#4883071
1) Some builders do, some don't. The barbs are great for a nice tight fit. The accurate way is to just feed the tubing into the injector holes and block. I went without the barbs in my SH Stantz build.

2) It isn't necessary as the PPD should just be drilled with the tubing sitting snug within the hole. I again went this route on my SH Stantz

3) I drilled my loom hole at 3/4 so it holds my loom nice and snug.

Like everything in a pack build it is accuracy vs preference dude
canpara, Jimsy33 liked this
#4883072
Venkman's Swagger wrote:1) Some builders do, some don't. The barbs are great for a nice tight fit. The accurate way is to just feed the tubing into the injector holes and block. I went without the barbs in my SH Stantz build.

2) It isn't necessary as the PPD should just be drilled with the tubing sitting snug within the hole. I again went this route on my SH Stantz

3) I drilled my loom hole at 3/4 so it holds my loom nice and snug.

Like everything in a pack build it is accuracy vs preference dude
Thanks so much for the advice! I'll make a judgment call this weekend, but right now I'm leaning towards just feeding the tube into the holes of the injector tubes and the PPD.
#4883073
canpara wrote:
Venkman's Swagger wrote:1) Some builders do, some don't. The barbs are great for a nice tight fit. The accurate way is to just feed the tubing into the injector holes and block. I went without the barbs in my SH Stantz build.

2) It isn't necessary as the PPD should just be drilled with the tubing sitting snug within the hole. I again went this route on my SH Stantz

3) I drilled my loom hole at 3/4 so it holds my loom nice and snug.

Like everything in a pack build it is accuracy vs preference dude
Thanks so much for the advice! I'll make a judgment call this weekend, but right now I'm leaning towards just feeding the tube into the holes of the injector tubes and the PPD.
You're welcome!! Looking forward to seeing what you do
#4883286
Drilling holes for the PVC tubing in the injector tubes and the PPD

Yesterday, I worked on drilling the holes for the red and blue PVC tubing that connects the injector tubes to the inside of the shell (via the lower cyclotron) or from the ion arm to the PPD.

Upon inspecting the PVC tubing that was included in the Benofkent Props kit, I notice a significant difference in width between the blue and the red tubing. The blue tubing is about 6 mm wide (¼”), while the red tubing is about 4 mm wide (5/32”).

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Although the 5/32” red tubing might be ideal for connecting the Legris straights to the Legris or SMC elbows on the HGA and the cyclotron (I haven’t tried this yet), I didn’t think it was normal for the injector tubes. I was under the impression that the red tubing that goes from the injector tubes into the shell was uniform in width to the blue tubing. Other build threads and reference photographs seemed to confirm my suspicion, as most builds seem to use red ¼” nycoil tubing or the red ¼” tubing from the GBFans shop. Perhaps this red ¼” tubing was omitted from the kit by accident? Or perhaps I lost it somehow?

Even though I didn’t yet have the red ¼” PVC tubing, I decided to drill my holes to that diameter and use the blue ¼” PVC tubing as reference in the meantime. I will try to find the appropriate Nycoil tubing somewhere locally, if I can (I will reach out to PssdffJay to see if he found some anywhere, as he mentioned that he would try to find some as well in his build thread). However, if anyone knows of a place, please share!

To start, I drilled ¼” holes on the top of the injector tubes and the PDD using a drill press. The holes are uniformly 1” (25 mm) deep. I also drilled the top hole on the beam line tube for the last remain Clippard brass elbow. Again, was a 5/16” hole with a nominal size 3/8”-16 NC tap.

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Then I drilled two ¼” holes into the shell at the connection point of the lower cyclotron. I quickly looked at Stefan’s plans to see if they specified the measurements for these holes, but I didn’t look hard enough and I thought they were unspecified. Boy do I regret this part, since I drilled my holes using my bumper screws template (so that they line up consistently with the bumper screws), then I realized that the measurements were indeed specified in Stefan’s plans and now my holes are too close to the edge of the shell in comparison to the plans:

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What a dumb-dumb mistake, especially since I have been trying to remain as true to the plans as possible. Well, there’s not much I can do about it now. At least the tubing fits very nice and snug inside the holes:

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Mounting the ribbon cable aluminum hold-down

After double and triple checking Stefan’s plans for the ribbon cable aluminum hold-down, I didn’t find any measurements, so I looked at his “Pack Overview” plans and decided to eyeball-it as best as I could. Although it isn’t secured into the shell, I placed the filler plug onto the shell for reference. Using a pencil, I marked the location of the holes onto my shell, then I drilled the holes with a 1/8” drill bit and then used a nominal size M4 x 0.7 mm tap.

