on better grade non-enclosed printers. 

Of course higher end materials and machines affect the required price to make the same level of profit level. Many people get into 3D printing as a hobby and figure out ways to make some money online printing parts which is great, but for most it's not worth it to take things to the professional level and invest in a print farm. So you get what you pay for on Ebay, sometimes. ?

[steveg]

On 10/26/2022 at 3:33 PM, Jeff McClendon said:

Steve, I would readily pay $40 to $50 for a carbon fiber or other properly sturdy extension that attaches similar to the 3D printed versions that don’t hold up. I don’t need your beautiful shaft/arm cuff upgrade for what I do but I get tired of chasing my XP detectors down hills and over cliffs?

thanks

Jeff

Jeff,

Understood.  Unfortunately, I don't have such "extensions" available.  And unfortunately, my arm cuff a). would run more than the $40 to $50 price point you said you'd be comfortable with, and b). is designed for a round tube, so wouldn't work on the Deus stock shaft...

...unless...

...someone wanted to design an "adapter" that would fit inside the part of my cuff that slides onto the round tube; I can imagine such an adapter -- two "mirror image" pieces, each piece a semicircle on the outside, and a "half of the trapezoid" on the inside...

Such an adapter piece COULD probably be 3-D printed, as it would be "clamped/squeezed together" as the arm cuff bolts were tightened, and thus it would be unlikely that this part would break, over time...

If anyone is interested in drawing up an .stl file, the outer diameter of tube that my cuff is designed to fit onto is 22.15mm...

Steve

[ByTheLake]

I have yet to find a satisfactory stand for the D2.  I store my Deus 2 in the optional hard case, so any stand will have to fit into the foam cut-out in the hard case.  I'll eventually create my own solution that folds or retracts into the handle, preserving the original shape of the handle when storing in the case.

For the Deus 2, XP has simply re-used the handle design from its legacy machines, and the 'stand' that is integrated into the handle is where the control box is mounted (see picture below).  Can't blame XP for reusing parts where it can.

[F350Platinum]

Mine finally broke today. ? Not going to fix it.

[palzynski]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:48 PM, ByTheLake said:

...

For the Deus 2, XP has simply re-used the handle design from its legacy machines, and the 'stand' that is integrated into the handle is where the control box is mounted (see picture below).  Can't blame XP for reusing parts where it can.

Yes you re absolutely right bythelake , they simply reused the "old" XPs armrest design dating from 2004 or 2005 , a bad idea to my opinion.... They should have redesigned the armrest as it is a very important part of a detector ergonomy .

This armrest has 2 issues for me , first as said above the detector constantly falls over especially with the 9X6 elliptical coil , second it is too short( small )to correctly keep up the arm , at least for me ...

Adding to this that the shaft is too short for me as I am relatively tall , I recently find a solution which solves both the armrest and shaft issues by reusing a 3 parts shaft from a Quest Q30 .

I  would have suggested this design to steveg sooner but I had the idea only quite recently ...  Btw steveg carbon shaft looks very interesting  as it solves the XP factory shaft issues too ..

Here a few pics of my home made shaft :

1) Deus1 with S Lite factory shaft , Deus2 with a Quest modified shaft ,
    the Quest shaft is much longer  :

 

2) Quest and Deus armrests , the Quest armrest is bigger and much more cumfortable than the XP ..

3) The Quest shaft does not fall over because its armcuf stand is bigger :

 

4) the Quest mod shaft taken apart .  3 parts :  the lower shaft is a round 19mm carbon shaft , the mid shaf is a square polymer , and the upper shaft is a square aluminium 

[strick]

On 10/28/2022 at 3:48 AM, ByTheLake said:

For the Deus 2, XP has simply re-used the handle design from its legacy machines, and the 'stand' that is integrated into the handle is where the control box is mounted (see picture below).  Can't blame XP for reusing parts where it can.

 

Ummm yes we can. The stand is a pos. Minelab comes out with a new machine totally re designed every couple years and here we have XP reusing designs that don't work every few years. When digging a target we place our machine on the ground. When the machine is on the ground we should not have to fiddle with it so it wont tip over. There is no excuse for them to design  a better stand other than to save money. And they still charge top dollar for their machines. 

Steveg- Great Idea. You can have someone design the adapter for you and you can include them with the arm rest..I would buy one for sure. 

strick 

[palzynski]

On 10/29/2022 at 5:30 PM, strick said:

... And they still charge top dollar for their machines. ...

 

Deus2 WS6 master 850E , Manticore 2000E . Wondering which one charges the most for top dollar ?...

btw I can accept this little design flaw on the D2 shaft considering the 1150E price difference, largely enough to buy an aftermarket shaft like steveg's D2 carbon shaft  ... 

 

[strick]

2 hours ago, palzynski said:

Deus2 WS6 master 850E , Manticore 2000E . Wondering which one of the two charges the most for top dollar ?...

btw I can accept this little design flaw on the D2 shaft considering the 1150E price difference, largely enough to buy an aftermarket shaft like steveg's D2 carbon shaft  ... 

 

Yea but it's the same arm cuff/stand that they came out with the original model (like you stated) which is how many years old now? I mean really ...make it better and people will appreciate that they are doing something to improve on the quality of their product. The technology is great but all they did was box it up in the same old design. 

strick 

 

[steveg]

strick --

Thanks!

palzynski --

I could probably build a shaft very similar to your "Quest" shaft -- a straight shaft with handle.  One of our customers here has asked if I can build him a straight shaft, and with a little modification of my handle, it appears that it will be do-able.  And yes, I can make EITHER one -- the normal S-shaft, or this modified "straight shaft," as long as you need it to be. 

I'll attach a drawing below, showing the regular design, and then the custom "straight shaft" concept drawing...

Steve