I found some better washers for the cylotron lights.

Equipment Proton Packs
1

I think these are the ones I’m going to use.

Stephan’s plans list the size of the larger washers to be 2 3/8" OD and 1 3/6" ID. But they don’t list the size for the lower ones with the smaller outer diameter. Using the photos to calculate their relative size at about 85% of the larger ones, I’ve decided that 2" is a good OD for those.

The original large washers I found at Ace hardware had an inner diameter of 1" on both washers, and outer diameters of 2 1/2" and 2 1/4" respectively. At first I thought these were the right size, but after comparing them with the photos, it was clear the inner dimater was too small,. and the width of the ring was still too great on the smaller washer.

But these new washers are better. I got these at a place called Fastenal. And since washers come in standard sizes you should be able to find them at a similar place that sells mostly bolts nuts and washers.

The new washers measure:

2 1/2" OD, 1 3/8" ID

2 1/4" OD, 1 2/8" ID

The inner diamteter of the smaller washer is only 1/16th of an inch larger than Stephan’s plans. And its outer diameter is 1/4" larger than what I calculated it should be based on his plans. Which means the thickness of the ring may be 1/16th of an inch greater than it should be.

Of course this all assumes that Stephan’s plans are accurate on the washer sizes, and they’re in metric, so they don’t convert precisely to fractions of an inch and they don’t even list the size of the smaller washer, so… All I can say is that it looks right when compared to what I’m seeing on the screen. But until I put my pack together and try to fit the washers around the n-filter, I won’t know for sure if they’re the right size. They’re real close though, that’s for sure, and much better than the ace washers.

The inner diameter of the larger washer is a whole 1/8th of an inch larger than it should be, but I purchased a 1/4" hole saw to make the holes in my cake pan, and what I will do is fill the center of the larger washer with wood filler after gluing it to the pack, and then drill through that to get a smaller hole, which is much easier than trying to drill a 1/8" thick steel washer to make a larger hole. :slight_smile:

And the outer diameter of the larger washer is 1/8" larger than the plans state. Maybe this will be a problem. I don’t know yet. But relative to the smaller washer, it looks right. Again, I’ll just have to wait till I get to the point where I put them on my pack to see if they work. But if you’re not trying to be entirely screen accurate, and you want washers that vary in ring width, and have a good sized center hole, then these washers might be right for you.

2

Nice find GG!.. I found the same washers at a True Value hardware store a while back. They’re not popular or standard sizes so places like Home Depot and Lowes won’t carry them. Good of you to notice the difference in washer sizes too. Most people never do but it’s crucial for proper fit of the N-filter.

One observance I had a while ago was the tops of the plastic Hasbro Star Wars lightsabers are pretty close in size too…

But the washer idea is much more cost effective.

3

Hang on,hang on,hang on. The bottom washers are smaller? Are you sure about that? They look exactly the same size to me. I’ve always used four washers the same size on my packs,and I’ve never had any trouble fitting the N-filter. Fitting the bottom ones closer together and closer to the center (i.e. in exactly the places specified in Stefan’s plans) allows perfect fitting of the N-filter. In fact, I think the reason that the bottom washers are not given sizes is because they are SUPPOSED to be the same size as the top ones. I’ve been checking this site for years now, and this is the first I’ve heard of the bottom and top washers being different sizes. Have I missed something?

4

Yes, I’m sure:

Look at how thick each ring is. Look at how the light in the middle APPEARS larger in the lower rings than in the upper. The lights are the same size though. It’s the outer diameter of the washers which is different, which is why the rings on the lower washers are narrower.

You can see this most clearly on Ray’s pack and on the NY packs, and some pics have an almost staright on view which allows you to check the size yourself in photoshop with some cut and paste to see for sure. That’s what I did to calculate how much smaller the smaller washers were, relative to the larger ones.

5

Oh yeah! I’d never noticed that before. So, that’s something else I need to adjust on my pack then! Still, no matter. I’ve just broken my cyclotron lights so I need to replace a large amount of gubbins in the cyclotron anyway, so changing the bottom two rings shouldn’t be a problem.

By the way, seeing as how my lights are knackered now, does anyone know of a toy or gadget that has four LEDs or bulbs that flash sequentially that I could strip out and fit into my cyclotron? I mean,it’s the 13th now,and I need two cyclotrons working by halloween so I don’t have time to build two circuit boards. Help!

6

Well I tried fitting the new washers and after measuring out the center hole locations and using a piece of PVC to subtiute for a completed N-filter, then placing the washers, it appears that the new washers do fit, and they’re very close to what you see on the real pack. They might be just slightly larger, like 1/8" in diameter, than the real washers. That translates to the big washers being 1/16" closer to the edge and the smaller ones butting right up against the n-filter, but the n-filter won’t be out over the edge of the pack and until I actually had a photo of the real pack to compare with side by side I couldn’t tell they were slightly off at all.

So looks like I’m good to go with the washers. And that’s great because I’m quickly running out of time!