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The bolts fit very well in the holes that I just drilled, however, I’m worried that they won’t’ be long enough to fit into the shell once I clamp the actual ribbon cable. The bolts are 1/2" long. Has anyone once else encountered this problem with the ribbon cable clamp from GBFans? In any case, it’s not a big deal, as I will try to find some longer bolts at Home Depot or Lowes.
Last edited by canpara on October 17th, 2016, 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#4883356
Really well thanks, I've still got a few bits to finish on the thrower which I hope to get done this weekend and I only had a few major disasters including snapping both the acrylic and 3d printed wand tip inner tube! I plan on putting a thread up on here with some pictures once I've finished it.
canpara liked this
#4883362
sgwmeredith wrote:Really well thanks, I've still got a few bits to finish on the thrower which I hope to get done this weekend and I only had a few major disasters including snapping both the acrylic and 3d printed wand tip inner tube! I plan on putting a thread up on here with some pictures once I've finished it.
Please do, I would love to check out your thread! It seems as though everyone has at least one major disaster. Mine happened yesterday when I used my Dremel to hollow out the crank generator (at the hole that I needed to cut to fit the loom coming from the vacuum tube :sigh: ). I will be posting an update sometime today.
#4883397
Cutting the mouse hole

The “mouse hole” refers to the hole in the bottom right of the cyclotron for the loom that eventually connects to the neutrino wand.

Although the interior diameter of the loom measures ¾” inches, I measured the diameter of the exterior to be 1” wide. I then found a socket that was 1” wide as well. After finding the centre of the appropriate shell plate and marking a ½” distance on each side of the centre, I traced the circumference of the socket to mark the 1” mouse hole.

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Then I drilled the hole using a 1” hole saw:

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I noticed some builders removed the two pointy lips from the shell on the bottom portion of the mouse hole. I imagine they did this because they were worried that the lips might accidentally puncture or cut the loom. If I kept the lips, should I be worried about this?

Fitting the booster cap into the booster tube

I was curious as to how one accomplishes this task without drilling any screws from the outside of the booster tube. So, naturally, I asked Ben through Facebook Messenger. Within a couple of minutes, he explained everything to me.

Firstly, Ben cuts and sands a 1” square piece of wood until it fits snuggly inside the tube. Secondly, he pushes the resin booster cap into the tube to set the square piece of wood to the proper height in the tube. Thirdly, he removes the booster cap and then places a load of hot glue on top of the piece of wood. Fourthly, he reinserts the booster cap down the booster tube and presses it against the piece of wood. The glue gushes out between the grips and the tube, thus securing the booster cap into the booster tube.

My dad and I found a piece of wood lying around in the garage and cut it to the proper width. We rounded the edges with a hand planer. Although Ben’s instructions specified a 1” long piece of wood, we ended up creating one that was 2” long for the simple reason that we saw no harm in doing so.

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Then I fit the piece of wood down the booster tube, like so:

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Finally, I placed the resin booster cap into the cap and set the height of the piece of wood according to measurements in Stefan’s plans. The end of the resin booster cap is now protruding outside of the booster tube by ¼”.

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Although I could have poured the glue onto the piece of wood and properly secured booster cap into the tube, I decided to finish this part another day. I intend to sand down the piece of wood a little bit and paint the booster cap before permanently gluing it into place.

