Ready to build

All the components of my Milestag lasertag gun are now built. I'm going to add the electronic modules and build it this weekend.

More big time

Printed the second half of my Milestag gun body last night.
This part incorporates the speaker mount, LCD display mount, a hole for the reload switch and battery compartment access.

Big Time

Last night I managed to successfully make my biggest part yet. It is the RHS body of the milestag gun housing and has placements for battery, RJ10 connector, key and mode switches. It has printed very nicely indeed. Each corner has lifted slightly but this is unsurprising as there is a 45 degree chamfer on each edge.

Here is a picture:




and from above:



and with the parts fitted:

Trigger Happy

I've just finished printing the handgrip and trigger for my Milestag gun. The trigger slides on a raised section on one of the halves of the grip. It's a bit tight and I need to reduce the size, but I've managed to make it slide by sanding the trigger down and lubricating it with PTFE spray. Three self tapping screws hold the two halves together and there are four holes to mount the grip to the gun body.

Gutenberg in the third dimension

The more I use my reprap. The more impressed I am. The results are spot on and easily outstrip the speed and quality of manufacture that I could acheive machining the parts by hand (even if I had the machine tools to do so).

Here is the CAD drawing of the barrel holder/focus tube holder part of my gun model:



And here is the real thing as printed by reprap:



Assembled side on:



And the real thing:




From another angle:

Dome Moulds

I mentioned that I was trying to make Milestag acrylic domes to my neighbour who reminded me that he was a pattern maker and with a 'leave it with me' off he went.

Today he turned up with these:






6 dome moulds with a 3 degrees draft angle. All I need to do is fasten them to some plywood (supplied) and drill some forming holes.

They are made of a wierd material made from a composite of Welsh slate and resin.



Can't wait to try them.....

Lasertag Gun Mk2

I've started designing a new lasertag gun using CoCreate. The last one worked well, but could have been improved on several points:

1. I designed the last gun for 4 batteries, not 6. DOH!
2. The gun was far longer than it needed to be as the focal length of the lens was only 55mm.
3. The lens did not fit very well into the ReRap'ed housing due to the layering.
4. It was too tight a squeeze for all the internal components.
5. I put cable holes as semicircles in each half of the casing. This resulted in cables becoming trapped during assembly.
6. No sight mounting holes.
7. The grip was too wide.



So I've re-designed it using a shorter barrel section and added some curves. Still work in progress but it is looking good so far: