DIY thread

[Nwbrewer]

So I know there was a DIY thread around here somewhere, but I couldn't find it, so I'll start a new one.

Some of you guys who've dove with me know I like to DIY some gear... wetsuit pockets, camband pockets, spring straps, and the infamous ugly but effective canlight 1.0. -



It all PVC and acrylic with a 20watt IR halogen bulb. It's not as bright as a 10watt HID, but it casts a good beam and with an 8degree spot it's decent for signalling.

Anyway, the real reason for the post was that Friday night I finished canlight 2.0.



Upgraded cable glands, canister latches, an nicer switch arrangement, and a much better head/goodman handle. Since it's an all metal/glass head I can put a better bulb in it, this time a 30watt IR halogen.



The battery arrangement is the same 12 volts of 2.7Ah AA's that I used in 1.0. With the 30watt IR bulb it gives me ~45minutes of burn time. This is one area I need to work on upgrading. I'd like a nice 5ah pack, to give me over an hour. With an upgraded pack I may be brave enough to try a 65 watt IR bulb, producing the same lumens as a 18watt HID....



I survived the pressure pot test to ~90 fsw, and went to 82fsw on saturday. Operated flawlessly.

One thing I've learned about halogen is that it tends to wash out in sunlight more, so on those nice sunny dives at EUP it's kind of useless for signaling. But it's a trade off, because I like the color of the light at depth much better than an HID or LED.

Anybody else have some DIY projects to share?

Jake

[Sounder]

You need to meet Dave DeJong.

[Sea of Green]

[Burntchef]

nice light jake, having seen version 1.0 a few times i cant wait to see 2.0 in action. is the body a mag light?? and can you make me a good man handle? i have the aluminium strap just no press brake to bend it good enough.

[Nwbrewer]

Yep, it's a maglight, at least it used to be. It's hacked down, ground out so that the IR bulb fit's it. The grinding isn't necessary if you use a regular bulb. It has a goodman handle on it, the top half is PVC that I heated and bent, the bottom half is Aluminum strap. The clip is one of the clips sold for storing a maglight on a wall or something. Seems to work well. You can check out when we dive the boat. Time for a REAL pressure test.

Jake

[boydski]

Nice Light!

So far I only have a couple DIY projects including a Nitrox Mixing Stick and a Tank Tumbler. But there is always room for more!

[Sounder]

Yep, it's a maglight, at least it used to be. It's hacked down, ground out so that the IR bulb fit's it. The grinding isn't necessary if you use a regular bulb. It has a goodman handle on it, the top half is PVC that I heated and bent, the bottom half is Aluminum strap. The clip is one of the clips sold for storing a maglight on a wall or something. Seems to work well. You can check out when we dive the boat. Time for a REAL pressure test.

Jake

I've got a 10w back-up for you if it floods on the charter. Sounds like you'll have it pressure tested before then though.

[Nwbrewer]

Well, saturday it survived a pressure test to 82 fsw so we should be good for the charter. By then with any luck I'll have the new bigger batteries for it too. I also carry at least on backup light every dive, if not two.

Scott I like your tank tumbler! That's pretty cool.

Jake

[fishb0y]

I've got my DIY regulator... actually its an older USD Aquamaster with a Phoenix nozzle. I did clean it up, powder coat and replace most of the software...[img=]http://picasaweb.google.com/fishb0y73/P ... 5664033314[/img]

[airsix]

Hi Jake. Nice light. I love to tinker with DIY stuff for fun. It's not always the quickest and easiest, but sometimes it's the only way to get exactly what you want.

Here's some of my stuff.

Lights: Here are a pair of lights. On the right is version 1.0 with a $12 lighthead made from PVC fittings, an o-ring, and a pyrex lens in front of a 35w halogen bulb. On the left is version 1.4 with a maglite head housing a 50w halogen. Both of these lights have been on many dives, several to beyond 100ft. Both canisters hold a 10ah Li-Ion pack. This gives the 50w light about 1.6 hour burn time and the 35w drops off at 3 hours. I have a 30w HID bulb and ballast for each of these canisters and they'll be upgraded when I get the lightheads turned (from billet aluminum). I actually made the maglite head a few days before my last trip when I realized there was no way I could finish the HID head in time for the trip. I hope to finish the HID lightheads in August.



My brother wanted to try drygloves so I lathe-turned a set of rings for him from a ABS plumbing coupling. Cost about $3 and another $6 for gloves and vacuum cleaner belts. See the DIY dryglove thread on scubaboard if you're interested. Brother loves them and for $9 + 10 minutes on the lathe it was a nice project.


