Yeah, great job on this thing. coming together real nicely.
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Yeah, great job on this thing. coming together real nicely.
Thanks! It's amazing to me just how bad the old ones look compared to the new one.Quote:
Originally Posted by silverdemon
those could probably work, the only potential issue is finding something to use for a conveyor that would fit them. Any idea what scale those are or what kits they came from? hmm...maybe I should just search for model tanks that have working treads, or at least treads that *could* work, and cannibalize those...Quote:
Originally Posted by jiggiwidditModel tank track wheels?
Anyone have any idea where I can find the links to use for the conveyor portion? I found a site called "toy brick brigade" that sells thousands of lego parts; they have the toothed gear wheels, but I can't seem to find anywhere that sells the links. Any help is appreciated, thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by SXRguyinMAsmall lego gears and chains?
16t gear is the smallest that will take the chain, 2 gears on RH side
and these links for a conveyor? (on left)
I've got a sh*t-ton of those laying around, gears too. LMK how many you think you'll need and we'll work somethin out :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by artoodeeto
as per out PM conversation, can't send pics through pm though :D
as promised:
diameter of the gear - 17.08mm
diameter of lego axle (widest point) - 4.73mm
width of tread link - 20.58mm
length of tread link - 4.65mm
diameter around gear with links installed - 21.37mm
and a pic showing the spacing of the links when they're connected - there's approx 1.7mm of spacing in between links
dude. I want your caliper. where'd you get it and how much was it? :D
thanks for posting those pics, sending pm now....
I got one at harbour freight that is similar for like 10$
yea I was going to suggest harbor freight too
here ya go: 4" - $15.99 6" - $19.99 8" - $29.99 12" - $49.99
I just grabbed the pics from This website
This is a UK site. Try googleing 'model tank tracks' and youll find all the bits that go with the wheels.
Thanks! I think though I'm probably going to go with the Lego variety, mainly because I need a little over 2 meters worth of track, and that would cost a fortune from a hobby store; Legos should be a lot cheaper. More updates when I get them....the conveyor system and motor(s) that run it will have to go in first, then I'll build up the model details around them.
lol, lego sandcrawlers. should be interesting
just placed an order for 331 treads of the same type that SXRGuy pictured above (total length of 331 of these things is a little over 2 meters according to SXRguy's measurements), 50 toothed gear wheels, and several axles. Total came out to $44, not too bad! So hopefully this weekend that stuff will arrive...just gotta get a motor or two now. If anyone has a small DC 10rpm, 12V max (or up to 20/30rpm at the fastest) they're willing to sell, let me know...
here is the lego motor that works off of 9VDC. I get spare one of those, and even a lego lead that's snipped for a custom connection
Thanks! Any idea how fast it turns? I don't want anything faster than 20 or 30rpm, and even that's a little fast. I was thinking of just getting 2 or three of those cheapie little DC motors, I found a site somewhere (bookmarked on the sandcrawler but not my computer here at work) that sells a 10rpm version.
I'll see if I can hook one up tonight and figure it out for you. I know you can run them at almost any voltage. I'll hook one to a 5v PSU supply and see how fast it turns
ok did some research.
according to this chart, you want the lego micro motor, shown in red. @9VDC with no load it turns @ 35rpm with 6ma current. so I'm sure @5VDC it'll be slower. I've got one of these in my space shuttle set, I'll hook it to 5V and see how it goes. :up:
that site has a lot of good info on the lego motors. that particular one for instance (about 1/2 way down the page):
@9V, 1.28N.cm torque, 16rpm, .04A
@12V, 1.28N.cm torque, 28rpm, .04A
not sure how much load you're going to have on these tracks. if they'll be free-spinning it won't be a lot
yeah they'll pretty much be free spinning. If I set them up so that the bottom part of the belt isn't visible, I'm thinking about gluing piles of "junk" to them so it looks like they're actually conveying stuff. but those will not weight much, they'll just be small model pieces and such. Thanks for your help on the research! +rep :)
ok I did some playin around. I hooked the motor to 5v, then 12v for speed comparisons. then I played with 12v and 5v with different resistors. the slowest I could get it was 5v with a 220ohm resistor. I stepped up to the 270ohm but it wouldnt even turn. I didnt have anything between 220 and 270. I'm uploading the vids as I type, will post once they're all set :up: the motor also is not polarity sensitive. if you hook it up backwards it will just spin the other way
5v-12v-5v
5v w/220ohm resistor
Those tracks running slow in the 2nd vid look excellent...
Good work :up:
thanks! if it needs to be slower artoo you can always gear it down. a 3:1 ratio should work. I'll give that a shot tonight and see how it slows it :up:
thanks for the vids! I think these are going to look even cooler than I was expecting. Speed actually looks like it might be fine...and I was also thinking about running a 3.3V wire to it, rather than buying a resistor. Any idea where I can find that motor? I did a little bit of poking around yesterday and didn't turn up anything, but I'll keep looking.
