Hi:
I’m building three packs (trying to get them done for Halloween) and working off Norms plans, which are great, but I’m having trouble with a few things… If anyone has any advice, please let me know.
A) Page 1 – Bending the styrene with a heat gun. Okay, I’ve tried this three times now, and the styrene doesn’t bend very cleanly. How does one get a sharp edge on the styrene? I’m talking about the ten degree bend that is supposed to form the wall of the spacer.
B) Page 2 - The cyclotron – Does anyone have, or know of a decent alternative to the cakepan? I’m trying to find something pastic as I’ve heard that drilling through the aluminum is a pain in the ass, and doesn’t usually come out very clean. My drill gun sucks and I’m hoping to avoid that particular nightmare.
Thanks.
–Bragi
ok, i’ve got a bit of recent experience with norms plans, since i’ve been working on my pack since may or so. i am mostly using his plans as a jumping borad after realizing that ALOT of his measurements DONT fit together. so dont take each word as gospel fisrt off.
second, the cake pan is=dea really is easy, you just need a hole saw kit for your drill. i used it on mine, no prob. check the results here:
as you go thru the thread you will see i sanded the hell out of mine to remove the teflon. dont buy a teflon coated one if you can help it. but if you dont want to go with the pan, you can use a carefully selected base tray for a potted plant. go look at a garden ridge or something.
you should be able to sort it out…good luck and keep us posted!
The styrene dilemma can be overcome by making that part a 90 degree angle like it’s supposed to be. (If you look at Venkman71 and Stefan’s plans you can see this.) Just make two ends of styrene meet at that spot, anchoring them with wood blocks or something, and it should work. I guess I should post a pic, huh?
I use the cake pan method, bu only because I found some really cheapo ones at the dollar store. They can almost be cut with a knife, that’s how flimsy they are. But- I was at the craft store the other day, and I noticed they have these stepping stone molds made from plastic. They were a really good shape for the cyclotron, but they were 8" around, and we need larger. So, I’m trying to seek out the company in hopes of them having the next size up.
Ive seen hat boxes used and I’ve also seen wooden rings stacked on top of each other than sanded.
yeah, i almost forgot about that one! yeah i think the stacked rings could work if done right.
I took a crack at using two pieces last night (thanks fifth_beatle) with the ninety degree angle. It worked better although I’m not sure how strong it is. I’ll try to add some wood blocks to it, but they’d have to be pretty small ones to fit in there. The only problem I’m foreseeing is that the blocks will not fit flush inside the spacer anymore, due to the wooden embroidery rings. Anybody come up with a solution for this?
–Bragi
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