Ribbon cable hole

This is another hole where I could not find any specifications in Stefan’s plans, so like most of the builders here, I decided to make a best guess. PssdffJay and Venkman's Swagger both drilled a ¾” hole in their shells, so if that worked for them, well that was good enough for me. Once again, I used a socket to trace the circumference of the ¾” hole. Using a ¼” drill bit, I ensured that the socket was a uniform distance from both edges of the shell, like so:

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Then I drilled a nice and clean hole with a ¾” hole saw:

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Crank generator hole for the vacuum line loom

*ADVISORY: the following update contains mature subject mature, including scenes of brutality and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.*

Seriously, this isn’t for the faint of heart. This is my first major screw up on this pack build. One that caused damage and needs fixing.

Although many shells seem to have a hollow crank generator, it’s only partially hollow in the Benofkent Props shell. Drilling the hole for the loom of the vacuum line isn’t merely drilling a hole through the shell. It’s more akin to drill a shaft through the polyurethane.

Using the same 1” socket trick, I traced the location of the hole on the crank generator:

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Then I marked the centre of the hole onto the shell and I started drilling a little pilot hole. Immediately I found that it was difficult to drill straight, since part of the shell was obstructing the drill. This only meant that my drilling was going into have a slight downward angle.

Then I switched my drill bit for 7/8” hole saw. I chose 7/8” because I was worried that the 1” hole saw would be too large and that the hole would be two close to the extremities of the shell. After testing on a piece of wood, I found that the loom still fit within a 7/8” hole, even though it was really tight.

Remember when I said that the crank generator is partially hollow? Well, as soon as the hole saw found the hollow part of the shell, it really pulled toward that direction. This is what happened:

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GROSS. Chipping occured, but since this part would be covered by the loom (and a ¾” wood dowling that I plan to fit inside the loom to straighten it), I figured it wasn’t a big deal.

So I decided to proceed continue my drilling using a Dremel, both through the hole that I had just drilled and from the inside of the shell.

The Dremel was working really well until this happened:

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You see that little black line on the bottom? Well, here’s a view from the outside:

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After two screw-ups, I decided I had enough. I probably grinded out a large enough shaft for the dowling and loom anyhow.

Although the damage is certainly disheartening, I will try to patch it up with some epoxy or some Bondo. Not today, though.

Wish me luck!

Dale PH-25 resistor (no ring variant)

The arrival by mail of a Dale PH-25 resistor really picked me up after the infamous Crank Generator Massacre. I had purchased it from Dreamstalker, who was kind enough to reply to my wanted ad on the GBFans forum. Thanks again, Isabel!

Well, the PH-25 is almost a Dale… it’s labelled as a Dalohm PH-25-25W 76 ohm 3% 016. It’s metal and it feels like the real deal. Close enough.

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Now that I have this part, I can drill (and tap) the last remaining hole for the ion arm. That, too, will be for another day.
Last edited by canpara on October 18th, 2016, 8:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
#4883400
Oh snap. Sorry about the vacuum tube part. Bondo is your friend.

Looking at mine, I'm not sure what to do either... Since I can't fit my drill there comfortably. I might just pin it down with a short screw, and glue it.
canpara liked this
#4883401
Nicholszz wrote:Oh snap. Sorry about the vacuum tube part. Bondo is your friend.

Looking at mine, I'm not sure what to do either... Since I can't fit my drill there comfortably. I might just pin it down with a short screw, and glue it.
Please learn from my mistakes, lol. Let us know how you proceed!

Did you cut out your mouse hole yet? If so, how did you do it?
#4883402
I had a mishap drilling my crank gen too!

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I was trying to mount a 1" dowel to connect my vacuum line but the inside of my shell wasn't level. I dremmelled away too much, it turns out. When I tried to drill a hole for the socket head screw it broke away.
#4883404
Naptime wrote:I had a mishap drilling my crank gen too!

I was trying to mount a 1" dowel to connect my vacuum line but the inside of my shell wasn't level. I dremmelled away too much, it turns out. When I tried to drill a hole for the socket head screw it broke away.
Oh no! Did you manage it fix it, Paulie?
#4883406
canpara wrote:
Naptime wrote:I had a mishap drilling my crank gen too!

I was trying to mount a 1" dowel to connect my vacuum line but the inside of my shell wasn't level. I dremmelled away too much, it turns out. When I tried to drill a hole for the socket head screw it broke away.
Oh no! Did you manage it fix it, Paulie?
Yeah. I ended up drilling the whole hole out. I'm mounting the dowel in the crank gen - I had to dremel a bigger chunk out.

