Replacement P360 actuators (better diagonals) $5 now! See kowal's posts, page 2.

[RobotronNut]

Anyways, just giving this a friendly bump to remind anyone who's possibly interested.

i'd take 2. thanks.

[hypernova]

i think it would be asking way too much from hypernova to stock 3 different sizes, fill mixed orders, take returns, etc. i suggest he offer one size and, if there is interest, also offer kits of the 3 sizes that both kowal and i have made. but you'd have to make your choice up front and not expect him to take returns.

would anyone out there be willing to pay for kits of 3 (at 3X the price)?

Indeed.  It would also compound the cost factor for each person and me having to figure out what to charge each person.  Granted I could do it for you all, but I'm not sure enough people would want to do it to make it worthwhile.  I'm pretty confident in your recommendations, RobotronNut, and no one has made any remarks saying they weren't, so I think we're good.

[hypernova]

I will be getting ready to accept preorders on these things soon.  Before I do that, however, I want a general consensus on the type of material we want.  Here are some of our options.  (There are others, but they cost generally the same, if not within a few cents of each other apiece.  I'll also list what emachineshop has written down as each material's general usage.

These are based on a quantity of 50, without any kind of extra price for their shipping, or mine.  Their shipping is only $5.48 for all these things, so that markup will be minimal, and mine too.  See more info down.

Aluminum 6351 (Furniture, railings, and architectural applications.) - $4.62 ea.

Aluminum 2024 (Screw Machine Products, Aircraft Applications) - $5.17 ea.

Steel Carbon Type 1040 (Crankshafts, couplings and cold headed parts) - $5.11 ea.

Steel Carbon Type 1055 (Light stressed gears,crank shafts,axles, connecting beams,motor parts, general engg. Work, EN-19 is used for heat treated parts where high tensile and impact are required) - $5.57 ea.

Stainless Steel 316 (Food and pharmaceutical processing equipment, marine exterior trim, surgical implants, and industrial equipment that handles the corrosive process chemicals used to produce inks, rayons, photographic chemicals, paper, textiles, bleaches, and rubber) - $7.43 ea.

Stainless Steel 430C (Gears, bearings, seats, valves) - $7.32 ea.

Steel Type 4340 (Aircraft landing gear, power transmission gears and shafts and other structural parts) - $5.63 ea.

Can those regular steel types I also listed be used as well?  If so, that opens other options.  Knowing that aluminum is generally a weaker metal (or is my mind misinformed by products like aluminum cans and aluminum foil,) regular steel is an option at about a dollar more for each.  Even with the stainless steel being about $7.50 each, they'll still not cost anyone more than $10 apiece.

Concerning shipping:  I planned on shipping these via USPS first class mail, in order to keep that cost down to next to a stamp price.  However, I am a bit worried that some orders may be smashed enough to warp the cylinder to the point of being useless, which with our tolerances, means ANY kind of crushing would result in a damaged product.  Anyone got any ideas how to ship these via the USPS, but still provide enough security for the items to minimize/eliminate any damage possibilities?  I could just say screw it, and ship them in a small box with padding to ensure nothing happens, but that'll add a tad more to the shipping cost.  Couldn't be anymore than a few bucks though.  What's everyone's thoughts on this?

[RobotronNut]

w.r.t. material - the actuators are only there to block and unblock an optical path. the only significant stresses or strains they experience are the stress of the spring that holds them in place. i'm not an expert, but i'd think any metal would be plenty strong enough.

i chose stainless, because it is the least susceptible to oxidation. i would definitely avoid the non-stainless steels, because they can rust pretty quickly. stainless probably would also be less bothered by shipping in an envelope, but your best shipping option might be the small size prirority mail boxes that you can get free from USPS.

[hypernova]

I'd hope to avoid priority mail, as that's a $4 charge, compared to about $2 via first class mail.  First class can weigh up to 13 ounces however, so including packing materials (whatever they are,) first class may not be an option, but these are practically weightless, so I think 13 ounces should be doable quite easily.

i chose stainless, because it is the least susceptible to oxidation.

Ahh...forgot about that with all the talk about tolerances and pricing.  How much would you think oxidation be a factor when these will be exposed to normal air?  Although, with humidity obviously different in different regions, especially near coastlines or other large bodies of water, the other options would seem like a bad idea.  The lakes and such wouldn't be as bad, and I'm no climatologist or meteorologist, but I would assume any large bodies of water, especially oceans would compromise these things quicker than anyone would like unless they were stainless.

[bleemus]

I vote for the aluminum still.  I don't think stress will be a problem, and you're talking 3 more bucks per item for stainless.

I'll go for either though.  Thanks for putting this together!

[Kremmit]

I could go with Aluminum or Stainless. 

You can ship them in a small cardboard box but still go 1st class- you just can't use the boxes the USPS provides for Priority Mail.  FedEx provides very sturdy boxes for free, and the USPS doesn't mind you shipping stuff in them one tiny bit.  Just don't tell the guy at the FedEx counter that's what you want them for.  Wadded up newsprint from the local free classified paper can be had for free, and will fill the boxes nicely.  The weight will still be a bit more than if you put them in a padded envelope, but at .166 of an inch thick, they'll be awfully easy to deform without some protection.  Plus, you won't have to buy the padded envelopes.

[Luckydevil]

I prefer the aluminum. Stainless steel would just be a waste here. I think the less shiny the better also because we are dealing with light sensors.