I tried a quick search (I'm at work) and can't seem to find one for sale anywhere. I'll look more later on tonight for you. I'll also check the terminals with my multimeter and see what voltage is actually going to the motor with that resistor :up:
ok I checked the voltage @ the pins and it fluctuates between 3.8 and 4.0v with a steady 5.0v input, so I don't know if 3.3v would be enough to spin the motor. :up:
good to know, I'll plan on using the 5V input then. If I can find the motor anywhere. Seems weird, but it looks like nobody sells that little thing, so I may be back to tracking down that 10rpm motor I found awhile ago (advantage there is that it runs on 12V so I can just wire it into existing wiring instead of running new wires) and somehow attaching one of the Lego axles onto or in place of the shaft the motor comes with.
just got an email that my lego parts are on the way. I was able to find the motors for sale at www.bricklink.com (categorized under "parts for sale" then electric motor) although they're kinda pricey at about $20 per. I was hoping to get 3 of them, but I'm not spending $60 on motors...maybe what I'll do is get the cheapie DC motors, attach a disc to the shaft, glue one of the many extra gear wheels I ordered to the disc, and attach a lego shaft into the middle of the gear wheel...that could work, and then i'd hopefully only spend $10 or so on the motors. hopefully will have more pics this weekend...
I got to thinking - anyone have any ideas/suggestions as to where I could go to get some cheap computer parts, I'm thinking small chips, capacitors, etc? Preferably non-functional. My line of thought is that since my crawler is a computer case, it would be appropriate if some of the junk piles inside were bits of computer circuitry and not just small model pieces. Obviously these bits don't need to be functional, and really what I'd want ideally would be to pay a low price for a boxful of junk. I know Weird Stuff Warehouse in Sunnvale, CA sells that kind of stuff but I live 400 miles away, and I don't know that this is the kind of thing easily ordered online...
Anyway, as for specific parts, I'm thinking pieces of old power supplies, BIOS chips, random capacitors, etc. nothing as large as PCBs though, just the odds and ends typically soldered onto PCBs. Some of these things could make for interesting internal structural details as well.
What would be perfect would be to raid a pile of to-be-recycled stuff and just take what I want.
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.co...p?number=G2200
You get lots of stuff the size you're looking for in the small box...at least I did in mine. They are 'surprise' boxes, after all. :P
Alternately, if you have a computer recycling places nearby, you could ask them if you could have some time with their piles. It'll be a pain to get any decent amount of stuff off the PCBs though.
awesome! that looks like exactly what I was after. Do you recall offhand the dimensions of the box? I just want to get an idea how much stuff would be in there. I doubt I'd use it all, but on the other hand when I detailed the outside of the case I used a lot more model pieces than I initially expected.
What about paper/wax capacitors? If you want any, I'll shoot some your way for free.
They look somewhat like the ones in the center of that pic, but some of them have wax that started to melt and drip off. When I pull them out of a radio, I usually just toss them all.
IDK what the exact dimensions were, but I still have the box. When I get home tonight I'll measure it. For an idea of how much stuff to expect, the portion of this pile below the thinning is the small box. The part above the thinning is the 'super' box ($8, iirc).Quote:
Originally Posted by artoodeeto
humina humina humina humina humina-so many capacitors- humina humina
Hahahaha, you'll like this shot then. ;)
:eek:
I want some:mad:
Heheh. The best part is, that first pile only cost me ~$14 before shipping. Here for more info:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...673#post288673
Back on topic, artoo, I just checked the dimensions on the box, and the normal surprise box is about a 100mm cube ID, and it was packed pretty much solid.
@ artoodeeto: You have too much time on your hands. :D
LOL! I shoulda seen that coming :DQuote:
Originally Posted by blueonblack
awesome, thanks for checking that. I think if I order it it'll be the bigger box then. there's a LOT of interior space to fill...in a way I'm glad the computer's in there, I don't know what I'd do if I had tried to build the entire interior...I think it's something like 5 and a half cubic feet internal volume.Quote:
Originally Posted by x88x
thats nuts! I still can't find that damn micro motor anywhere lol. good idea on the other motors though!
yeah, I don't know if you saw in I think one of my earlier posts, I found it on www.bricklink.com but the sellers there are charging about $20 a pop, which is a bit much, especially when I can slightly mod a regular DC motor and spend under $10 for 2 or 3 of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA
ya that sounds like the way to go lol
Here's the motor I just ordered, thanks X88X for the link to the site! Got their mid-size "surprise" box too, should be all kinds of goodies in there. The motor has 2 shafts, is nice and big so should be a good visual element, and at 1.5V spins at 19rpm, which is right in the range I was looking for. Plus, I only needed to get 1 since it has 2 shafts. :up:
https://www.goldmine-elec-products.c...?number=G17355
So my girlfriend says I'm too wordy in my posts. Here's my attempt to not be:
My stuff arrived. Yay. I'm excited. Can you tell? :D
Thanks to X88X for telling me about Electronic Goldmine!
First the legos. 331 tread pieces. 50 gear wheels. Several axles. Hope it's enough.
And the Electronic Goldmine stuff. The motor - 19rpm @ 1.5VDC, dual shafts plus what I think is a 3rd one perpendicular to the other two. Took the photo while holding it to show scale:
Majorly big box o' goodies. :D LOTS of capacitors, chips, all sorts of random wonderfulness!
