ive seen some packs that were made primarily out of wood and now im kinda questionable about making mine out of wood, which would be cheap for me bc i can get free scraps of alot of sizes for free.
i didnt get to see any pics of finished products that looked as sharp as the resin ones and such so i was wondering does anyone know of someone that has made a wood pack and it look really good?
and if there is one, what are some suggestions about building with wood? i know there is a weight problem which im concerned about, and then you deal with screws and stuff.
I think almost all packs that are custom scratch builds have wood in them somewhere. Thing is, a wood pack can be VERY heavy.. some people’s packs are 45 pounds, and that’ll kill yer back.
I think the best custom builds use different materials to lighten them up to be manageable.
Our packs and guns, with the alice frames weigh just under 12 pounds each, and at the end of a long convention day, even just a 12 pound pack seems a pain to put back on.
If you make it out of “MDF” wood (which you can get at any Home Depot or Lowes, it comes in a 2.5 x 4 foot sheet I think) it will end up weighing about the same as a fiberglass or Syntra plastic pack.
Now, if you make it out of plywood, you might want to locate a good chiropractor, just in case. Plus getting rid of the grain could be an issue. Lots of filler, plus sanding, more filler, etc., etc.
The MDF on the other hand is already smooth, and you would only need to fill the seams where you join the pieces, and sand. (But, most of the time, I don’t even do that, because when you use primer, it will fill it.)
You can actually save a lot of weight by getting creative with the cyclotron area. Instead of stacking up wood and cutting, try taking a thin strip of wood (as wide as the cyclo is deep) and wetting it to warp it around creating the wall. Saves a ton of weight and gives you a lot more room inside the pack.
I just made my sync generator out of insulation foam. I used cake pans for our cyclotron, and used real metal washers for the cyclotron, but on our next builds, I think I’ll make the cyclotron out of insulation foam as well, and find a lighter alternate solution for the cyclotron washers.. the cake pan and washers added a lot of additional weight, and they are protected by the bumper anyway.
I think I can shave another pound off our packs with that, and making the gear and crank boxes also out of insulation foam.
Check out my build thread towards the bottom of the first page. I also have a pic of my pack (unfinished) as my avatar. I’m making mine out of plywood. It’s been tough and it does look a bit rough if you really concentrate on it, but I am very, very happy with the results. It’s hard work sure, but it will pay off in the end. Also, there is a lot of weight, but they were heavy in the movie, so to me it’s more authentic. Just my opinion.
