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Learning how to build Lotus Seven replicas...together!
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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 12:57 am 
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Joined: September 22, 2005, 7:59 pm
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After way too much time its pretty much finished- except I broke my temp gauge and need to get a new core(temp sensor tube broken). The insert sits inside a frame made of 3/4 inch conduit on the bottom 3 pieces. Gauges are made in adobe and the tach and speedo are reverse sweep like the old maserati of the 30s,40s I have added the family coat of arms to those gauges. The aluminum finish is done with an orbital sander with 80 grit and coats of clear, I brushed it first but did not like it, so returned to this finish.
Dale


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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 10:38 am 
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Joined: April 22, 2010, 4:43 pm
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Location: Livermore, Calif.
You definitely fit the DIY mold! Nice looking gauges. Give us a little more detail. Did you use other gauge internals and draw your own face plates? What do you mean by "Gauges are made in adobe"? Are they mechanical gauge internals or electronic?

Cheers,
Roy

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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 11:25 am 
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The speedo and tach were test units from the factory where the mercury mauraders were made (2004 if I remember correctly) I used the cores and faceplate for mounting inside some 4 1/4 white plumbing pipe and turned the bezel on a lathe. The traces going to the air cores were cut and polarity reversed. I had to change the circuit a bit on the tach to calibrate it for 4cyl from 8 and both tach and speedo where calibrated using a scope and freq generator. Speedo is calibrated to a standard ford output signal. I used adobe photoshop to create the faces to overlay the original faces. Oil and temp are mech and are simple princess auto gauges (same as harbour freight)
Dale


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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 2:52 pm 
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Location: Under the weather. (Seattle)
Ok, now you're just trying to make the rest of us look bad...I've got reservations on how well my wiring of purchased gauges will go, let alone the thought of heavily modifying gauges to obey my command. :shock:

They look great, and there has got to be a very strong (well deserved) sense of pride and accomplishment that goes along with how well they've turned out! :cheers:

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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 3:46 pm 
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Joined: February 19, 2014, 4:27 pm
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Location: Vancouver WA
Outstanding!

Not to hijack the thread, but I came across this the other day, similar idea, but not to the level of the OP's work!

http://web.archive.org/web/200902111738 ... auges.html


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PostPosted: March 11, 2014, 5:09 pm 
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Joined: September 22, 2005, 7:59 pm
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I have seen that page quite a few times and his have one up on mine as they line up with the original backlight holes. Mine have to be front lit. The needles and yellow text on mine show up very nicely with an ultraviolet led. My scuttle overhangs the dash by a couple of inches so I plan to add directed leds aiming at the gauges. MY hhr does a similar thing for a couple of the buttons.
Dale


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PostPosted: March 12, 2014, 3:44 am 
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Joined: February 1, 2006, 3:02 am
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Congratulations Dale - that's nice work.

Also not wishing to hijack your thread but bgkast's post reminded me that I'm using the same approach to do faces for my custom gauges (although I'm doing my own electronics as well) whcih may interest some people....
Image
Image

Dominic


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PostPosted: March 12, 2014, 12:37 pm 
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Joined: November 13, 2009, 9:31 pm
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Location: Connecticut
Nice work!
And nice touch starting the odo at 7 :cheers:

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PostPosted: March 12, 2014, 5:10 pm 
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Dominic
Do you know of a way to change the home position of the are core motor. My speedo is good by my tach likes to sit at around 1500 untill power is on then it returns to the active input . Only a problem on reverse sweep on that one.
Thanks
Dale


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PostPosted: March 12, 2014, 10:24 pm 
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Joined: February 1, 2006, 3:02 am
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Dale,

Unfortunately, no, I can't comment on air-core motors. The motors I'm using are Switec X27-168 stepper motors, which use a completely different drive principle. There's a page on DIY air-core motors on Mike's Flight Deck at http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/instruments/diy_aircore_instruments.html. Don't know if there's anything of use in there.

Best regards,

Dominic


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PostPosted: June 13, 2014, 10:56 am 
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Joined: July 23, 2008, 2:54 pm
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Location: Richmond, VA
How fast can you drive the stepper motors?


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PostPosted: June 13, 2014, 11:58 am 
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Joined: November 9, 2012, 4:54 am
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Location: Cape Town, South Africa
OzGecko wrote:
Dale,
The motors I'm using are Switec X27-168 stepper motors, which use a completely different drive principle.


Dominic,where did you buy those stepper motor of yours?
Looks like it came on a nice pcb.


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PostPosted: June 15, 2014, 11:54 pm 
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Mhm wrote:
OzGecko wrote:
Dale,
The motors I'm using are Switec X27-168 stepper motors, which use a completely different drive principle.


Dominic,where did you buy those stepper motor of yours?
Looks like it came on a nice pcb.

They came from this guy on eBay - http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/afab01 although I see he doesn't have anything for sale at present. His website (which also hasn't been updated for 18 months or so) is http://www.therengineer.com/. They're a very nice little breakout board, and came with the Switec stepper and the 8 clamp diodes for a bit under $20 each. Perhaps try sending him an email and see what the deal is. The boards make dealing with the layout and mounting of the steppers much easier.

Dominic


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