Myron Beaumont Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Inspiration hit me in a dream and rats in the roof woke me up at the right time .What about guitar machine heads and a small boat motor and a couple of micro switches for the driving mechanism ? They're all in my scrap cupboard . I'll leave the rest to your imagination for now ! Cup of tea & back to bed for inspiration for the non-existant front cowl .I have made a foam plug though. Myron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cooper Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 "Dreaming about retracts at 4 in the morning"...... sounds fairly normal to me... Have fun. B.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozmyk Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 We had rats in the roof too a while back. We're in a block of 10 houses terraced. Gawd knows where they got in. Not past our cats and the Rotty that's for sure Box traps and slow poison sorted them out. Early hours parts shopping, I have a PC next to the bed for those moments of inspiration and insomnia. ;^)Bought an oscilloscope at 02:30 this morning ... doesn't everybody?. Re machine heads. You'll have to free them up somehow, they're usually pretty stiff, necessarily so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclicscooby Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 I just spent hours and hours and hours and even more hours, filing blocks of 5mm ally to make the retracts for the heli... Worth it in the end tho.. Cant you get away with a front/centre mounted 'proper' retract unit, and use rods n stuff to get to the wheels.. ?? Luv Chrisie.. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Cyclical scooby doo I could BUT everyone talks about the problems they have .They use a Hitec HS 75BB retract (£17) & VERY expensive retracts that break on anything but a bowling green or tarmac .I'll make my own . Kozmyk By the way ,only cheap guitars have tight friction between the two parts.Don't ask me how I know . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 OK Myron, you hum it and I'll play it.... "Its four in the mornin' And once more the dawnin' Has woke up the vision' in me. Powered by Fender Won't be needin no mender And tha'll certainly do me" BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozmyk Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Excellent, BEB's a C&W star in the making. Myron - I guess. The good ones have a smooth kind of resistance. I just took the G-string off (ooh err!) my old Modulus bass and there was a fair bit of friction to the machine head, I think they're Schallers. After all, a smooth kind of resistance is what we're after on a machine head isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myron Beaumont Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Kozmyk 'tis not the friction/resistance in the worm drive ,but the "gearing "that matters .About 20 or so turns of the tuning peg to one turn of the spindle holding the string .I won't fiddle with my G string to count the exact ratio .It's settled down having been under tension for a week or two.My idea is that with such gearing ,the leg is going nowhere unless commanded by a fairly high speed motor ..Very little stress on the motor and the drive either. PS I have Gibson SG , Fender strat & a Chinese Yamaha acoustic copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Well if we are comparing notes...(oh dear) I have a Fender Strat (sunburst), and Fender Jazz base also I was recently given a Hohner headless bass. My son also has a very attractive Epiphone Les Paul Copy (Epiphone are actually made by Gibson - or so he tells me!) Plus numerous lesser makes! And no, you can't have the machine heads off any of them! Except maybe the Hohner BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozmyk Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 If you used those locking heads you'd have a ready made grub screw to hold the strut. Arsenal: Basses - 3x5Str, 2x6Str, 2x4Str, 1xUpright Guits - 1xStrat, 1xHeinz57, 1xEko1xBanjo All I gotta do now is learn how to play 'em. 8^)Actually it may be time to move some of them on.I'll see if the next generation/s show any interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 Wandering well off topic here - but Myron's a musician so hopefully he won't mind to much! I had the same thought about the "next generation" so I started teaching my son the guitar when he was 7. By 12 I had to send him to a teacher as he had past me by! He's now 18 and its reached the point where I'm embarrassed to play the guitar in his presence . He's also a very talented pianist and drummer - makes you sick! He's off next month to do a Music degree at university. So, watch out with those next generations - they can leave you standing! BEB PS Proud as hell of him of course really - and I've still got one up on him cos he couldn't fly a trainer round the circuit even if it was on auto-pilot! I know - he's tried! Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 24/08/2011 23:57:40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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