Skidster  

RE: Skidster

I think it will - I would suspect about 5 or more kg's mass. So if the snow is not too wet, it should work.

Best regards, Clemens

RE: Skidster

Posted by: @jsw

Congratulations!

Now, the Big Burning Question.  Will it push snow?  😉

I was about to post the same question!

RE: Skidster

@clemens-m

Yep.. my son

RE: Skidster

We have an issue with the pinion gears. They keep spinning past the flat in the D shaft. Working on a new design for the pinion set screws. Ideally it should have a metal pinion gear on the motor but I custom made these gears to fit the skidster and there is nothing on the shelf that will fit. I might have to buy a metal pinion and redesign and print the gear boxes. We trial lifted 5 lbs with the bucket. The bulk weighs about 15 lbs. I don;t see a problem with the snow. Have to wait though until I get this pinion thing straightened out.

RE: Skidster

@skipper_52

They keep spinning past the flat in the D shaft.

You might try something I use with lighter weight drive shafts and gears; mine are designed to work with parts that can be found in school classrooms but you could scale up.

I design the D shaped socket with an extended slit beyond both sides of the flat - mine are the sized for a paperclip to be inserted to take and distribute the load...

Hth, Cheerio,

RE: Skidster

Reprint with something like PC Blend, maybe?

RE: Skidster

Hopefully got it. Printed the new pinions out of PETG. I put a hub on the pinion and tapped in (2) 10-24 set opposing set screws, one on the flat and the other opposite. I flattened (ground) the points off the set screws allowing a larger pressure surface. Just a few more things to design and print then I can do a final video and hopefully a snow video. I need to print/design the muffler and a mount for the GoPro which will be magnetic to allow for easy removal. Oh yeah, I need to install the 1/4 rca jack for charging the battery. I don't want to keep pulling the rear cover off for that. 

RE: Skidster

Got the muffler and charging jack installed. Charging jack is a 1/4" guitar jack. One plug, both lines + - makes it simple. No need to remove rear cover for charging battery.

Will have to zip tie wiring to clean up the mess in the rear.

RE: Skidster

GoPro mount is done. Camera is on a post to about scale operator height. Easy removal is done by magnets in pedestal base and magnets under

floor board. The other pic is the pinion fix. Next step is to design a mount for the ipod to sit on the transmitter.

RE: Skidster

IPOD case for GoPro live feed on transmitter

RE: Skidster

Possibly stupid question here.

What is the purpose of the muffler?

RE: Skidster

No question is stupid. It's decoration right now to cover up the hole that was going to contain the power switch. It hit the rod on the inside of the cover. Eventually I'll put in a smoke generator and pipe it through the muffler.

When I get the wiring cleaned up I'll shoot some inside pics. I like eating spaghetti, not looking at it.

RE: Skidster

May I ask what you are going to use for a smoke generator?

I'm playing around with one I made for a model railroad power plant and it just does not give the effect I want.  It looked like it would on the bench, but in place it does not look realistic and stinks more than it really smokes.

It's a pair of glass dishes, each with a 10 ohm sand-coated resistor, a little trough to drip MegaSteam smoke fluid on the resistors, and a small fan to push it up the stacks.  When I use enough fluid to look semi-realistic, the odor of the fluid (not unpleasant, but after a while it gets to you) becomes overwhelming.  This is the same fluid that now replaces the 'smoke pellets' used in postwar O scale locomotives.  With the locomotives it looks more realistic and does not gas out the train room.

RE: Skidster

I have 3 smoke generators that I bought from Harbor Models. They come in 6 and 12v versions. I used them in 3 of my ships. I wanted a LOT of smoke when it just sits there but I also wanted to control the voltage. I used 2 channels for the generator. One to control the nichrome wire and the other to control the fan speed. They are not cheap but they do work.They also have different scented Mega-Smoke (ex. diesel/steam/odorless).

RE: Skidster

Thanks, I'll look up Harbor Models.  The only controls I have on this are heat on/off and fan on/off, both running from switched 12VAC train transformer accessory feed.  (I do have a diode and 7805 regulator for the fans.)

At the train shows they do sell smoke fluid in all types of scents from pleasant to totally disgusting.  Most of those I know go for the original which smells similar to the pellets once used, and is probably the same formula except liquid.

Sorry to hijack the thread.  😉

RE: Skidster

The snow plow design. It's 6" tall and 17" wide. Has to be printed in 3 pieces (like the bucket). Forklift (pettibone) attachment will be done printing in about 4 hours. I'll post that tomorrow when I start the plow prints. They will take about 36 hours to print.

RE: Skidster

Forklift arms are done. Will put them on later. Built these little pallets to play with. 4 hours to go on part 1 of snow plow.

RE: Skidster

Motors are being replaced. They are running hot enough to soften the pla and allowing the pinions to spin. My bad. They were Crawler motors and I thought they said 1208 rpm but in reality they were 11,500 rpm. Thank God they were cheap. I had a pair of gear motors that were 100 rpm but too wide to place end to end in the frame. The gear boxes had to be removed and redesigned. Plastic motor mounts are being replaced with aluminum ones from servocity.com and I had to order more PLA from Prusa so it might be awhile before the next post.

RE: Skidster

It's a great design.

If i may make a suggestion for a slanted or wedge design for the plow it will minimize the risk of getting stuck as forces are halved in direction of driving.

A slanted will however put a slight sideways forward force when driving.

Around a 25-35deg slant is usually enough.

RE: Skidster

@mrstoned

Thanks