gears; micro switches; even a 50mm rack

[steve nuttall]

Guys I looked all over for a source of parts for building stuff for the UBoat; there used to be a great little store that sold surplus stuff; but he went the way they all do (bust)

Anyway after wasteing gas driving all over (even went to toys-R-us
I got home dejected
I looked around for anything that would have neat stuff inside it; went through the little girls play room (if I wanted to die there might be something in there)
Then i remembered an old VCR; what a gold mine; 27 gears 4 good micro switches; some IR detectors (no use to me) lots of wire; a good PS; but what voltages it gives not sure yet
And 1 50mm long gear rack (used to pull the cassette in) now this is a heavy duty item; bet it would push water out of a chamber no problem at all; even comes with a nice gear train for the power
Found 2 worm gears and gear wheels for them; one has a nice Sanyo motor (might be DC)

So guys if you ever need stuff like this; and have an old VCR; rip it apart

[wingtip]

http://www.hobbyengineering.com/SectionM.html#CatMDC

enjoy

http://www.hobbyengineering.com/SectionM.html#CatMDC

enjoy

[steve nuttall]

SOME ONE STOP ME

now i

SOME ONE STOP ME

now i ripped apart more stuff; i can't stop

1 DVD computer drive; yielded even more goodies; nice small DC motors; even the DVD drive motor works if you can figure out what to hook up; i had it spinning anyways

Then i ripped apart my Logitec wingman extreme steering wheel
got BIG gears from it; and a strange DC motor; looks like a 550; but runs about 1000rpm max; even on 18v it still did not spin fast; the windings are very thin wire compared to the normal 550; it was the feedback motor; I'm thinking they made it torQ instead of rpm based; it would be a nice drive motor for a big lowspeed prop

who knows what I'll rip apart next

[jdbostrom]

You know what is really

You know what is really fun. You go to garage sales where they sell the stuff dirt cheap because it doesn't work anyway. You can get all manner of goodies filled with gears, belts, motors, etc.

Some other things I have found to have great stuff in them are printers. I have taken apart two already and a third is sitting around waiting to be scrapped.

Also "walkmen" type tape players have good stuff in them; I have innumerable flat little motors from these things. Not sure what I can use them for yet though. Let me know if any of you can use them.

Jonathan

[steve nuttall]

Thanks man
I must have 3

Thanks man
I must have 3 printers here now; it's cheaper here in canada to buy a printer than the ink now

where is my cordless screw driver

[captain nemo12]

You bet! I remember last

You bet! I remember last year, my friend and I picked up one of those oldies Apple computer and took it apart. Gigantic out-of-date fuses, tons of wires, we got a few motors, magnets (good for doing sealing work). Earlier that year, I took apart a old VCR that was lying on the street.... couldn't resist the temptation! It's probably one of THE best and cheap ways of getting goodies, just get a can of grease, arm yourself with a soldering iron, and do what you can.

JD, here an idea, what i would do with small motors like the ones in walkmans is invest in a periscope mechanism, hook it up to gears, and install them inside your sub. The motors are really light and since most of them are flat shaped, they take up less space!

[steve nuttall]

Never guess what I just

Never guess what I just got out of a printer; "a pump" it was there to pump ink out of the little tank the ink jets shoot into

It's a rotary type with the rollers pressing the tube flat; it just might come in very handy; i hope so; I paid $700 (Epson 700 color stylus; 6 color plus back) for that printer new; mind that was 10 years ago

It also gave up a ton of gears; and 2 nema 17 sized stepper motors (unipolar I would guess) a nice PS and a few other neat things
The Lexmark also gave up a few goodies

I still have one more to strip; this one is a dot-matrix; but it's snowed-in the poolhouse for now (guess it's safe)

[jdbostrom]

Captain Nemo12- That is a

Captain Nemo12- That is a good idea, unfortunately I have no more channels to work with though .

I have thought about rotating radar however. For some reason I can remember someone saying that a servo would work for rotating the radar, just by hooking up your battery to the servo motor and pulling out the electronics. Has anyone tried this?

Jonathan

[boss subfixer]

For rotating radar on my

For rotating radar on my fleet boat, I'm working on a way to use an old christmas ornament that has moving parts (coyote chasing the road runner around an igloo). It has a little solar panel that clips right next to one of the tree lights and supplies power to the drive motor. If it works I'll post the results.
BSF

[jdbostrom]

I did try to build

I did try to build a gear drive myself, but it was too bulky and would have probably not worked too well. I think I am going to try and experiment with a servo. I will post the results when I get to it, when I have time....

Jonathan

[wingtip]

I have thought about rotating

I have thought about rotating radar however. For some reason I can remember someone saying that a servo would work for rotating the radar

that link i posted not only shows some tiny tinyyyy geared reduction motors but a ready made servo that already rotates continously for only 15bucks.... did anyone even look at that link?

[steve nuttall]

I looked at everything there

I looked at everything there

[jdbostrom]

Wingtip- Thanks for posting that

Wingtip- Thanks for posting that link I have been wondering where to get tiny motors like that for a while and have never run across that site before.

Last night I quite easily modified a $12 Futaba servo to rotate continously. My only problem now is how to build a watertight case that takes up very little room. I have a smaller conning tower to work with than Subfixer does.

Jonathan

[wingtip]

small world models has some

small world models has some watertight servo compartments...

[jdbostrom]

Anything I will use I

Anything I will use I will probably build myself. Also if I am thinking of the same compartment you are, it is a "cylinder" about 1 1/2" long, sort of resembling a hockey puck. Am I correct? If so, that would probably be too big; I don't have very much room to work with at all. Thanks anyway!

Jonathan