**JETPACK UPDATE**
For my full time job as a Sales Engineer I had my hands pretty full in September, so I didn't have too much time to spend on my Boba Maker Jetpack. Also it was the end of Q3 too - end of quarters are also a super busy time for us! And here we are in October and I have not done anything to my Jetpack since the last post.....
I had an issue that needed to be dealt with before I proceeded with painting - and that issue was the Rocket. As you may recall, I sanded off the Boba Maker Jetpack Collar to make way for the MCR Collar I have!
Here's a small recap of that endeavor....
....the things we do to get Metal parts to fit, huh? (
Remember my Boba Maker Gauntlets and MCR Flamethrower Nozzles?)
So, in that picture above (
The one in the Lower-Right hand corner),
Gravity is the only thing holding that together. Obviously, I needed something more permanent. And therein lies the issue. How to get them all to fit together and hold snugly? I thought on this pretty heavily and landed on a solution that I thought would work well!
tennantlim has this exact setup (
Boba Maker JP and the MCR Metal Rocket Collar) and in his thread (
Tennantlim's Thread) he posts that he used
JB Weld to hold them all together. I will also use JB Weld, but only a half-measure. My idea will improve upon this design and hold it so that the only real way it comes off is by a great deal of sheer force. Last thing I want, is for the rocket to get caught on something and snap off! Which would be not only embarrassing, but also heart breaking at the same time. Here's the idea.....
Embed and use a toggle bolt!
One of the caveats is, is that the Toggle Bolt must have a pan head on it - which emulates a small washer. Here is what I did!
1) First thing I did, was file down my Dremel cutting wheel by continuously cutting off the ends of a spare Steel Bolt I had - the idea of this was to be slightly bigger than the pan head of the Toggle Bolt.
2) Using the Dremel Cutting Wheel to also lop off either end of the Toggle bolt wings...
3) Next thing was to notch out the space on the rocket - easy enough to do with my Dremel and drill bit that also acted as a cutting bit.
4) Then using the "
Small Cutting Wheel" on my Dremel, begin to cut out the space where I'll slide in the Toggle Bolt.
5) It fits!!!! Woo-Hoo!
6) And now to test fit it together. My intention (
Which hasn't been done, yet) is to epoxy the bolt to the top rocket and then like tennantlim - use JB Weld on the MCR Collar on either end to attach both rocket pieces. But here it is assembled (
With no Epoxy or JB Weld)
....As you can see I can hold it horizontally and it holds with no issue.
And then here it is on my Jetpack...
I'm not sure there has been a documented process on this, for those of us who have a Boba Maker Jetpack and an MCR Collar - till now. But here ya go!
Painting to commence this week and next! I took PTO
ALL next week to hopefully bring my Jetpack closer to the finish line!
Regards,
-Iron