Hollow BKBT stalk

Jango Fett Jr

Well-Known Hunter
Oh man was this a drag, took forever to do, but it's worth it! I bought a 3/16" VERY long drill bit, which was just thin enough to fit in the stalk. I put the stalk in a vice, and very slowly drilled through, stopping every few seconds to clean it out and make sure it was straight.

It's impossible to see in the photos, but theres a tiny bit near the bottom where the drill poked through the surface, but a little Bondo and RNB hid it perfectly. That, and it doesn't show through the earcap.

It's more than thick enough for two wires, but since the post is aluminum I will just run one wire straight to the battery, and the other will be connected to the post. On the mounting piece of the earcap, I will make a little plate which connects to the battery. The end result will be exactly like a switch, so no need for a mercury or tilt switch! And of all that needs to go in the RF top is the LEDs, so I'll be able to use a more accurate top ;) I'll post more when I get the other pieces done.

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Very nice indeed. That must have taken you a good amount of time worth of drillin...

-Tony Vida; TK 3204; Austin, Tx
 
Can you explain your switch idea again, not sure I get it.
Great work on the stalk though, i tried this with a resin stalk and would get hot inside and melt holes in the stalk, had to scrap it.
 
Thanks guys :)

TK-Fett, this is what I meant, hopefully this makes it clear. When in the down postition, the aluminum post itself makes a complete curcuit, so there is no need for a tilt/mercury switch.

stalk.gif
 
Thats pretty friggin cool Graeme. I had a similar idea myself, but was worried I'd never get the hole drilled strait. How much do those extra long drill bits cost???? Awesome Idea man;)
Damian
 
It cost about $11 Canadian, so it'll probably be like $2 US
It's made by a company called Blue-Mol, its a 3/16" XL Extended Length black oxide drill bit. I found it in the drill bits section at Home Depot.
 
That's EXACTLY how I did mine. The stalk completes the circuit in the full down position, giving the lights power. Anything other than the full down position, and the lights are off. (y)
 
Where can I get one of those "circut board" things that makes the LED lights blink alternately? I just received my bucket today and want to rig up my RF the same way you did yours.
 
Success! I tried out that schematic, and it works awesome. The 100k make it too fast compared to the example, so I'm going to try 200k to make it half speed.

One problem I realized with my original idea in my diagram; the LEDs will need to both go to the chip, they can't simply connect together and then go to te chip with two wires. Not to fear, I will just need to change my switch a bit.

More to come!

*EDIT*
-------------
Here are some photos of my little controller board. I haven't trimmed it down yet, so it looks bigger than it is. It's really about 1.5x1.5".

Also some photos of my earpiece attached with magnets, I had to countersink them a fair bit which ended up being tricky. I modded the trianglular prism part to be a bit taller because it was too short.

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They had a bunch at Home Depot in the drill bit section, it wasnt exactly as long as the stock, so I had to flip it around halfway through. The smallest I could find was 3/16", and a couple times it went through the surface. Fortunately its in an area hidden by the earcap.
 
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