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Prototype 9

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After working with Marcel, proto 9 is underway. The design is starting to get refined

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New arm will be 3/8 aluminum screwed to 1/4 steel

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Cut the profile

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I'm making two sets of parts, one for me, one for Marcel's studio

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Pressed in bronze bearings and shoulder screws will increase smoothness

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More fixturing

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And more

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Small parts can be a bit tricky

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But, all is well

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Ready for the next step

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Steel is a bit harder to deal with

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But, steel is necessary for the magnetic lock

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Weld magnet plate to shaft. It will be turned flat on the lathe

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Test fit, all is well

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I love CAD, but sometimes when designing hand controls, a flexible, physical test bed is useful..even if it's crude

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The hand control is a complex part, hogged out of 1.25 stock

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Finish the profile

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Make the cap

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Encoder and buttons fit nicely

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With end cap in place

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Make a Padouk handle on the lathe. I like Padouk

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This is one of the most complex pieces in the design

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Fits the handle nicely

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Encoder and buttons fit nicely

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I think I like the black buttons better

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Not much space for wiring, but I prefer good ergonomics over ease of assembly

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End cap fits nicely

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First test of all axis locking. Mostly works well. Main axle locking feels weak

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In testing, it was observed that aluminum was being deposited on the glass and that the aluminum shaft collars were galling the rollers. The new design uses delrin rollers with larger aluminum end plates to shield the plastic from heat

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In testing, the tube clamp on proto 8 proved inadequate when used with tubes larger than 25mm. The clamp rotated about an axle, causing the contact point to vary with tube diameter. The new design will have linear clamping, and 3 rollers, to work better with large diameter tube. Initial design spec was 38mm. I have increased this to 50mm

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First attempt at a linear lock almost works. Time to pop a beer, take a toke and think...
Ahh.. the life of an inventor
Sometimes, I wish I was smart enough to get it right on the first proto
Most other times, I just enjoy the journey

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Flat bar works better as a clamp, but narrow slots are hard to mill, so, try a round rod. It works, but it's right on the edge of not working..hmmm..

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Wasted too much time on round rods. Figured out how to make the slot easily
This version feels good

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Proto 9, all parts complete, time for wiring and software

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Everything works, but the 40mm magnets are way too weak. Time to switch to 50mm magnets. Lots of parts need to be rebuilt. In order to get the maximum magnet force, the mating surfaces need to be precisely aligned. In this photo, I applied lapping compound and put the joint into the lathe, at low speed, to try to get a closer fit

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Proto 9, with precisely lapped 50mm magnets, on the glass bench

Marcel Braun testing Proto 9

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Proto 9, being shown at CHAMPS by Marcel Braun