I know normally a cake pan is used for the cyclotron but.. I have no way of cutting through metal.. is there another option.. I would love to be able to afford a fiberglass shell but school is more important so im leaning on foamboard here. I’m just stumped about the cyclotron. should i just try to find something in a similar shape in plastic ?
Do you have a power drill? Cause a hole saw bit doesn’t cost that much and will easily cut through aluminum.
Either Home Depot or Lowes has a sale on a Dremel Kit under $30. bucks I forget which one though.
be sure to CLAMP down the cake pan when using a drill to cut out the holes. I accidently ruined 2 cake pans before I figured that out. :walterpeck:
I like to hold the cake pan in my lap when I drill out the holes. :lol:
An alternative to the cake pan idea is using a 10" wooden salad bowl like this…
It comes in a 7 piece set for $19, available on Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/Cellar-Natural-Wood-7-Piece-Bowl/dp/B0018M8L1Y?tag=gbfans-discourse-20
I have one of these salad bowl sets at home (got it for a wedding gift 10 years ago) and always thought the 10" bowl would make a great cyclotron. It has a great round over on the bottom edge just like the cyclotrons on the movie packs. The rim is obviously too tall and has to be cut down but being made of wood, it’s easy to do.
$19 is a little steep for a bowl but it’s closer in appearance to the screen used packs than the cake pan and much easier to work with. You can even use the smaller bowls to make kid size proton packs!
Just a thought.
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I think that is a great thing to use for a Cyclotron!
I made my cyclotron without any cutting at all. I bought one of those plastic cover things you put over your plate in the microwave, painted it back except for the area were I was putting rubber washers where the lights will shine, and there u go: instant cyclotron without any cutting. 
thanks for the ideas guys.. not sure about wooden bowl.. mainly due to the weight… i don,t have a power drill though and i don’t really wish to buy one, i will more than likely have to borrow one from my brother, what diameter of hole saw bit am i looking at though ? I should invest in a dremel kit though, i need one for lots of projects.
The salad bowl is made out of Acacia wood which is fairly light but durable. Not a s heavy as you think. A resin cyclotron will weigh just as much. The cyclotron needs to be durable since it (and the N-filter) will take a brunt of the abuse when you slam in into the wall. Trust me, it will happen.
If you plan on building an accurate looking pack out of anything besides cardboard, you will need to invest in some tools.
One guy.. years ago made a pretty accurate Proton Pack in his apartment / dorm room using only a swiss army knife / fish knife.
His name… MacGyver!
No seriously someone made a very nice Pack with only a knife. I think the material was wood too!
I would advise against a Dremel. I bought one and I returned it because it was garbage. They spin dangerously fast and only the more expensive models even have speed controls. The fact is, a power drill is much cheaper, has a much more powerful motor (so it doesn’t bog down when you’re grinding stuff or drilling through hard materials), and you can get all those grinding and cutting bits for a standard power drill.
As for a hole saw, I can’t really tell you what to do there. You could buy just one one size you need for the cylotron holes, bu tthere’s other holes and circular shapes on the pack which need to be cut out.
I will say they sell these cheap hole saws at Walmart which have bands on them that you can remove to select the size you want. Then you’ll have sizes from maybe 3/4" to 2.5" I don’t remember exactly what sizes they cover, but they would do the holes in the cyclotron and maybe the hole for one of the gun handles. And two or three of the discs that go on the spacer as well.
Also, I just found this, which is an amazing deal:
$14 + free shipping, for a set with hole saws all the way up to 5" in diameter! They look like they’re only maybe 1.5" deep, but that would be enough for anything on the pack. Those larger hole saws will run you like $15-$30 at Home Depot if I rememebr correctly. And that’s for each one!
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ok you got me guys, ill bite lol. hopefully in a week or two i may be able to put up my own pack progress thread : )