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#4883482
Some Black Milliput will fix that up like new.

For the hard to reach spots like the vac pump and straights, it's handy to have one of these flexible extensions to use with your step bits...

Flex Extension
#4883503
Thanks for the tips Venkman's Swagger and bishopdonmiguel!

Don't worry, I'll get back on it as soon as I can. I won't be able to work on my pack for the next few days, though. I will be travelling for work. I should be back at it next week.
#4883509
whiterice07 wrote:Man, I thought I was thorough when I built my pack - this makes it look like a rush job! Super impressed by this, definitely will keep reading this and watching your progress!
Wow, thanks! I'm definitely looking forward to your advice!
#4883525
canpara wrote:
Nicholszz wrote:Oh snap. Sorry about the vacuum tube part. Bondo is your friend.

Looking at mine, I'm not sure what to do either... Since I can't fit my drill there comfortably. I might just pin it down with a short screw, and glue it.
Please learn from my mistakes, lol. Let us know how you proceed!

Did you cut out your mouse hole yet? If so, how did you do it?
Mouse hole?
#4884219
Mounting the PH-25 resistor to the ion arm

Today, I went and picked up a 9/16" drill bit and a 5/8-11 NC tap in order to mount the PH-25 resistor to the ion arm. Both of these are massive, so I had to go to Edmonton Nut and Bolt to purchase these items.

Trust me, they weren't cheap... It would have been much cheaper (and easier) to cut a hole and glue the resistor into place, but I preferred to screw in the PH-25 just like the other resistors on the ion arm.

Unfortunately, I didn't have access to a drill press. I measured the length of the hidden portion of the PH-25 (the prongs all the way to the end of the threads) to be 32 mm (1 1/4"). I then decided to add a couple of millimeters for a desired hole depth of 34 mm (1.34"). I then measured 34 mm onto the drill bit and marked it with some green masking tape. As I was drilling, this green tape indicated to me when to stop.

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Like always, I drilled a pilot hole before using the larger drill bit. The 9/16" bit had a lot of bite, so I really took my time. I reversed the direction every so often to help the drill bit discharge the resin waste.

In the end, the hole and the tap worked perfectly with the PH-25 resistor:

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Here is a photo of the tapped hole itself (I took this picture back home as I was sanding the ion arm):

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Now here is a question. Should I keep the nut on the PH-25? Or should I mount the PH-25 onto the ion arm without it?

Fixing the crank generator tube with Bondo

Remember the Dremel massacre from last week? It was time to fix it up with some Bondo. This was my first time ever using this product.

Here is a photo from the inside of the shell:

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And now from the outside:

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I didn't have the chance to sand the Bondo repairs today, but I should get around to it tomorrow.

Sanding the shell and resin components

In preparation for painting later this week, I used a 800-1000 grit soft sanding sponge over the shell and resin parts. I also used a coarser 80 grit (medium) dual angle sanding sponge for certain areas on the pack shell.

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You're probably thinking, "why is Mario already thinking of painting when he hasn't mounted the ion arm and the booster tube to the pack shell yet?"

Well, that would be a great question. As you will see another day, I planned it this way. My method for mounting the ion arm and booster tube is rather permanent, so it would be difficult to paint these parts once they are mounted.
#4884240
Yes, painting those two parts first is a must. Make sure and get a damp cloth and wipe down the shell before painting, get rid of the sanding dust, and will give you a nice clean surface to start ;)
canpara, Fitzhume liked this
#4884247
OCP_Model-001 wrote:Yes, painting those two parts first is a must. Make sure and get a damp cloth and wipe down the shell before painting, get rid of the sanding dust, and will give you a nice clean surface to start ;)
Thanks for the tips, OCP_Model-001! I was thinking of giving the shell a bath, but perhaps that is overkill?
#4884278
Also any release agents that were part of the casting process you'll want to wash off. It's a good idea to bathe it. Just don't be weird and get it with it...
canpara, OCP_Model-001 liked this
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