Reproduction 720 Degrees & Hall Effect Lower Housing

[Daviea]

Well, I've finally gotten around to getting my teeth into the lower housing component used in the 720 Degrees and Hall Effect controllers.

This is what I started with:



Yeah, a filthy OEM part, but it was in one piece and not TOO worn.  I've definitely seen worse..... much worse.

So I drew it up in Solidworks and made some minor changes to beef up the rigidity and compensate for the new material/process I intend to use:



This is the underside of the new version of the lower housing.  Note that the "pockets" are totally different.  The original part was injection molded nylon.  Injection molding requires that wall thicknesses be limited, which is why the thin walls are all throughout injected parts.



This is the top side of the new version.  Essentially, this looks pretty much identical to the original from this perspective.


Somewhere along my testing, I decided that cast urethane was the way to go.  Urethane compared to Nylon is an amazing material.  It's wear properties tend to be pretty extreme.  Plus, it's cost-effective for relatively low production numbers.  There's no way I'm going to be making 100,000 of these things, so an injection mold really doesn't make much sense.  However, if I had found that injection molded nylon was the BEST way to go, I would have dropped the money on the molds.

Anyhow, here is my very first cast urethane lower housing fresh from prototyping this morning.  It has not received it's program of machining for the fine details yet, but here you can see what it looks like right now.  The first 720 lower housing made in 20+ years!!!  Pretty cool.  Check it out:



Once I apply the machining to this part and test it out, I'll green light the full production run.  Next on my list: upper housing.

Hope you guys enjoy the pics.

Dave

[polaris]

i like the new logo , you tease

[Daviea]

A regular here on the forums has been helping me with website/artwork design.  I wanted to try out some of the logos to see how well they were received.  I love this version because of the obvious reference to the SW yoke controller.  LOL 

Keep watching because I've got a lot of reproduction parts finishing up.  That cannot wait to get that SW yoke out the door!!

Dave

[polaris]

A regular here on the forums has been helping me with website/artwork design.  I wanted to try out some of the logos to see how well they were received.  I love this version because of the obvious reference to the SW yoke controller.  LOL 

Keep watching because I've got a lot of reproduction parts finishing up.  That cannot wait to get that SW yoke out the door!!

Dave

must say i've always found your website a tad busy, i know theres a lot of info to cover, but i think the front page at least is too much

[Daviea]

Dude,

That's a major understatement.  It's way too busy!!

It's a result of trying to provide as much information and updating as possible.  I was getting slammed for not providing enough info, so I swung the other way.  LOL

I'm trying to find a happy middleground, but I'm not there just yet.

I am always willing to consider ideas.

Dave

A regular here on the forums has been helping me with website/artwork design.  I wanted to try out some of the logos to see how well they were received.  I love this version because of the obvious reference to the SW yoke controller.  LOL 

Keep watching because I've got a lot of reproduction parts finishing up.  That cannot wait to get that SW yoke out the door!!

Dave

must say i've always found your website a tad busy, i know theres a lot of info to cover, but i think the front page at least is too much

[Neverending Project]

Looking good! It's making me glad I have procrastinated my 720 controller rebuild. By the time I get around to it, you will have everything I might possibly need taken care of! I just wish I still lived in SoCal so I could see some of your infamous parts collection and assembly.