MailMans' Pit Progress Report

[MailMan]

I promised a while back I would post a progress report on my Pit Building adventure. After a few emotional ups and downs, I have recently resumed operations. Here is where I am today:

[Raptor]

Nice boxes!

[Cali]

hmmm, teaser.

[Kuhprah]

Nice boxes… but please start building before boxes reach the hight of a elephant

[Badger]

I don’t think that you will be able to transform that stack of boxes into a completed pit by the end of February.

:munch:

[MailMan]

@Badger:

I don’t think that you will be able to transform that stack of boxes into a completed pit by the end of February.

:munch:

LOL…maybe a spoke too soon

[Marvin157th]

Oh yes… I so remember those days… I did that for about 4 years… Honestly, very happy I left that hobby as it never seem to end. Good for you though! Enjoy and keep us updated.

[Lawndart]

LOL What a tease……

[CobaltUK]

Thought I was going nuts until I went and read the edited “Pit for sale” thread in January.

[MailMan]

Here is my current status. I have gathered pretty much of all the electronics and got some wood. I do not have a big work space, but have created a small area in my garage. When I have to do some big work, I will have to pull the boat out and put it back in. In case you were wondering, no basement. Most places here in Florida do not have basements. Here are a couple of pics to show my work area I set up.

[Kuhprah]

No… end of Februar will not be possible… mybe 2015?

[MailMan]

Working on some small stuff today. I messed around with making some indicators. Some square ones and round ones. I also made a test attempt at making a rotary thumb wheel. Here are a few pics of the tests. You can see the stock material I am using, and some unfinished results. And i have some push button switches that I had to trim about a 1/6th" off the panel opening, and I removed the plastic digit cover to be able to change the digits to X and Y for the fourth position.

[Aspide]

Hello, my squadron there are fans who have already made a cockpit identical to the original, if you need any information please ask.

Good work!

[MailMan]

So, after some testing with making thumb wheels, I found a pretty good way of doing it. Here are a couple of pics of the somewhat final product. These will be for the trim panel and my ICP which I am designing right now. In the second picture you will see the two drill bits that I got especially made for acrylic. Also, the set screw and tap I used. There is also a rotary pulse switch in the picture.

[redfalcon]

This post is deleted!

[MailMan]

I could make hundreds of these thumb wheels for the price of a 3D Printer. Plus I only need to make 4 more for my pit. But, thanks for turning me on to these. I actually had no idea they existed for public use. Pretty interesting. You have now opened up a whole new world of thinking for me

[MailMan]

Here is an unfinished gear handle and switch. It still needs to be polished and an LED installed. The wheel is 1 1/2".

[Cali]

Looking good Mailman. I’m thinking of getting a switch from Radio Shack with an LED at the end and using that.

[MailMan]

That switch is a lot bigger than it looks. The bat is about 3" long. I couldn’t find any toggle switch that big any where around here. Our Radio Shack doesn’t even carry very much in the way of electronic hardware. It is primarily an audio component store. LED’s are cheap if you shop around on line. I bought 100 3mm LED’s for just a few bucks. More to do tomorrow. Will post a few more pics.

[MailMan]

After not getting anything done all week, I will be back at it today and tomorrow. If anyone wants to come over and help, let me know.