WillChair Three - Let's Build it!

[Vitolds]

No problem, I'll send you a code tomorrow.
I look at your work, there is a saying in Russia
"If you can not calculate the stiffness, do of the railway rails"
you have a lot of steel

[Williamclark77]

No problem, I'll send you a code tomorrow.
I look at your work, there is a saying in Russia
"If you can not calculate the stiffness, do of the railway rails"
you have a lot of steel

Strong and easy to work with! This chair should be lightweight compared to rehab powerchairs. W2 was 264 US pounds. I expect this one to be around 240 to 250 pounds. I will weigh it when complete.

I guess I should have posted the correct picture of these. The smaller piece on the left is what adjusts the tension of the swing-away joystick mount.



My setup for whipping out the battery bus bars. Ghetto but worked perfect and didn't take long to do them all.



I'll give them a quick scrub to clean the surface oxidation as they're installed.





My custom pcb boards came in yesterday. They're simple but still taxed my brainpower since I've never done this before. I HIGHLY recommend JLC PCB. Very good quality. Simple website. Quick turnaround. Super cheap. Ten boards costs what I was expecting one would.



I finally got to use my soldering station this morning. Very nice to have temperature control.



If I can solder components like this with my crap quad club hands anybody can.



By no means perfect but I've bought stuff that looked worse.





Now if I can just get my 3d printer to cooperate printing the joystick pod. It's failed three times mid print by clogging. I think I got a bad batch of filament that has some fat spots or out-of-round places. I plan to build a whole printer from scratch once I finish a few other projects.

[Scooterman]

How easy would it be to cut out coins for slot & vending machines?

[Burgerman]

Easy. The harder part is that they must be the right weight. And thats not as simple as you think. For e.g. the copper 2p peice is actually a lump of steel, copper plated to a good thickness. So you cant cut them from copper, or steel. And if copper (old ones) then they must have a thicker edge, and some of the face missing or they will end up heavy.

Did you like my nickel plated 2p?

Details... viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1813&start=4950#p140404

[Williamclark77]

How easy would it be to cut out coins for slot & vending machines?

You CAN, but it'll be slow, expensive, and won't work in any vending machine made after about 1990. But yes, it's quite simple to make a small batch of them. Those types of objects are much better suited for stamping.

Did you like my nickel plated 2p?

Details... viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1813&start=4950#p140404

I might have actually seen it if you had not put it in the lithium battery thread.

That is awesome. As soon as I can get through a few open projects and reorganize my poor shop I plan to get into different chemical coatings. I lack the time and space right now. I definitely need it.

[Burgerman]

The best bit is that the green stuff needs to be warm to give a good shiny finish. So I am told, although it seems OK at 30C here). And thats the diesel engine glow plug I fitted as a heater... Works great!


Wasnt going to post it anywhere. But expresso wanted to know why you need an adjustable power supply. Because you never know when you want to nickel plate your copper money. This needs 2. One set to 10V to heat the thing, one set to 3V for plating. Anyway I will leave this now as this is your build thread!

[Williamclark77]

Wasnt going to post it anywhere. But expresso wanted to know why you need an adjustable power supply. Because you never know when you want to nickel plate your copper money. This needs 2. One set to 10V to heat the thing, one set to 3V for plating. Anyway I will leave this now as this is your build thread!

It's your forum! It's not like this thread is a boom of popularity anyway. I'm mostly talking to myself.

I use the bed of my 3d printer to heat a lot of stuff. I put a Keenova heat pad and controller on it. Similar to this https://www.ebay.com/itm/11-x11-600W120V-Silicone-Heater-3D-Printer-HeatedBed-Pad-w-Digital-Control-Plug/272140371787?epid=1859969177&hash=item3f5cd4874b:g:zdwAAOSwAuNW5pFb.

You can find them cheaper than that. The downside is that when the power flickers it will turn on. So, I leave it unplugged when not in use.

There's already a lot of stickies in this section of the forum. It would be cool to have a DIY section for non-powerchair related stuff like your plating setup.

[Burgerman]

Yes, we do have an anything else forum. But it wasnt about electroplating as such, but a reply to expressos "why" adjustable question.

[greybeard]

It's your forum! It's not like this thread is a boom of popularity anyway. I'm mostly talking to myself.

Don't think you realise how much your work is appreciated, Will. It's fascinating watching your projects develop to such a high standard. Great stuff.

[Williamclark77]

Printing out the joystick pod top













The MEGA tucks down in the bottom. None of this has been cleaned up. Just test fitting.



You can see how the display is held in place along with one of my custom circuit boards.



Those are the two tactile buttons soldered onto the custom board. They fit flush with the surface and control the master disconnect.



I made these super tiny caps from scrap steel round bar to go into the above tactile buttons. I may redo them thinner and with slightly domed tops. Already redid them once because they got dropped trying to position them for painting. They couldn't be found. I suck at painting also.



They stick up higher than necessary I think. It's 0.1" tall. Red is the "Oh crap!" and master disconnect. Touch it and the battery is disconnected from everything.

[flagman1776]

Blown away with your abilities!

[Burgerman]

A big manufacturer like invacare or sunrise or pride etc buys in 90% of the chair, much of the tech stuff is also externally sourced. So they make about 10% of the chair or less.

