This is my attempt at building a PKE meter using the Presto ShineOn electric shoe polisher as a shell. They’re fairly cheap (compared to Ionas and casts thereof), and they have a shape that isn’t too far off.
I was originally a little hesitant about getting one, as I couldn’t get an accurate set of dimensions. However, it looks like it will be just about right.
Now something I hadn’t seen in any of the photos of this thing was this boxy hump on the back. I’m thinking about cutting it off following the curve of the handle, and fitting something else in to close it up.
Now, when I picked it up, I was really surprised at how heavy it is. Then, I opened it to gut it and saw why.
There’s a lot of thick steel. The only reason I can think of for this is to prevent it from shaking too much in use, so you can get a more even polish. Because of this, I’d suggest picking this up in a store, if you can, rather than ordering online. I ended up paying around $7 in shipping because of the giant hunks of metal.
I’ll update when I actually get started. I know some other people were looking at these too, so I thought I’d give you all a glimpse of what this thing actually looks like.
The Ionas are similar. Small product, big heavy motor inside. I like the idea of using this as an alternative PKE base and I’m pretty interested to see how it turns out. Good luck on your build sir.
I have a quick question for the more experienced builders out there. When working with an Iona, what do you use to fill the hole where the polishing wheel used to plug in? Also, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can use to cover the large gaping hole that will be there after I cut along the handle contour?
I agree with TC. Cept, I would say for the larger hole you’d make cutting off that major section, cut a peice of styrene or sign plastic to fit the hole and use the bondo/epoxy/filler to smooth out the transition.
I need suggestions on how to make the wings. I plan on using the electronics plan that mburkit & co. are working on, so they will be functional, I’m just not sure what to make them out of. Thanks!
OK, so here’s what I’ve gotten accomplished so far. I cut off the excess and attached a thin piece of plexiglass.
I’ve also filled in the attachment area with Bondo (don’t have any pics of that at the moment).
I decided to go with layered styrene for the wings. I’ve got one mostly made so far. I think I’m going to do the other a little different, as this was a bit of a pain.
I cut out several of the design and glued them together with liquid nails. Then I used a dremel to cut the channel for the lights and wires. Unfortunately, that ended up with a TON of styrene shavings everywhere, and I had to stop every five minutes to clear them away so I could see what I was doing. I think I’m going to cut the channel into the inner layers beforehand on the other wing.
Also, it looks like I’m going to have to move the locations of the screws for the body. From just holding the whole thing together, it looks like the posts are EXACTLY where I want the servos to be to make the wings move.
Well, what you see is about what’s done so far. I’m currently waiting on an electronics parts list so I can cut the holes for lights and screen to just the right size.
OK, so I haven’t actually made any progress on this, but I’ve had an idea. Has anyone ever tried to insert a motion detector into their PKE meter? I have an old motion detector kit that I never put together, and I’m fairly confident I could sync the input from that to the lights/wings.
