Vibro axe again. (See post #129 - #132)

[jason1976]

Re: Vibro axe again.

I figured out how to do a modular axe. It's so simple I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

Do it like a collapsible blind persons fain! You cut your axe into as many pieces as you would like. Make a "step in" at the top of piece that will fight inside the piece above it. (just JB welled in a piece of smaller diameter pipe, or something like that to create the step.) Just to assure alignment, and make the piece a little more stable when together. And here's the clever part, run a tot piece, or two, of sturdy bungy (or how ever you spell that) cord through the hole darn thing.

You just pull the pieces a part, with a good tug, and fold it up. Put it in a bag, or a tote. Then when you get to your detonation, just pull it out, and wow everyone, when, with a flick of your wrist, a bundle of parts, unfolds, and automatically snaps together.

"Stand back wall I whip this out." SNAP, CLICK, CLACK, instant axe.

And when your done, just pull it apart at the joints again, and fold it up to store. When together, it keeps your parts together, and from flying way. When apart it keeps all your parts in one neat pile, and keeps you from loosing anything.

Just use really good paint on your axe, and you'll have no worries.

I've been working on one screen accurate one for display, and one for shows, and trooping, and now I know the one for shows will definitely be collapsible.

 

[jason1976]

Re: Vibro axe again.

Oh, I would definitely suggest using the aluminum pipe option for the collapsible axe idea. The bungy cord should be very strong, and pulled very tight in the main pipe. (when it's together.) Witch means it will be stretched to it's max, or close to it, when it's pulled a part, and folded up. The aluminum pipe could handle the stresses just fine, but on even a mildly hot day, the PVC pipe would no doubt bow under the tension.

 

[Kay Dee]

Re: Vibro axe again.

Oh wow, the bungee cord is an intesting concept. Maybe rather than folding it, I'd put in a loop sort of anchor at the bottom of the pole. Something a hook of a bungee cord could go through. Pull it down a bit and unhook to dissasemble? When you need to reassemble though, you'd need some kind of cable or cord dangling from the end of the bungee just so you could give it a good tug downward and then hook it back into place. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that way you can totally remove the parts of the pole to pack up without folding it and having paint damaged.

It will be intersting to try it on pieces of metal to see if the theory actually works though and it's solid.

 

[jason1976]

Re: Vibro axe again.

Oh wow, the bungee cord is an intesting concept. Maybe rather than folding it, I'd put in a loop sort of anchor at the bottom of the pole. Something a hook of a bungee cord could go through. Pull it down a bit and unhook to dissasemble? When you need to reassemble though, you'd need some kind of cable or cord dangling from the end of the bungee just so you could give it a good tug downward and then hook it back into place. I don't know if that makes any sense, but that way you can totally remove the parts of the pole to pack up without folding it and having paint damaged.

It will be intersting to try it on pieces of metal to see if the theory actually works though and it's solid.

Well, wall I'm not totally blind myself, and I don't I don't own my own white cane. I did go to a blind high school, and I have had many blind friends, over the years, with canes that work this way. (they way that I posted earlier.)

I can't tell you from years of playing with there canes, they are very, very stable, sturdy, and hold up pretty well. (and they tape theirs back and forth everywhere they go, so they have to be tuff. )

So the idea is sound. And actually if a blind person buys a cane that is proper to there height, when the can is stood on end, next to them it should come to about were the axe comes on most people. (in other words the canes are pretty long, so it's wouldn't be stretching the Idea to much for this project)

I do understand what your saying to though, and that too should work fine. like you said, all you would really need is a cable to bring alone with you, that you could hook to the bungy cord that would be mounted in the top piece, drop it through the other pieces, use it to pull the cord down through, and hook it on to something at the bottom of the bottom piece of pipe.

Plus, if you tried it your way, and it didn't work out, then all you would have to do is leave it hooked at the bottom (and find a way to keep it there) to do it my way.

 

[Jedi Loreen]

Have you two never gone camping with a dome type tent?

That's exactly how they do the long tent poles. They are fiberglass (I think) tubes that fit together, and they have elastic cords running through them to keep the pieces together when you pull them apart and fold them to fit into the bag you store them in.

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

I'll also suggest what I'm going to do for my main pole when I tackle this project. Go to Target or K-Mart or Home Despot or even the Evil Happy-Face Empire and fine a floor lamp with a 1" diameter shaft. Those are already threaded and have connectors between segments. Two long segments, or three cut down will be the right length. The simple ones go for about or under $40, and you might find one on clearance for around $20. More expensive than a simple steel or aluminum tube, but I'm willing to pay for convenience and transportability.

I did something similar for my v1.0 force pike, only that lamp-shaft was tapered. So I know it works.

--Jonah

 

[TridCloudwalker]

I'll also suggest what I'm going to do for my main pole when I tackle this project. Go to Target or K-Mart or Home Despot or even the Evil Happy-Face Empire and fine a floor lamp with a 1" diameter shaft.

