That sounds very clever. Both simple to use and easily adapted to differing motors.
_________________
So even the rain that falls isn't actually going to fill our dams and our river systems

Hi All
Ive been deliberating over the problem of braceing the motor to the main motor mount .I came up with several idea's one is a complete casting to bolt on to the gearcase mounts.The other was to cast two strips of 3 mm aluminium into into the suport collar .

But after a few more hours of toying and shifting things about ahve come to the conclusion that it would be too dificult to make a single piece mould .

Its going to take a lot more extra work and time =cost to make the ones with the ali strips .

I started makeing a silicon mould but the finished piece was going to end up rather big and chunky and i think i would still have had troubles removeing it from the mold with out wrecking the mould every casting .

I then looked at makeing a mount that would catch the three drill box screws .If i make a strong enough casting then it would interfere with the screws'.

After playing around and pulling the tin cover on and off the motor a few time's a simple idea struck me .Its the same way i mount the cheese wedges saw on to the robot .


I will share it now ----------- it only takes a few minutes and every one can do this simple mod to their own existing motors easliy .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Push the metal cover on the motor until it stops against the plastic gear case, then turn it around until the slot is lined up with the plastic tab on the gearbox or is inbetwen two screws.
Move it about until the slot is centered between the two lower gear case screws.
Mark the center position of the screws with a line on the metal can .
remove the can and scribe a line around the can 7mm to 8 mm down from the edge that was against the gear case.

Mark 5mm either side of the line that you made for the screws down until it intersects with the circumferance line you marked previously.
Put the can half way on an old motor thats stuffed and use it to hold the can in the vise with the piece you want to work on above the vise .

Carefully cut down the lines you marked each side of the screw line until you just touch the circumferance line .Then useing a file or an angle grinder remove the bigger pieces of metal either side of the smaller rectangles that were formed.
Only remove the metal down to the line .Once you hae done this , remove the cover from the old motor andclean up any metal that is protrudeing inside the cover with a round file or dremal ect .
Hold one of the tabs you formed in the side of the vise jaws exactly on the line .

Bend the can so that a 90 degree tab is made faceing outwards on the cover. Repaeat the proces to the other two tabs.

Take your good motor off the gear case by undoing the three screws .

Or screw the old motor on to a spare gear case cover.

Slide the modified tin cover on to the motor and turn it around until all the tabs are centered over the holes.Useing a small drill to go through the plastic cover holes drill through the metal.

Take the tin cover off the motor and use a same sized or slightly larger drill than the hole in the plastic to widen it out .

Slide the cover back on the good motor ,line up the holes you drilled and useing left over screws from you old drill cases ( these are about 5 mm longer and i always replace the gear cover with these before i use them in robots)

Tighten up the longer screws and you have an extremely tight and centered motor surport.that doesnt add much more weight or room and is nice and neat .

A hose clamp or lecky tie could be put aroung the can but i dont think it is nessesary .

P/S to the above make sure you tape up the motor slots while drilling the metal cover and remove any drill shaveings afterwards.

I have made a couple of poured castings now but am not happy about the amount of fiber and the density and lay of the fiber in my mixes.I have been reading up a little on vacume molding and i recieved some very good advice from Jake (Team Planners- Plan B?)

I am now going to set up the moulds so i can pre- pack them with the glass fibers and i will draw the resin up through the fibers useing vacume and a couple of short tubes.
Ive had a look at my mold and it will be easy enough to modifie it by putting a clear sealed lid on the top with a clear tube in it to atach the vacume pump and so i can see when the mold is full and all the air has been vacated.
I will put a tube in the bottom of the mould to draw the resin into the it which can be pinched off once its full.
I will post my results after another trial casting .

I chased all over gympie to find some clear plastic tube ..ended up going to a pet shop but got some nice little cheap plastic valves and some neat little pipe clamps real cheap so they should do the trick for putting the resin in and if any happen t get glued up i can just throw them away .

Glen Your package arived today also ..thanks for those will give me some more blanks to play with .

no problem, put em to good use
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Ive had another look at the way i make my castings and because of the shape of my mold i can actualy use pre -cut pieces of fibergalss cloth in the mold and layer it.
Then i can over lap the peices at the edges inside the mounting plate feet to get an even lay of glass in a basicily contiounious wrap inside the mould before i put in the center.
The gearbox center has a strip of cloth wound around the bushing end of it and is lightly bound in place. once inserted into the outer mold it lightly holds all the layers together .

This will ensure strong evenly placed structural frame around the whole gear box tying the mounting feet and the rest of the casting together for the resin to bind to , instead of the random fibers i was previously trying .I can also get much more fiberglass into it this way than i did with the chopped fibers.

Hi All i have been silent for a while as i had to go up to Mackay .Whilst there i tried to get some xu1 drills it seems the suply has dried up for now .I also tried at Rockhampton and was also told they are having trouble getting them from china.The next cheap drills are the ozitos but i think they were around $35 each so i didnt get any .Does any one know of a suply of the cheaper drills i can obtain ?

I've been trying to find cheap drills as well and the best I could find was 9.6V Maximite drills from K-Mart for $18.99. Even super cheap autos drills have doubled in price up to $30. The 12V Ozioto dril are $30 from Bunnings in Carsledine, but they only had 1 and I needed 3.
_________________
Get Some!!!

Secretary of the Queensland Robotics Sports Club inc.

in NSW Dicksmith sells a 14.4v drill that looks just like an XU1. It comes with the drill, two batteries and a torch for $20.

seems to be good, though I have yet to buy one.

also I was aksing round Bunnings the other week and they told me the place making the XU1's has shut down, and they will not be getting more of them.....

hey andrew, ive got 2x ring gears, 2x gear carriers and 21x steel gears for you now ill mail them out tommorow and i may have some more gear carriers and ring gears.
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

Thanks Glen looks like you might get the first moded set to trial

correction, just found a few more ring gears and gear carriers for you
_________________
www.demon50s.com - Minimoto parts
http://www.youtube.com/user/HyzerGlen - Videoooozzz

I havn't forgotten about spare parts for you either, I have a steadily growing heap of drill parts to send off. Ar you interested in the motors or just the gearboxes?
_________________
Australian 2015 Featherweight champion
UK 2016 Gladiator champion