4 Attachment(s)
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Here's a few more pictures.
The Aileron trim panel mechanism caused much head scratching and quite a few failed attempts But am very pleased with the result (though I do say myself)
Attachment 10108
Here's the bare VHF Radio front panel
Attachment 10109
And the assembled one
Attachment 10110
And alive and being tested
Attachment 10111
John
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Very nice job on those panels! Can you tell me more about your laser?
1 Attachment(s)
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Hi Warren
Thank you for your kind words
With regards to the machine you may be sorry you asked ;)
Well it started out as a very cheap Chinese K40 machine off Ebay.
I had read reviews about how the control boards pack up and how horrible the software is.
They sell hundreds of these things so you ask yourself 'can they really be that bad?' so I bought one, expecting the worse, well I got what I expected :D...the worst!!!!. After a month the controller board went wrong (although while working I was surprised how well the machine worked)..I returned this to the seller as requested and they claimed it never arrived (even with proof of delivery!)
So I bought a 'proper' control board with the necessary drivers for the stepper motors...Then I had to buy a new power supply as the one with the machine was "the wrong type". Add to that some decent quality mirrors and lens (although the supplied one did do the job).
Anyway to cut a long story short I have an expensive cheap Chinese laser but the upgrades do mean I can use the stuff to drive a big machine up to about 120 watts (i think).
All in all I guess it has cost £1100 or so...still cheap for a laser though and now its a decent laser ..Thank God for my credit card.
It is probably the best purchase I have made especially for the sim...as soon as you get used to thinking in flat sheets and 2D then you'd be amazed what you can make
This for example
Attachment 10112...made from LOTS of bits cut on the laser glued together a bit of car body filler and paint.
also the knob on the Aileron panel.
Its capable of very fine work too I get accuracy to about .3mm
Not sure what else to tell about it if you have any questions feel free to ask
John
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Warren
Just checking your site out...way cool !!!!!
I love your excitement of having a real pilot plop in the left seat !!!
John
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Thanks John. We have an epilog at work for engraving plaques and gifts and I've been itching to buy one for my hobby. I have a CNC and a 3D printer and I can use them fairly well. I guess I just like new tools.
I love my 737 but my ultimate goal is to build my next sim by myself.
I wish I had more time to document my progress. I'm on vacation right now so I was able to kick back in front of the TV and knock out some updates. Plenty of time when I'm away from work and the sim.
Thanks for the info on the laser. I've looked at the ones from China and was hesitant. I guess I'll wait a bit more.
Cheers!
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Hi Warren
If you do go the Chinese route drop me a PM as I have fairly well documented the alterations/connections/setting up as well as having sourced the parts way cheaper than I paid ...*sigh*.
I cant wait to move to the new house I will then have room to assemble my sim.
John
2 Attachment(s)
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Ok another panel I made from scratch
Oh BTW a question for the moderators ...should this thread be somewhere else? like in the blog section ????
ok Cargo fire panel
This was bought and built by a guy in Utah.
Attachment 10117
All assembled and lit up
Beware if anyone wants one of these there are around 60-80 parts in the kit..Though I will supply instructions.
and in his pedestal
Attachment 10118
He's made my work look good !!!!
John
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Hi, I've been trying to source a suitable flip cover for the discharge push button. Could you tell me what you used ?
Great job, by the way!
Thanks
Martin
Re: My Home made 737 Panels
Hi Martin
Thank you for the kind words.
I made the flap up in two halves and sprayed a thin coat of blue windscreen tint spray.
Its designed to fit with the button boxes I make.
What have you there that you need to hinge onto?
(if you have access to a laser I can send you the drawings)
Having said that though have you seen these?
http://www.geremy.co.uk/shop/article...LB14%252385%26
at £2.99 its worth tearing one apart for the bit you need??
John