Fantastic idea! I have one sitting a foot away from me with a 1" outside diameter. But don't spend money on one. Just go to a college housing area during the end of a semester, and you'll find dozens of them sitting out on the curb. Torch lamps for some reason are always thrown out during moves. They get no love.

 

[Kay Dee]

Wow, I took too long of a break from this project! I was curious, how have people been securing the blade into their supermax? I thought I read zip ties run through drilled holes and around the pole at one point... but I figured there had to be maybe something slightly more secure and I'm feeling stumped.

BTW - I bailed on the tent pole idea. We found some threaded plastic pipe fittings that almost fit inside the PVC pipe I chose, but needed a little milling down so they could slide in. Will be hiding the seam of the screwing point just under the trigger where I'm actually not wrapping coils of wire... but have found an old vacume hose that can slide over that portion to hide it while having the ribbed look. Not an exact match, but at this point close enough.

I sculpted my own C3PO type bolt the other day too out of scuply, but since sculpy paints so poorly I'm making an RTV mold of it tonight and will cast it in resin... also broke down and bought the yamaha kit modle kit and will be casting that greeblie. Maybe if others need it I can recoup the 125 bucks or so I had to spend on that darn kit! LOL!

 

[jason1976]

Well, the template for the blade, posted earlier in this thread, does show 2 holes towards the back of the blade (on the part that would be in side the supermax) that would allow you to us 2 zip ties to hold it to the pipe. That, plus the bolt through the side of the supermax, the filler in side the supermax, etc. should do an ok job of holding it in place.

Others have posted that they have put a long bolt through the pipe, and in to the back of the blade (where it touches the pipe, inside the supermax)

Either way, it wouldn't hurt to slather up a nice helping of epoxy (or strong glue.) between the blade, and the pipe, before mounting it, just to make sure, it doesn't go anywhere. (I like JB weld, or E-6000)

I like your pipe idea. I'm still planing on trying the bungy cord thing, but I haven't had any time to work on it, but if you can get you's to screw together well enough, that's cool too.

As far as the bolt on the supermax goes. I would have been happy to give you one of the extra scuply ones I made. I never had much trouble painting scuply, as long as it's been backed long enough, and I use a good primer. On the other hand, a well cured resin one would be easier to paint, and a little more durable. (I had planed to mold, and cast mine too, but I haven't got to it yet.)

There are a few people here that offer casting of the Yamaha part, so I hope you didn't spend all that maney for the kit, for nothing. However since you do have it, once you cast the part, you could always sell the kit, to get back some of what you spent on it originally.

I have been side tracked with other projects, plus I've been sick a lot lately. And when all of that hasn't been eating up my time, I've been helping my girlfriend fix up here house. So

I've been helping my Girlfriend fix up her house this summer, and when that hasn't been eating up my time, I've been side tracked by other projects, plus I've been sick a lot lately, so I haven't got much done on my Axe of late.

I still need a blade, side blades, and the pipe thingy that goes on the side of the blade. After that I'll be pretty well ready to put it all together.

 

[Macklin]

I made my blade out of 3/4" poplar and based it on the plans I drew, posted above. The side plates are 1/4" poplar.

I taped some sandpaper to my pole lol) and sanded the flat end that butts up against it so that it's concave. This way it rests snugly so that it stays straight.

I then used two worm-drive hose clamps to fasten the blade to the pole. I worked the screw portion of the clamps inside the holes, tightened them and re-assembled the hollowed-out hair dryer.

In the years since I made those plans new developments have come to light regarding the measurements around the rectangular hole of the dryer. I never did correct the plans based on the new information.

 

[Kay Dee]

Thanks for the info on the worm-drive hose clamps... I may give that a try. I'm in a time crunch and don't think I'd have time to got to the office to use a proper drill press in order to have a precise hole go through the pole into the back side of the blade for a setting screw.

I couldn't get a hold of Cal for the yahmaha part, didn't see anyone else offering it, so finally bit the bullet. I figure I can offer castings to others now and maybe in the long run I'll get some of my money back

Ugh, not sure I want to mess with modifying the blade plans now. I read all the debate over overlaps and what not. I'm feeling rushed now and want to get the blade parts cut this afternoon, glue the parts together, and start putting the bondo on tonight. Eeep! Is it possible to assemble and totally paint and weather an axe in 4 days? We'll see...

 

[Kay Dee]

Quick question... how in the heck do you guys get the screw loosened on the supermax that is located near the cord? I have two of these hairdryers, and the screw is so tight (probably corroded, or glued) it won't budge on either of them. I've even tried spraying some rust loosener stuff for tough corroded bolts on it (problem is, it can't penetrate below the surface of the hairdryer where I imagine the stupid screw is stuck).

