Bubinga Pistol Grip Mod

[Mrgreen819]

Starting a new wood mod made from African figured bubinga. Only in the beginning stages but thought it was coming along nicely. The brass pins are locators to hold the cover in the right spot, later I will add some neo magnets. At this point I am still shaping and sanding. The batteries are 18350's a single 18650 is slightly shorter. I am not sure which circuit I will be putting in this yet. I am also thinking of putting one of Breaktru's bullet casing style touch switches on this one. I laid a pistol on a piece of wood and traced it to get the original shape. Then I sliced 1/4" off the front and back and planed everything smooth again. Then using a scroll saw I cut out the battery compartment and glued the back on. Doing it this way all the grain matches and its made from one piece of wood. Certainly not easy or quick, I already have several hours of actual work into this.

 

[asdaq]

Looking great. If it is to be a pistol grip, I thnk a nice satisfying physical button would match the theme nicely, but that is just me. I hope the brass stays on the exterior, and actually you could use brass pins for the touch circuit too as it would bring it all together. Not to play devil's advocate with myself there, but just some ideas....

 

[breaktru]

Very nice Mrgreen. Having several pistol myself, I like it.
I thread my .44 rims with a 4-40 thread. If using a PB switch, I use the C&K switch which has the 4-40 thread. If using a touch, I use a 4-40 nipple and insert a 12 gauge solid copper wire for the contact point and a 4-40 nut on the inside.

 

[Mrgreen819]

Very nice Mrgreen. Having several pistol myself, I like it.
I thread my .44 rims with a 4-40 thread. If using a PB switch, I use the C&K switch which has the 4-40 thread. If using a touch, I use a 4-40 nipple and insert a 12 gauge solid copper wire for the contact point and a 4-40 nut on the inside.

Thanks appreciate the info. You have a spare mosfet for a touch switch I can buy from you? I am using 9mm casings as thats whats available to me. They are brass though and shine up nice. No progress worked late and the rest of the week looks pretty crazy. Maybe this weekend I can get more work done on this.

 

[breaktru]

Thanks appreciate the info. You have a spare mosfet for a touch switch I can buy from you? I am using 9mm casings as thats whats available to me. They are brass though and shine up nice. No progress worked late and the rest of the week looks pretty crazy. Maybe this weekend I can get more work done on this.

I'm actually down to zero on my P-Ch and N-Ch mosfets. Need to stock up. Haven't made one in several months.
A P-Channel would do nicely and easier if using it with a regulator.
I would suggest either a FDD6685 or a FQU17P06

 

[Mrgreen819]

My least favorite part of making mods is locating and ordering parts.

 

[asdaq]

Mine is being in the middle of making something and realizing a part has run out and needs to be got again. Just about the same as it is with cooking.

 

[Mrgreen819]

Well I need a 2 or 3 dollar part for a touch switch and I'm not interested in placing a big order,done that already several times. So either I pay through the nose with shipping or I just put on a regular switch which I have already. Maybe I should sell one of my wood mods and use that to finish the others.

 

[asdaq]

You might want to take into account the climate and humidity in your area for use with a touch switch. I know recently Quigsworth was rather charged about making one, but found it didn't suit Vancouver, B.C. all that well.

 

[Mrgreen819]

Well that's a deal breaker, its super humid here. I will proceed with a regular switch and hopefully post a update with pictures this weekend.

 

[Mrgreen819]

Update on the pistol grip mod. I was able to recess a voltage display into the handle, not easy but I think it was worth the effort. I am going to use this with a single IMR 18650 and the PTN 04050 booster from TI. Now it the fitment of everything then final finish sanding. Then the finishing process and reassembly. I learned the hard way to breadboard everything before stuffing it into a tiny enclosure. So there are many steps left. Hope these come out well and people enjoy them.

 

[Mrgreen819]

This is what she looks like after 3 coats of wipe on polyurethane. Im using oil based poly as I feel its more durable but each coat takes overnight to dry. I sand between coats hoping to keep the final finish very smooth. Next update will be adding the electronics.

 

[asdaq]

Looking very splendid, especially with the grip line following the dark grain. I'm puzzled on how it looks like a screen is reflecting in there, are you taking pics with a laptop camera?

 

[Mrgreen819]

Pictures taken using a digital camera no flash using a portrait setting. I'm still getting use to this new camera as the dog chewed my old one. This one is 14 megapixels so I have to really resize the images a lot so they are not too large to upload.

 

[Mrgreen819]

Here she is finally done. Was a tight fit but managed to get everything in place. I used a single turn potentiometer as I hate the 10 turn trim pot types. Testing it now and its performing really well.

 

[Mrgreen819]

For some reason not all of my pictures uploaded.

 

[Mrgreen819]

 

[breaktru]

Well done MrG, finished product is great

 

[Mrgreen819]

No kidding, nice to see it done. Fits the hand great too, that's what I was "shooting" for. Its doing great on single coil carts and tanks but it dosn't like my dual coil carts or dual coil tank cartomizers.

 

[asdaq]

Turned out really nice and the raised switch fits it relly well. I had thought that it might end up with more free space inside, but you filled it in pretty much where it ought to be. Maybe add some crosshairs on the side of a tank for stress relief?