[RobotronNut]

I prefer the aluminum. Stainless steel would just be a waste here. I think the less shiny the better also because we are dealing with light sensors.

my stainless are working fine, darkened with a black sharpie marker.

[hypernova]

I realized that duh, I have tons of boxes at work.  All seem a tad too large, but then I realized duh, that we have tons of inventory items, many with even smaller boxes that I can use.  And we have bubble wrap, so we're good there too, thus shipping will be fine.

[squirrellydw]

so whats the deal with these??

[hypernova]

I'm gonna open preorders within two weeks.  I'm going with the stainless steel, and they'll still be less than $10 apiece.  Final price is something I'll have to figure up by weighing a small box from work stuffed with bubble wrap to figure in shipping cost.

[kowal]

I folded already order. in 2 weeks I will get 100xactuators.
diameter 13,7 mm
height 19mm
price 5 $  material stainless steel.

[bleemus]

Ahh.  I guess kowal took care of this for us; hopefully that saves you some trouble, hypernova.

I bet kowal will be able to make money on them eventually, if he can make them for as cheap as he said he could.

Kowal, how much will the actuators be after shipping costs since you are shipping from outside the USA?  If the costs will be really high, maybe you could ship a bunch to one of us in the US and they chould redistribute them to other people inside the US.

[kowal]

this is small. I this can send as letter in protective envelope.
ship+packing
USA & UK
priority 2$

[hypernova]

What is the inner diameter?

[squirrellydw]

please let me know when you have them

[kowal]

What is the inner diameter?

9,6mm

[Havok]

Sweet! Keep us posted...

[kowal]

I have sample (I still wait on delivery 100xactuators)

box actuators:
one big box (5xactuator: 13,5mm|13,6mm|13,7mm|13,8mm|14mm)- units in stock 1
price 22$

one box (4xactuator: 13,5mm|13,6mm|13,7mm|14mm) - units in stock 1
price 17$

single actuators:

13,7mm - units in stock 1
price 5$

13,6mm - units in stock 1
price 5$

ship 2$ - priority, mail not be insured!

I can insure mail only to UK.
- it was it been possible to pay extra to confirmation conferments!


foto soon....

[bleemus]

Kowal, I sent an order to your e-mail account.

[kowal]

Kowal, I sent an order to your e-mail account.

he did not come (possible that filter atyspam did not let through).
send PM or kowal@itcom.pl

[Luckydevil]

kowal- email and pm sent.

[hypernova]

I've gotten my actuators.  Has everyone else who wanted one gotten them yet?

Problem though.  Kowal said that payment was supposed to go through ponyboy.  However, ponyboy has yet to pm me on the price, and when I tried pming kowal, it said he wasn't recognized as a valid username.  What's going on?

I'll try emailing him and see what happens.

[bleemus]

I just installed mine last night, and they work really well.  For me, they were only a slight difference, but it really balances out the diagonals.

I sent my money to ponyboy as well, and everything turned out well.  I think it took about 1 week or so to get everything set up, and then once he shipped, about a week for them to come to the US from Poland.

I am very pleased with them, I recommend them to anyone with a P360!

NOTE: They might go on a bit snug to the joystick shaft, but if you just spin them around to put them on, it knocks the burrs off and they fit perfectly.

[hypernova]

Bleemus, what's ponyboy's paypal so I can send my money to him.  I've yet to hear from him, and I'd rather pay now so I don't have to keep remembering later.

And yes, getting those things on is tight.  Do what bleemus stated to get them on, careful not to mess up the outside cylinder.

[squirrellydw]

How do I get some of these??

[bleemus]

Bleemus, what's ponyboy's paypal so I can send my money to him.

sales@rollieelectronics.com

How do I get some of these??

PM Kowal or send him an email at kowal@itcom.pl with your order.

[quarterback]

What size are people getting?

13,5mm, 13,6mm, 13,7mm, 13,8mm or 14mm?

[RobotronNut]

NOTE: They might go on a bit snug to the joystick shaft, but if you just spin them around to put them on, it knocks the burrs off and they fit perfectly.

there can be slight variability among shafts. IIRC, my slikstik stainless steel shafts were a little thicker than my NOS wico balltop shafts. you can use a little steel wool or ultra-fine sandpaper to touch up the shafts, if necessary.

[Luckydevil]

Guess I should be getting mine soon then. For those of you that have already gotten them, what shipping service do they come by?

[kowal]

Hi (they repaired me the account)
Lucky Devil
you should receive post office. this should reach in 1-2 weeks.
I sent actuators to Bllemusa, Hypernova and Luckydewil in the same day  
Wait still the week. It somewhere got lost maybe. I think that this will find itself. This will not add to anything. This nobody he could not steal because this does not have the value. Someone who this stole he would be the idiot.

[quarterback]

What size are people getting?

13,5mm, 13,6mm, 13,7mm, 13,8mm or 14mm?

[kowal]

13,7mm

[bleemus]

Guess I should be getting mine soon then. For those of you that have already gotten them, what shipping service do they come by?

I got mine USPS with the rest of my mail.

[quarterback]

13,7mm

Thanks for the confirmation.  PM sent

[Luckydevil]

Got them in a few days ago kowal. They look and work great.

THANKS!!!

[kowal]

this well I worried.
I in future will send airmail - this is dearer but quicker.