My local surplus shop had some disposable grounding straps, which turned out to be conductive plastic, probably Velostat, on tape. I cut out a little chunk and wrapped it around the knife blade, so it touched both side electrodes. This way, if I activated the knife by accident, the electricity should flow through it instead of me. I wrote the word, "Safety" on the exposed side.
All the people who saw the square handle had issues with how it might feel, its size, and the safety of right-angles. The shape came from when we decided on a square voltage converter, but if we wanted a thinner handle, we would have to reconsider using slender round units. The problem with this is going to be attaching a switch to a rounded surface, which I found when making laser tag equipment.
Like the laser tag stuff, I set about making an adapter that would interface a chassis-mount switch to a round tube. In OpenSCAD, I made a model, and it was so small that it took my printer longer to warm up than perform the print. I quickly found that it was a pain to tighten a round plastic piece to a round switch because there were no corners to gain purchase. I changed the model to print a hexagon instead of a cylinder, which was still a cylinder but rendered with six faces.
The prints wrapped neatly around the tube I measured, which was 1" EMT electrical pipe. I think they may have been a little on the small side since my printer likes to print everything at a 5% reduction from the model. The picture shows an early cylindrical print.
Once I printed a hexagonal adapter at 105%, I could fit the switch and tighten it down using the threads to bite into the plastic and hold itself tightly. There shouldn't be any way to loosen the switch from the outside.
GitHub repo for EleKSco.
The rest of the posts for this project have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2020-03-02
Safety measure
All the people who saw the square handle had issues with how it might feel, its size, and the safety of right-angles. The shape came from when we decided on a square voltage converter, but if we wanted a thinner handle, we would have to reconsider using slender round units. The problem with this is going to be attaching a switch to a rounded surface, which I found when making laser tag equipment.
Switch and pipe dimensions
Like the laser tag stuff, I set about making an adapter that would interface a chassis-mount switch to a round tube. In OpenSCAD, I made a model, and it was so small that it took my printer longer to warm up than perform the print. I quickly found that it was a pain to tighten a round plastic piece to a round switch because there were no corners to gain purchase. I changed the model to print a hexagon instead of a cylinder, which was still a cylinder but rendered with six faces.
Switch adapter model iterations
The prints wrapped neatly around the tube I measured, which was 1" EMT electrical pipe. I think they may have been a little on the small side since my printer likes to print everything at a 5% reduction from the model. The picture shows an early cylindrical print.
Switch adapter on some pipe
Once I printed a hexagonal adapter at 105%, I could fit the switch and tighten it down using the threads to bite into the plastic and hold itself tightly. There shouldn't be any way to loosen the switch from the outside.
Switch adapter
GitHub repo for EleKSco.
The rest of the posts for this project have been arranged by date.
First time here?
Completed projects from year 1
Completed projects from year 2
Completed projects from year 3
Completed projects from year 4
Completed projects from year 5
Completed projects from year 6
Disclaimer for http://24hourengineer.blogspot.com and 24HourEngineer.com
This disclaimer must be intact and whole. This disclaimer must be included if a project is distributed.
All information in this blog, or linked by this blog, is not to be taken as advice or solicitation. Anyone attempting to replicate, in whole or in part, is responsible for the outcome and procedure. Any loss of functionality, money, property, or similar, is the responsibility of those involved in the replication.
All digital communication regarding the email address 24hourengineer@gmail.com becomes the intellectual property of Brian McEvoy. Any information contained within these messages may be distributed or retained at the discretion of Brian McEvoy. Any email sent to this address, or any email account owned by Brian McEvoy, cannot be used to claim property or assets.
Comments to the blog may be utilized or erased at the discretion of the owner. No one posting may claim property or assets based on their post.
This blog, including pictures and text, is copyright to Brian McEvoy.
2020-03-02
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