www.TK560.com

[stormtrooperguy]

I've been running through all of my armor parts, doing test pulls and fixing up all of the defects.

Let me tell you... going from a home oven / shop vac to a protoform is CRAZY!

For example, my clone belt boxes. Pretty simple... small rectangle, sloped top, and a [ shaped groove. The groove is about 1/2" deep on my sculpts, and 1/4" wide.

The depth was because on the shopvac system it was just barely pulling down into there. Making the hole deeper seemed to help it out.

I did some last night, and the plastic pulled all the way down into the 1/2" deep groove, binding up so badly that I didn't think I'd get it out.

Since the boxes are so simple I'm just going to make new ones.

I've also had to clean up a ton of surface defects that I never knew I had. Again, the detail I'm getting is crazy.

On the materials side, I've used 0.080 HIPS and 0.093 ABS so far. While I'm still getting used to how much to heat the ABS, it pulls with no problem. I was concerned about the clamps holding it well enough. No worries at all.

I am getting a minor problem in the back right corner. When the sheet comes down, the carrier frame is pulling apart slightly, breaking the seal a bit. It's not bad, but I lose vacuum. Turning the pump on and letting it run ala a 2 stage system keeps everything tight, but it's something to fix.

[Israel franco]

[stormtrooperguy]

I think the shape in general looks good. It seems like it might be a bit large though. Does it seem like it would fit you well?

The area on the bottom near the mouth seems really big.

This shows the bottom of the helmet:



The box by the mouth is pretty large, but the bottom edge of the helmet is set in at an angle, so the box doesn't stick out. I don't know if that makes sense... I'm having a hard time describing it.

[Israel franco]

indeed, compared to the size of my head I think it's a little big , its narrow in the hole where it enters the head, but i can make more width, cuting a little

I fully understand what you mean about the box and the angle which is slightly up, unfortunately when I started to do so did not have any pictures of how it looked from below, I will try to fix it

i do not quite understand, when you say, "The area on the bottom near the mouth seems really big." do you think should be more narrow?

I hope to arrange the details you say, before i start making the mold

I first think to do it in fiberglass, but my goal is to do it in plastic (in 3 parts), the only thing I think are a bit complicated to get, is the "fin" in the top of the dome of the helmet

[stormtrooperguy]

If you look at the part I circled, it seems very wide compared to the picture, in addition to sticking too far off the bottom of the helmet.

In vac table related news, I had a goof up last night that taught me an awesome thing about my pump.

I failed to notice that I left the dump valve open. Operating on auto pilot, I turned the pump on, waited a minute and turned it off, never noticing the gauge.

I dropped the sheet, and went to open the valve. Nothing!

Flipped the pump on, and I was able to pull down the 0.080 HIPS straight off the pump, no tanks required. It was slower and not quite as sharp, but still perfectly usable.

[Israel franco]

What a pleasant surprise that your pump can do the job without the tanks, I try to do the same and my pump could not pull the plastic

Congratulations apparently you have a very powerful vacuum pump

[trpd2006]

Stormtrooperguy, Great job on your machine! I just finished the assembly of mine, and now it is time to wire and plumb it. I want to do the same setup you have, with the dryer cord and the timer. Any chance you can post a wiring diagram or some pics of the wiring? I have looked at the diagrams that came with the protoform plans, and I am kinda lost!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Scott

[trpd2006]

Stormtrooperguy, I was able to get some info from other sources on how to do the wiring, so no need to reply. Also, I already built the aluminum platen, but just curious on how your wood one is working out?
Scott

[knightshade]

Stormtrooperguy - great to go back and read through your table build.

Looking forward to rebuilding my table this summer.
Still torn on what size to build.
Lots of 2'x2' plastic left, so leaning toward that.

[kayaker43]

Good job on your machine, I'm glad its working well for you.

I noticed from your video that the lift linkage looks like it might be jamming in the up position? It should give a positive "thunk" as it goes over center and locks. Yours doesn't look like its quite reaching full extension? The danger is that it could drop unexpectedly if its not locked and the handle could whack you on the head. You might check for binding somewhere?

Maybe the handle is hitting the ceiling?
_________________
Doug Walsh
www.build-stuff.com
Hobby-Vac and Proto-Form machine plans

Also other plans books and videos for people who like to build things

[spektr]

DUE TO A LACK OF CIVILLITY BETWEEN A COUPLE WELL KNOWN POSTERS, IVE REMOVED SOME CONTENT OF DUBIOUS VALUE.. GENTLEMEN, LETS TRY TO REMAIN GENTLEMEN, QUESTIONING A MANS ETHICS IS OUT OF BOUNDS. SORRY I HAD OT STEP IN, BUT THATS WHY I HAVE THE DELETE BUTTON.....