5 replies to this topic

[InLifeIskimped]

Hey everyone,

 

I think I'm finally going to get my act together and build a virtual cabinet. I was going to do a DIY shaker motor using a Johnson HC 970 motor, but I will still need mounting brackets and weights.

 

As far as the weights go, I'm not sure how heavy they need to be... 100g... 500g? Does anyone know how heavy a shaker motor weight should be?

 

Anyone have any ideas for a good mounting bracket?

 

I know Zeb makes a shaker motor/gear motor combo, but it seemed a little expensive, so I was going to make my own (Going to get the plunger/nudge controller from Zeb though).

 

As far as a gear motor, does anyone have any recommendations? Does anyone know if a worm-gear motor would be sufficient?

 

Thanks.

[mjr]

Take a look at this post:

 

http://www.vpforums....=14734&p=143713

 

That post has excellent instructions with a detailed parts list, including the weights and the mounting brackets.  I built one to his spec and it works wonderfully.

 

As for the gear motor, I think almost anything would do, because the point of the device is just to make some whirring gear noise.  The somewhat "standard" choice for this is a specific 12VDC window wiper motor for VWs, part number 251955119191955113A.  You can find them on eBay for about $30.  I have one and it's about the right noise level.  A word of warning: these draw a lot of current - about 4A continuous, a bit more at startup.  There are also some smaller motors advertised for robotics use that you can find on eBay from Chinese sellers - a lot of people here use this type of device, although some complain that they're *too* noisy or sound too high pitched.  I personally find the gear motor to be the least compelling feedback device, so I wouldn't put too much energy into finding the perfect choice - if it has a motor and a step-down gear it'll probably do.

[kiwiBri]

Bumping an old thread.  The link MJR has inlcuded is great if you have similar motor as the Pittman motor a lot of people used.  I have managed to get a Robinson 970.  What kind of weights are people mounting on these? 

(It has a 1/4" shaft and the linked way of mounting wont seem to work for this motor.

Edited by kiwiBri, 17 April 2017 - 05:48 PM.

[mjr]

I'm afraid my first-hand experience is with the Darkfall design, but here are a couple of ideas.  

 

1.  Pick up a flipper pawl, aka crank - that's the metal piece that connects the flipper axle shaft to to the solenoid link arm.  Maybe one of these types (search Marco Specialties or Pinball Life):  A-3711-4, A-632.  Those are both low profile and have set screws for clamping onto shafts of around the same size.  The pawl itself would give you an off-balance weight, but it's probably not heavy enough by itself, so you'd probably want to find a way to attach some additional weight to the end.  These have a shape that might be amenable to that.

 

There are probably auto parts or generic machine parts with this same basic function, so there's probably something a lot cheaper than a pinball part that does the same thing, but I don't know the right jargon to search for.

 

2.  Find something improvised to use as your counterweight - something flat and heavy, maybe a small steel disk or plate.  Clamp it to the axle with a hose clamp.  Maybe even epoxy the hose clamp to the counterweight first for added strength.  Or you could attach a 1/4" collar to the motor shaft first, and then wrap the hose clamp around that, to create more surface area for the hose clamp to attach to.

 

Whatever you figure out, please let us know what you did and how it turned out - it's always good to have working reference designs people can replicate.

Edited by mjr, 19 April 2017 - 12:13 AM.

[kiwiBri]

Thanks for the tips. I have some thoughts on how I could do something based on the original Darkfall method. When I get the parts together, I will test and then post back here with an update. 

[kiwiBri]

Ok, here's an update. I managed to get a Johnson HC970 motor (same one used by Williams back in the day apparently) .  I sourced pretty much the same weight components as Darkfall (see http://www.vpforums....=13#entry143713) . My motor's shaft is thicker - 1/4" I believe, so what I did was file out the keyslot in the the Hub a bit and used some bushings I had to fill the space in the hub. 

 

Here's the motor mounted and ready to be bolted to the cab: 

 

 

 

Like many other parts of our cabs, everyone's build maybe slightly different, but the main premise is the same.