 

[jason1976]

Hm, I didn't have any trouble with either of my supermaxs. Well, you will be covering the hole with the bolt thingy, and you will be remove the stem inside that the screw goes into (to accommodate the pipe) so I suppose you could use something like a small dremel bit to drill, or grind out, the the screw. You know, just put but bit right now the hole, grind it away. On the other hand be very, careful. like the plastic the toy blaster is made from, the plastic the supermax is made of, has a very low melting point. I used a dremel on both parts. (blaster, and max) and one the upper settings, it melted the plastic quite a bit. (little runny blobs, of melty plastic, that popped off quite easy after it cooled, but was quite hot at first, and messy. ) So if you do grind it, go slow, and let the tool do the work.

Sorry, I don't have any other ideas for you at the moment .

 

[Kay Dee]

Thanks, I was almost going to drill out the screw. But it turned out my husband had a better grip than I did and was able to remove the screw for me. Phew!

 

[Kay Dee]

Wow, I have to revisit my vibro axe project. Sadly I did not complete it in time for Comic-Con in July. So, this got boxed for the time being. Our original idea for a pole that would dissassemble didn't hold, so we need to re-engineer something. I hope to get back to this project in late December or early January.

In the mean time, if anyone else is embarking on an axe build I do have the Yamaha greeblie for sale in the junk yard. I finally had to break down and order the entire model kit which was a small fortune. I guess if I can offer the greeblie here and there to builders in need then the universe will balance out.

 

[jason1976]

Um, you didn't have to buy the hole kit, we've posted a few times in this thread that there are already two folks here on the boards that offer castings of the parts. But, since you did buy one, it's very nice of you to offer castings for sale to the boards.

This is a funny kind of project, a lot of people want one, but over the years, I have seen many people take years to get around to gathering all the parts, and biulding one. (Myself included.) It's like those boats some guys have in there basements, that they work on for years, one piece at a time. (of course most of my projects are like that. )

It's ironic that you would post in this thread today, I was working on my blade earlier today, and it's the first thing I've touched on this project in a wile. I guess it's a Vibro axe kind of day.

 

[Kay Dee]

Um, you didn't have to buy the hole kit, we've posted a few times in this thread that there are already two folks here on the boards that offer castings of the parts. But, since you did buy one, it's very nice of you to offer castings for sale to the boards.

I tried contacting the people suggested in this forum for that Yamaha part and they didn't respond. (MonCal was one - and I've bought things from him before! But I guess he was out of communication for a while?) So, I didn't want to wait around and bought the kit because I *thought* I was going to make a deadline of July 2009 on this. LOL!

It's ironic that you would post in this thread today, I was working on my blade earlier today, and it's the first thing I've touched on this project in a wile. I guess it's a Vibro axe kind of day.

It's that time of year! Fall and Winter are a fun time to work on props I think. And well, there is Halloween around the corner...

 

[jason1976]

Yeah, I think you can reach Moncal better over at the Dented Helmet, or one of the other forums he hangs out on, but it really is nice of you to offer your own castings. I mean, molds get old, people get busy, it's nice to have another person offering them, from a fresh mold. (mot that the castings I got from Moncal weren't outstanding mind you.)

Fall, and Winter used to be my worst times of year to work on props. It gets way to cold to paint around here. (unless you have a workshop, and I don't ) So, I would put everything off until good weather would com in the spring, and then go "Oh, no, I donm't have anything ready!" and spend all spring, and summer, working on stuff, and when I was ready, to paint it all, it would be fall, or winter again. I repeated that process for years, until I got it through my think head, that if I work on fabrication all fall, and winter, then I can paint (and maybe cast) in the spring, and summer. Oh, and I never forget Halloween, I can't, it's my Birthday. (unfortunately I'm not going to get to hand out candy, or do anything fun this year, because I'll be out of town. )

Anyway's sorry to here that the screw together pole idea didn't work out for you. I was starting to think that might be the way to go. I did pick up some bungy cord, and I plan on trying that out eventually. The trouble is, I was only able to get the kind I like, in sort pieces. (maybe 24" long,or so, if I recall) So I'm goingto have to find a way to either atach them together, or fasten them in the pipe,above, and bellow, each place it separate. (rather then just at both ends of the whole axe pole.)

 

[Kay Dee]

Fall, and Winter used to be my worst times of year to work on props. It gets way to cold to paint around here.

Oh yeah, forgot about the painting problems. I'm in California, so if there is a week where it is too cold and damp with a storm it's tougher to paint.

We may still be able to make a screw for the pole, we were throwing ideas around on how to really make sure it can withstand the torque and pressure the joint is under due to the length of the pole. That's what gave us a problem.

 

[mdb]

Hey all Thanks to the tips in this thread and elswhere I got my Vibro Axe completed for Melbourne Armageddon.

It breaks down into four parts to travel and I'll probably permanently fix one of those points as it does cause a spot of wobble

Anyway one of my Fave pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chansplace/4024483253/
I wound up scratch building my "Supermax" part from polystyrene and fibreglass using reference pics. I was able to compare my part to a cast of the hairdryer and I really didn't do too badly at all considering I couldn't find a pure profile

Oh and that is my own cast for the bikini set itself. I spent about 6 months sculpting and resculpting and casting that Still doing some retweaks now!