I'm sure you made it by a few hours. Nice finish. It still has me buggered how you managed to do what you did with what you had. You gotta love the finished product. Both beams on together, what a winner. 
just thinking: those cheap silicone iphone thingies probably make great material for packings 
Yeah, sorry about the lack of pics and details from last night. (I was racing for the finish line, as you can guess.)
So, the red stuff is sold in sheets at cooking supply places as a baking sheet. It comes in two types: smooth both sides and textured. I think for better waterproofness, smooth both sides is the way to go. The one I have is just a hair under 1mm thick. As an added bonus, it shines red from the side, which makes me look faster.
The attachment is based on tearing apart a venerable Petzl Zoom. The front bracket that comes with the zoom turned out to be a few grams lighter than the aluminum one I had planned to use. It basically just bolts through the bottom of the fins. The momentary buttons are stuck onto standard petzl cable clips with heatshrink. The battery pack sits on what was the zoom battery pack but is now really a plastic plate that connects to the 3 directions of the headband and has a strap (purple in my pics) holding the battery pack.
Way to go ruffles. I bought a 12” square of abrasion resistant 3mm acrylic for my build and could cut you a piece. I agree you should be able to shave 1/8” or so from the top and bottom of the head and still clear the screws. You could also do what Dale did with some fins he anodized awhile ago and that was to drill holes in the fins to add surface area and drop weight. I think I would do all of the above drilling holes and pockets wherever I could get purchase for the bit. I think it’s safe to say most if not all of us would do a few things differently if we had more time or did it over but the main thing is you finished. Woohoo!
Thanks to everyone for the good vibes.
RBD, I appreciate the offer of thinner plexi; I’ve actually got some kicking around already… just not sure why I didn’t use it in the first place.
I like the idea of drilling the fins out, both for better heat and lightness. I’m also gonna have a big smackdown with the dremel (well, proxxon) and see where I can slim things down.
I’ve finally gotten to see some of the other entries, and I’m super-impressed. If we could bottle that creativity, we’d make a zillion.
And since it looks like I’ve been bumped by O-L into the hand-made category, I’ve changed the thread title. (I think it was the hand tapping that made me seem like the kinda guy that should be in the hand category.) That said, I should lose points for the chopsaw and router work…
Lose points for using tools they were totally not made for and coming out the other end with all your fingers still attached, you should be adding points on not subtracting.
As they say, rules were made to be broken. In a contest where the idea is to be creative in all aspects it’s hardly surprising to find entries that fall in grey areas. A metal lathe and mill are easy to identify but I often employ a hand drill or drill press in a similar manner, does that put me in machine made? I hope not since part of the creative aspect is figuring ways to use what you have to get the job done. A chop saw isn’t indexed and except for depth control a router is a free hand tool like a drill or Dremel. Making a jig is allowed too. A limit on the number of power tools might level the field but though Ervin and Jerommel showed quite well that you don’t need a shop full of tools to try, allowing them increases both the number and variety of entries.
What a great build. Please keep us updated on the total weight you get this down to when you have finished with the proxxon sanding. I love your way of using a ordinary router with a proper bit. Great!
Rufusbduck wrote:
As they say, rules were made to be broken. In a contest where the idea is to be creative in all aspects it’s hardly surprising to find entries that fall in grey areas. A metal lathe and mill are easy to identify but I often employ a hand drill or drill press in a similar manner, does that put me in machine made? I hope not since part of the creative aspect is figuring ways to use what you have to get the job done. A chop saw isn’t indexed and except for depth control a router is a free hand tool like a drill or Dremel. Making a jig is allowed too. A limit on the number of power tools might level the field but though Ervin and Jerommel showed quite well that you don’t need a shop full of tools to try, allowing them increases both the number and variety of entries.
+1
I really liked the new rules. They seemed to really up the creativity for folks like me. I do think the O-L's original concept of a handmade competition has much merit. It seems that 3 categories as follows would open up the competition more:
- Handmade - O-L's original concept class
- Homemade - Power tools commonly sold in big box stores to homeowners
- Machine - Lathes and End Mills Allowed