Another Jetpack update.
On Post #409 I talked about the Smoke Kit I recently purchased for my Boba Maker Jetpack. In the video, I showed my jetpack with the smoke effect. What you don't see is that the Thrusters are simply placed in my jet pack for that video - they are NOT secured in any way. In fact, I had a large pillow at the bottom during filming in case the Thrusters decided to fall off. And so, this is what I'll be focusing on in this post - Securing the Jetpack Thrusters.
When I received the Jetpack from Boba Maker, the Jetpack Thrusters came with a single bolt embedded in the "Thrusters Arm" (I'll call it) center mass with a washer and wing nut for easy installation....
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Being that it has a single bolt that made it so the thrusters could be turned and positioned. However, in order to install my hose (that the smoke goes through) so that it goes through the thruster arm, I had to extract that bolt and re-tap the hole to be a little bigger to accommodate the hose. But since I did that I lost the ability to have the Thrusters securely attached to the Jetpack. So I had to think of a way to get them attached securely. At first I thought epoxy, but I wanted to be able to remove them if need be, for serviceability.
After thinking about it, I thought up a solution - so I took a trip to Home Depot and obtained these items.....
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Using the hardware pictured above, this is what I'll be using to get the Thruster secured on the Jetpack.
I took four of the #6 Bolts and lopped off the heads with my Dremel - in order to create a quantity of four, 2 inch pieces of "Threaded Rod"....
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I tapped in two new holes in the jetpack's thruster channel where the bolts will feed through....
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I then positioned the thrusters on my jetpack and from the inside, marked where I should tap the holes in my thrusters. Then using my favorite "Plastic Bonder" epoxy from JB Weld, I got the bolts embedded. They are embedded approximately 1 inch into the Thrusters...
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The Large Fender Washer is to be used on the inside of the pack for added durability. I had to tap in two holes that lined up correctly with the holes I created....
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I gotta say, it is pretty satisfying in coming up with a solution that works the way you envisioned it....
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Sure, I lose the capability to turn and position the thrusters by having them mounted in this fashion. But to have smoke trial out of them instead, yeah, I'll trade it for that feature any day!
I'm hoping to get this done in time for....
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(Which is June 23rd & 24th)
I've still got a little left to paint and also fix the electronics and smoke kit in a more permanent fashion to the the inside of the Jetpack.
More to follow!
Cheers,
-Iron
