lastlight's 225

[mseepman]

Excellent, thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by lastlight

Mark I forgot more detailed pics for you but that second last one shows how I just used a pair of brackets to pin the actuator in. Long bolts with some wooden spacers make it super tight. There is a bracket with a bolt that fits into the back of the actuator to keep it from sliding under force...

[Lance]

Nice work my friend.

[Skimmerking]

that is freaking retarded , but i love it man.

[lastlight]

I came up with new units of measurement tonight!

When shimming the 3/4" decorative box up into place I was adjusting by book increments. Larger adjustments called for an 'm.c. escher hardcover' up for example...and to fine tune I began increasing by several 'dr suess hardcovers' before finishing with a couple carefully placed 'children's softcovers'.

I haven't got a metric conversion table prepared I'm sorry. The moral of the story is buy your kids books =)

So after measuring about 50 times I carefully cut two holes and drilled pilot holes for the mounting screws. I was terrified because the box is 3/4" maple, heavy and my margin for error is small. Had to hit the 3/4" maple mounts dead center and avoid any other areas since wires are moving within. Fitting the wires back into place with the box mere inches from it's final resting spot was brutal. It essentially took me over 3 hours to prep and hoist it into place before securing it.

It's 95% done. Just need to fill the screw holes with filler and touch-up. In the future any maintenance on the light/bulbs will need to be done suspended or I will have to attach temporary weights to keep the wires inside on their bearings. Be a NIGHTMARE to remove the box and do this all again!

You can see in the pics that I removed the wooden training wheels. 100% committed now although I quite literally cringe when operating it. I'll learn to trust it with time lol.

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[BlueAbyss]

OMG, that's brilliant! I didn't think it would look quite that clean when it was finished... beautiful work!

[Doug]

Excellent work Brett. Looks very good. Now thats slick.

[Carmen]

That will be one incredible tank!

[fishytime]

Friggen sweet Brett (this coming from a finishing carpenter.)

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by BlueAbyss

I didn't think it would look quite that clean when it was finished...

If this is my wife...I'm onto you. Stop spying on me at Canreef =)

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

[Delphinus]

Took me a second to remember what you meant by training wheels but yeah OK now I see - haha, yep, committed now! Neat idea and looks great!

I wonder if you're gonna have to put something over that switch though, like a lockable thermostat cover or something of this nature. (If this were in my house there's no way the kids would leave that alone. "Oooh! Sweet cause and effect! More! MORE CAUSE AND EFFECT!!!")