Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Well, I'm off work for a week, which gave me a little more time with my pal Artoo. This past Saturday, I cut the support ring for the dome to allow me to mount it to the frame. I used some scrap plastic tubing that worked perfectly for spacing. I would still like to test fit the skins on this week, but I'm happy with the progress with the dome.
I managed to clean up the cut outs on the inner dome and was able to mount my resin pieces. They're not permanent yet, but they do give the dome a more finished look. The spin on the rockler bearing is very smooth. I had been planning on getting styrene to make the legs, but I'm thinking of putting off the legs for a little while and spending the money on a motor and mount kit to get the dome running... or at least a jump in that direction.

3 comments:

Calvin Thomas said...

Are you getting the motor kit from Atomic Pickle?
If so, The kit he offers is nice but the motors have failed for many builders.
Have you seen the little motor I have in my R2?
I have put that thing through alot trying to damage it and it keeps going.
Calvin

Doctor Geek said...

This is a good design. How are you attaching the ring to the actual styrene dome -- glue? Or is it tight enough to hold in place without anything?

jduffphoto said...

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. Calvin, I was looking for the Pittman motor. The recommended part was GM9413-2, but that seems to have sold out for many places. The only sources I could find wanted more than $100ea for a part that should only be about $20-$30. What part were you using? I know it's a Pittman, and it's a different model.

Doc, as of yet, I haven't glued it. I'm holding off on that as it seems to hold tight. I had to sand the ring on a bevel - very lightly as to not take it down too much. It's tight and took two people to get it in place, but it's holding really well and not putting alot of stress on the dome itself. The reason I did this was to avoid gluing the dome and the base together.