Installing Dart Launchers On Knee Armor

Dha Syntir

Active Hunter
I just got my new Boba knee armor, filled in the dent and primered-now I'm ready to fasten the dart launchers to the knee armor. I've seen some folks drill out a hole just large enough of a diameter for the dart launchers to rest in and then epoxy them in place. What if the dart gets hung up on something somewhere along the line, could it break the knee armor possibly? I wondered if I was better off just epoxying them flush to the correct spot. Anyone have any opinions or alternate suggestions for me so I can do the best quality job that I'm able to do? Thanks for answering my noob questions...:lol:

 
It seemed the most sturdy way to do it in my opinion.

Also, pre-drill your parts for the screw, about one bit size smaller. This will prevent the darts\launchers from cracking and will make the job much easier.
 
i have vacuformed knees. the inside of the area where the darts go is hollow, so i was able to just drill a small hole, put the screw from the knee dart through, and fasten the nut on the back. i then put a dot of goop on the nut to make sure it doesn't come loose.

it's a pain to get them off again, but possible. the only time i remove the darts is when i've broken my knee armor too badly to repair, at which point shredding them to get the goop off is no big deal.
 
I had thought about running a screw into it but couldn't figure out how the heck I was going to tighten it down-now I have a couple good ideas. And most of all they don't include my radically hacking into such nice knee armor. BTW, this was my first time dealing with Bobamaker and I'm very impressed with the quality of his work...Thanks guys, I'm off to find my drill/bits etc.

 
When I first started trying to ponder over the best ways to affix the darts on the knee armor, screws never crossed my mind as I didn't think there was any way to get a screwdriver in there to tighten it down. I was able to use the screwdriver to keep the screw from turning as I twisted the dart itself to snug it down tight. It took me a bit longer not having a whole lot of dexterity and strength in my dominant hand, but surprisingly didn't have to curse at the knee armor even once! And that's such a rarity these days. :lol: Thanks for the great tips guys!

 
Here is another good way to attach the darts with screws or bolts, without having to bondo or glue a screw/bolt into the darts, then bolt it to the plastic.

First you will need:

A 3/16" Drill Bit

A 3/16" Tap Bit, which looks like THIS:

IM000687.jpg


A Drill or Drill press

A crescent wrench OR small channel locks (crescent preferred)

A 3/16" bolt with a matching nut, and a washer

and your Knee Armor.

OKAY! so first thing you need to do...is to take your 3/16" drill bit and your knee darts. You will then drill a hole into your Knee Dart that is about the lenght of your bolt. I would suggest nothing larger then a one inch bolt, unless you feel confident in your drilling abilities.

For this (since I dont have any knee darts handy at the moment) I used a cylindrical shaped piece of styrafoam.

IM000688.jpg


**If you have a drill press, make sure you are holding onto the knee dart, and just a normal drill, hold on to the darts...i needed one hand to take the picture**


So now that you have drilled the hole go ahead and get your Tap Bit. Place the Tap Bit into the crescent wrench, like this:

IM000689.jpg


Make sure you keep constant pressure on the crescent scroll so you keep the bit in there. Now take the knee dart and place the Tap Bit into the drilled hole. Don't force it. You will slowly **SLOWLY** turn the bit Clockwise into the hole. This creates the treads for the bolt.

IM000692.jpg


Now when you get to the length of hole you drilled back the bit out in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION (Counter-Clockwise) SLOWLY!

IM000693.jpg


Now you have a threaded knee dart!

So now go get your knee armor. For this I am using a small piece of styrene (because I have no knee armor handy).

Take the 3/16" drill bit, and drill a corresponding hole in the armor for where the bolt will come through and the dart will sit.

IM000696.jpg


So now you have a nice hole in your Knee Armor!!

IM000697.jpg


Then you take your bolt and place it through from the inside of the armor, so that the bolt is facing outward where the darts go:

IM000698.jpg


BUT PUT THE WASHER ON FIRST!!!

IM000704.jpg


now just take your knee dart, and screw it onto the bolt, as to end up like this:

IM000705.jpg




Fairly simple. This gives you more strength dexterity for the dart and if it gets snagged, it wont snap the bolt and bondo out of the dart.
 
Wow, nice tutorial actually-I probably should have waited a day...:lol: I actually think your way has been the best explained so far without question.

 
I was really bored last night, was getting frustrated with a few projects, so took time out to post that up. And come on Wes, I just have the mentality, GO BIG OR GO HOME! LOL
 
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