You are the opposite way around. As a one man band, you are making 90% and doing lithium, higher voltages, and geared brushless all at the same time. They should be ashamed. But they wont be. Instead they will be a mass of made up "reasons" and excuses.

[Burgerman]

Shaun likes it.

[Williamclark77]

Sincerely thanks. It's very appreciated.

All cells are charged and currently sitting connected in parallel to balance. I should have a hand tomorrow to knock out the wiring.

I'll worry with making it look better later. Just trying to get it laid out and functional. I do have help with the coding. It's difficult for me. Vitolds was kind enough to share his Arduino Odometer Sketch with me. I'm also horrible at anything artsy or making things pretty. I just don't get art.

[Burgerman]

I just don't get art.

Seconded. Whats it for?

[Williamclark77]

I just don't get art.

Seconded. Whats it for?

My better 3/4 is the opposite. She's won every art contest she's ever entered. She can look at anything then draw or paint it and it look like a photograph. The kiddo is only 10 years old and she can already look at a person, draw them, and you can tell who they are. My stick figures look more crippled up than I am.

"That doesn't match" or "those colors don’t go together" every time I do something. Looks good to me

[Burgerman]

Art is like beauty. Its all in the eye of the holder.

If my gran saw a pride jazzy in red, and your chair. All she would see was the candy apple red colour and choose that. And completely miss the real chair and the real build. Even if you EXPLAINED it all to her. This is the same for around 80% of all users. They simply dont get the world at all or how anything functions. It gets worse every generation. They barely function. How people like this get through life absolutely baffles me. And you really cant help them.

Of the remaining 20% about 19% dont care. Leaving about 1% of the population that are able to understand the world.

[Burgerman]

True. But its the grasp of the mechanical, chemical, even mathmatical world around us that amazes me. I have 3 carers. Over the years I employed dozens.

NON could tell me what 2/3rds of a object or 2/3rds of a pound (or dollar) was. Non could tell me what 1/5th was as a percentage. Non could tell me what 2/5ths of a £ was. Or what 1 £ pound plus 25% was.

I asked all of them these things in the initial interviews.

This means they have no grasp of shop prices with discounts, or of VAT, or of anything. Likewise non knew how to work out square yards or sq meters as in for wallpaper or carpets.

How can they survive in a world of shoppping, mortgages, etc? What must go on in the world when they want a sofa? The price may be discounted by X% and then on credit, 3% APR interest over 4 years. How the hell do they know what they are buying, if it will fit, and what it costs in reality? The answer is that they do not.

[greybeard]

The result of several generations of social engineering on our school kids. It will get even worse in time. I'm often glad I'm old and won't be around to see how they fuck up the country - and even the planet. By then my atoms will already be on their way to become part of a new star system somewhere, sometime.

[Burgerman]

Atoms and molecules.
One of my carers is now freaked out.
Just explained to her that every time she takes a drink, theres some of my pee in her drink. And some of everyone elses. And queen victorias, and hitlers.

She is looking at her coffee strangely and not drinking it.

[Irving]

Printing out the joystick pod top

Impressive stuff Will. What material are you printing and what printer is that?

[Williamclark77]

Impressive stuff Will. What material are you printing and what printer is that?

Thanks. I ASSumed you were long gone. Haven't seen you post in quite some time.

It’s just PLA. Good QUALITY American sourced PLA. The resins used have come a long way in the past few years. There's a massive difference in quality depending on the source for the same basic types.

It’s an old Robo3d printer I bought five or six years ago. Or was. It's been apart and modified so much it’s more of a mutt. It’s about wore out. I'll build one from scratch when time allows.

[Irving]

Thanks. I ASSumed you were long gone. Haven't seen you post in quite some time.

Been busy with other stuff like 1st year of a PhD (I must be )

It’s just PLA. Good QUALITY American sourced PLA. The resins used have come a long way in the past few years. There's a massive difference in quality depending on the source for the same basic types.

Yes, I've found that too, and it's not always the most expensive that's the best.

[Williamclark77]

Congratulations on the PhD. Us common folk ain't got that high book learnin.

This was "Atomic" brand extreme black. It’s a midrange priced grade. My first time using it. So far I'm impressed. Did you ever get a 3d printer?

[Irving]

Congratulations on the PhD. Us common folk ain't got that high book learnin.

Dont congratulate me yet, it's only the 1st year and I'm not sure I have what it takes yet, it's been 40y since I was last in academia and it's proving a struggle - but I have another 3y to get on top of it...

Did you ever get a 3d printer?

yes, I recently treated myself to a RoboxPro. I'm really liking it...

[Williamclark77]

That's a nice piece of kit! I'd love to see some projects you've done with it.

The fun part has begun

[Burgerman]

That dog is wondering what time walkies is. And why you are wasting time on the blue thing.

[Scooterman]

That dog is wondering what time walkies is. And why you are wasting time on the blue thing.

That woz funny

[Williamclark77]

He can go walk himself out here!

That’s an abused stray I brought home about four years ago. Dumb as a bag of wet hair but super sweet, affectionate, and behaves quite well. A ferocious guard dog too.

That makes two strays that live here - Four if you count the Mrs and little one

[Burgerman]

But you are the pack leader. He CANT go really, unless you do too. He wants you to go as that will make his day.
I had one already that was rather too good a guard dog. Nobody told him, he just decided to look after the den, and guard the rest of the pack. And tore lumps out of freinds, and anyone that just decides to come in unanounced.