I wanted to get some weight off my belt and decided to cast a weight to fit in the channel of my plate. I drilled some mounting holes so I could adjust it's position for trim. I welded a nut to a piece of steel and cast the ingot around it so the nut is embedded strongly. Now I simply bolt or unbolt the weight from the backplate. It weighs 8 pounds. I made more than one mounting hole in the backplate and actually have the weight mounted about 4 inches lower than pictured. This worked out better for trim (I had to cut a little channel in it so it could sit over the lower wingnut.)



-Ben

[Burntchef]

very cool projects ben, in the last pic of your back plate it looks like you cut out some brass knuckles from it??? did the plate come like that?

[Ken G]

Looks like a Hammerhead plate to me. I got the same one but opted to go without the cut outs.

[airsix]

Yep, it's a hammerhead. I didn't know about the handle-delete option back when I got mine. Wish I had. I'd rather have the extra steel vs. the useless handles. It's a great plate though. Good angle, and the kick-out at the base is a nice feature.

-Ben

[Nwbrewer]

I like that channel weight, I've been thinking about something like that.

I saw one that went in the holes on the outter edges of the plate, but I like yours better. What did you use for a mold?

Jake

[airsix]

What did you use for a mold?

Jake

Hi Jake. I used the plate!

It's really easy. Here are the steps.

1. strip the pate bare.
2. drill your mounting hole in the plate channel
3. make your mounting bolt
4. make your mounting nut/anchor to be cast into the ingot
5. install mounting bolt through back of plate and install nut/anchor on inside (this should stick up away from the plate so it will be embedded deep in the ingot)
6. use modeling clay to form dams where you want the ends of the mold to be.
7. if there are any holes or slots in the plate where lead will be poured place masking tape on the back side of the hold and fill the hole with clay.
8. Carefully and without burning down your abode or inflicting personal injury melt your lead and pour it into the mold. Plate should be on a surface not sensitive to heat (like dirt or gravel. NOT cement! cement is very heat sensitive due to it's retained moisture and can erupt like popcorn)

To get the lead to flow well it will have to be a fair bit above the melting point. This means it will take a few minutes to set, and a LONG time to fully cool. Do this outside so you have good ventilation because lead isn't good for you!

Have fun & don't get hurt.

-Ben

[airsix]

After it has set-up and cooled, flip it over and remove the mounting bolt. The ingot will drop right out (if you made sure not to cast through any holes or slots.

Final advice: It works best for me to have the weight mounted as low on the plate as possible otherwise the weight is too far up the torso and I go head-down. 'small-of-the-back' works out just right.

-Ben

[airsix]

Last comment...
Lead melts at about 620F. You can melt it with a good hot-plate, a propane torch, over charcoal, whatever. I put the lead in an old sacucepan, set it across a couple of bricks and heated from beneath with a propane torch.

-Ben

[Nwbrewer]

Sweet, gonna have to try that I think. Do you have a pre installation picture of the mounting nut? I think I know what you did, but I'm not quite sure.

[kwbyron]

Where did the lead come from?

[Burntchef]

any fishing supply store should have ignots of lead real cheap,

[Nwbrewer]

I have two cast 10lb hard lead dive weights. Using them as they are isn't really very comfortable. I'm thinking of melting them.

Jake

[boydski]

Do be careful if you decide to melt down any old down-rigger ball that you recovered while diving. I had a friend melt one down that turned out to have a small pocket of water inside, which turned to steam when heated and essentially exploded molten lead.

One splatter of the molten lead covered one side of the goggles he was wearing (which still hang in the shop as a reminder). He was very lucky, the goggles saved his eye and he had relatively minor burns. Of course, he did have to change his underwear.....

[Nwbrewer]

Wow,

Thanks for the heads up Scott. I was actually thinking I'd chunk mine up with a set of bolt cutters or something so that it would melt easier. I have a gas fired kiln that'll go up to 1800deg F, I was thinking I'd just put an old cast iron pan in there to melt the lead. Does that sound like a safe plan?

[airsix]

I have a gas fired kiln that'll go up to 1800deg F, I was thinking I'd just put an old cast iron pan in there to melt the lead. Does that sound like a safe plan?

Kiln would work great. Do you have a digital pyrometer? I'd just set it at 640-650F and it should work perfectly.

-Ben

ps - I used two 5lb cast scuba weights.

[Nwbrewer]

I don't have one yet, I've just been using cones for now, but I'm getting one this fall, so this project will have to wait a bit, but I think it's definately a good one.

Jake