Laser diode adjuster: Third time lucky

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After 3D printing my Mk2 LS2020 laser diode adjuster I decided that it could be improved. I managed to reduce the height by about 20mm and improve rigidity. Here is the new design:

Here it is fitted to the sniper rifle body, note that the wooden stock is now stained:

From the top it is noticeably slimmer than the previous version:

Laser Adjuster Fitted

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I fitted the LS2020 laser adjuster to my Milestag sniper rifle after printing and fitting a picatinny mounting clamp. It looks good, but it sticks out too far. I've had a few ideas for a Mk3.

Second Sight

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After designing a windage/elevation moubnt for the LS2020 laser diode, I realised that there would be too great a moment if the laser was twisted. So I redesigned the entire thing and came up with this:

It has an arm which rotates around an M4 screw. This is held in position by a long M4 bolt which engages in a 'V' indentation in the outer circumference of the arm. This screw acts as a worm drive and allows accurate positioning for the elevation.
The windage adjustment mounts on the arm, and uses a pair of hinged plates. These are moved together/apart by an M3 screw threaded into a brass bar embedded in the lower plate. This has some rotation as the angle of the M3 screw changes as adjustments are made.

Here it is in the real world, the LS2020 module is just visible.

The elevation adjustment screw can be seen in the centre of the plate with six screws:

Mounting a LS2020 laser module

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As part of my Milestag LS2020 sniper rifle project I have designed a mount for the LS2020 laser module which allows adjustment for elevation and windage. Of course, when firing just photons the Earth's gravity and the wind speed are irrelevant. This adjustment will however allow me to align the output of the laser module with the gun sights:

Trigger Happy

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My Milestag sniper rifle needs a trigger, so I CADed one up today. It uses a small, sealed microswitch from Farnell.

I'm very limited by the amount of height and width I have available in the wooden stock. This switch enabled me to create a switch module only 20mm high and 15mm wide:

Here are the internals after printing, you can see the cam operation on the leaf microswitch:

And with the top section in place, note the countersunk self tap screws to keep the with to 15mm:

After marking the dimensions on the underside of the stock, I routed and chiselled a recess for the trigger unit to fit in. Here it is in close up:

And complete with fitted front barrel clamps:

Milestag sniper rifle: Continued

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This weekend I used a round routing bit and my routing table to make a semicircular groove in the stock of the gun. The barrel will fit into this:

I need a clamp to hold the 20mm barrel in place. I CADed a clamp with an integrated picatinny sight rail:

This will clamp over the top of the barrel, and will be held in place with screws into the wooden stock. Due to 3D print size restrictions, I've had to split this into 4 sections.

After printing the rear section:

This has an enclosed end section to hide the end of the 20mm barrel:

Here it is with the rear pieces fitted:

It was looking so good I couldn't resist fitting the 'scope I got for it:

Manchester Museum Mini Maker Faire

Took the kids to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry Mini Maker Faire today. The second event of its kind. Nowhere near the scale of its USA counterparts, but a great day out.
I just took loads of photos, so here they are:

This guy had a mobile farriers:


But most of the exhibits were in the 1830s warehouse:


Nophead doing the stand, even though he wasn't supposed to be....


Hebden Bridge hackerspace...all the way from darkest Yorkshire.


Mary and my youngest.......Matthew seemed to have developed a robot obsession.


This guy had some cool POV clocks. I need to make one of these. Also had the pleasure of listening to him explaining basic electronics to nophead. To be fair he was taking the standard line of 'I'm assuming you know nothing about electronics'.


This stand was a commercial company that tests high voltage power distributions lines..they'd brought a Van de Graaff generator along. Ironically they had to move this as it was interfering with the POV clocks next door.


The guys from the Kickstarter campaign Picade had some playable prototypes. These were great and entertained the kids whilst I had a look around.


Alex on the Manchester Hackerspace HackMan stand. I've been a few times to Hackman and have really enjoyed it. Check them out here.


Making potato guns..


And testing them:

More spud gun testing:


The guys from London hackerspace, as featured on Hackaday, had brought their simulator along..wasn't able to check it out due to age restrictions :o{ (not me..the kids)

Milestag sniper: Stock complete

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My neighbour brought the formed stock today and what a fantastic job he has made of it. It has been transformed from this:

To this:

Here it is alongside the original:

I'm awaiting a few parts to arrive from ebay, then I can start fitting.

New Project: Milestag sniper rifle

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Ok, Missus is working nights. Two kids need entertaining during the day. Two solutions: XBox360 Lasertag
Here is my youngest in the garden tree taking at 20m shot:

The great thing about having loads of lasertag gear is that it reduces the cost of 8yo+ birthday parties to DIY. However, My oldest wants to be a sniper this year. So not to disappoint I've decided to make a one off.
This will be a wooden body based upon my old BSA Meteor air rifle:

0.22 calibre. A bit worn now after 34 years but I traced its outline and did a cut out:

The stock wood I was using was not wide enough to incorporate the butt. So I drilled a few holes so I could dowel in another piece:

I then used these dowel centres to allow me to drill holes to match those I'd drilled in the main part:

I then added the remaining butt section by gluing with 8mm dowels and clamping:

I traced the remaining butt of my air rifle onto this additional section:

And used a jigsaw to cut out:

I've ordered a LS2020 IR laser diode to give a several hundred metre range to this. My neighbour has access to a bobbin sander and will give it a working over next week. To be continued....