Wood Smallish Aluminum and Purple Heart Mod

[BlueridgeDog]

My bride wants a smallish mod with a DNA40, so off we go. More images as we progress. I am stuck waiting on the chip. The two lipos will give 2400mah at 25c, so it should be a nice box when done. The only thing accomplished thus far is the brazing of the aluminum, fitting of the wood skins, test fit of the lipos and installation of the 510. I have not put in buttons yet as I may use the onboard ones.

 

[DavidOH]

Looking good so far.

 

[opensec]

Is it a Hammond box you start with? how thick is the wood panel?

 

[Vladiator]

I like it!

 

[BlueridgeDog]

Is it a Hammond box you start with? how thick is the wood panel?

No, I take aluminum bar stock and braze the outer box. In this case the Purple Heart is 1/8th inch.

This aluminum is 1/16, the one shown below it on the bench is 1/8 thick.

 

[coffeebum]

That is pretty sweet, you got skills.

 

[greymetallicteg]

Thats sick man.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

Ok...still too cold to work in the shop, but a bit of progress.

Button board made:



3d printed buttons installed:



Starting to get there...still waiting on the chip:

 

[studiovap]

Hi BRD, how are you going to secure the wood panels to the alu frame?

 

[BlueridgeDog]

I will epoxy in the bottom one and the top will be held by small magnets. Given that it is lipo, once assembled it should never be opened again, ha ha ha.

I did have time to join the two lipos this weekend and to solder in some fuses, so progress. Still at a standstill waiting for chips form Evolv.

I am toying with the idea of not using a wood skin on the top, and using some blacked out lexan with the screen showing through (using spray on black out that lets light through).

 

[studiovap]

I the top will be held by small magnets.

How will you attach the small magnets to the alu frame then?

 

[BlueridgeDog]

How will you attach the small magnets to the alu frame then?

I have three options in my head, but I may make a wrong turn at the end.
-epoxy the raw magnet to the aluminum...no fuss simple
-add four or six magnet posts that not only hold the magnets, but give rigidity to the top so you can depress it.
-braze in a magnet supporting rail (very small angled aluminum section that also makes a ledge to hold the top skin).

Right now I am leaning towards the small magnet supporting rail and have the angled aluminum to give it a shot. I am holding off on that until I get the chip mount location sorted as I don't want to end up with not enough space. The chip will likely lay across the top of the two lipos, with the screen going down along side them to a cutout on the side, but I am waiting for the real chip to decide as I am only working with a dead one as a test and the large screen DNA40 that is coming may be a bit different.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

Two 1200mAh packs joined with four LF700 fuses (two each leg):

 

[jmitch86]

I really dig this one. I like that wood. Im trying to study and learn more about woodcraft, mod making, stabilizing and dying burl wood. Its alot to take in but alot of fun and very interesting so far.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

Lexan is in and chips are shipping finally and I also have the blackout spray to make the screen cover pitch black.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

Well, that is certainly a tight fit.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

How will you attach the small magnets to the alu frame then?

In the end, the top cover cap was installed with nothing more than a friction fit. I was thinking it would need more, but it was sized just right.

 

[something_vague]

Hey Blueridge, where did you get these specific lipo batteries? I found something similar on Amazon a while back but the placement of the wires and the length of the wires made them sorta difficult to deal with. I was able to get them to work but having another option would be awesome.

 

[BlueridgeDog]

These are the lipos I used:

5X 3 7V 1200mAh 25c LiPo Battery RC AKKU for Walkera Wklipo 5 10 5G4Q3 Syma S006 | eBay

They are a great size. Yes, you can get 18650 with more mAh rating, but these outperform one in my opinion and they do not need a cradle and have less weight.