DIY actuators, plans by Ian BFF. Shortened by me

Here are the start of the photos and pics of the DIY actuators that I PAID for the plans,and I have shortened the throw with advices from @eaorobbie

The plans are to be bought from here http://bffsimulation.com/linear-act.php , do the right thing like I did and SPEND the money to pay for the plans.
Then with Robs help we worked out a 200mm throw long unit. and we widened it to 200mm wide, to help overcome our OCD.
I am using industrial plastic from here http://www.cuttosize.com.au/ , its a HDPE type plastic as it looks to be as strong as aluminium , but a lot less the cost. Mind you, all bits cost me $300 to get done.
I am using 12mm thick sides and 50mm thick blocks.
I can drill them out with a drill press and wood boring bits, do that makes it easier.
I got the list of bearings , chains, sprockets from a local bearing place, cost me $150 for 2 units.
The motors to be uses are the famous http://www.motiondynamics.com.au/worm-drive-motor-12v-24v-200w-180-rpm-20nm-torque.html
The bright mild steel shaft I bought cut to size from a local steel shop. $40
They will have 200mm throw and should move at about 300mm per second.
They will use a 3 turn pot for feedback on the chain setup. The chain is being used to move the centre block. I havent got that far yet.
I will use the famous JRK on them, but as they are 12v motors with a pot, you could use any control board.
The should work out at about $400 each less JRK, still not cheap, but they should move 50 kg and still have 200-300mm per second travel. I will test it in time once I get closer to completion. They may not be strong enough for full lift, so I will stick them on a balanced frame. Although 6 could do a 6 DOF frame.

Now if you dont mind, I have autistic kids to see to, a home to look after, dinners to cook, grass to mow, a full time job to go to........I will get some more work done on them later......

Looks like you're off to a great start!

Yes these should be a viable DIY option for most to build in Wood or Plastic, Plastic is just looks nicer, Once Dave is happy I had planned to draw it up, but we were afraid it might not be the right thing to do as the base design even though we have changed a few things is a BFF creation and for a small fee, I recommend buying the plans from him. Just shorten them to what you require. Support the bloke who originally drew it.

Hi
Please make a joined project for those actuators.
And chance Ian plans a little bit,use 2 pushrods and stay belanced.
Ian,s actuators have a design flaw,his slidingblock wants to turn under load
(Wight pulles pushrod and slidingblock down and chain pulles slidingblock up,result block wants to turn)youre HDPE could ware out soon.
regards Ad

This is Ians design. I dont plan to better it, just to build them as according to the plans, but shorter. And then test them and see how they go according to his design and his parts list.
I have bought all the bearings on the list and chains. I doubt the HDPE wearing out that quickly. Considering how hard I was hitting the blocks with a larger hammer yesterday, it didnt even mark. I ve seen aluminium blocks get hammer marks under that abuse.
A ballscrew design would want to twist under load anyway.
@adgun , what do you mean a joined project?

fortunately it doesnt have to be glued in any spot.

considering Ian's are 400mm throw, thats a bit too long for race, even 200mm throw is wild, but feedback could be set to 100-150mm. And yes they should really shake things up.

Hi Guy still waititng for bit for my project and came across this link from Ians site another variation on the theme , im guessing their are more out there LOL so will keep searching , as always Great work guys all good stuff no matter which way you look at it , i had long ago bought Ians interface sp40 card and software and still support the guy when i can as he was one of the main influences that got me Building my 1st 2DOF FSX platform . At that time the only affordable stuff was via ebay and i managed to get 3 actutors that were Parvalux PW60 Gearbox Units but they only had 8RPM output but Bags of torque so they at least allowed me to Get into simming Before i Mothballed that build and waited for prices to come my way -- yeah the hoarder in me still has all the bits and one day they will be used ( Thats my excuse for haging onto stuff anyways )

Opps Just realised i did not ask the owner if he'd mind my posting this, but guess as it was Youtube it was ment for sharing

@wannabeaflyer , no worries, I watched the vid and I suggest you place a copy here as well http://www.xsimulator.net/community/forums/diy-motion-simulator-projects.22/

A friend of mine used to use Ians boards and software as well for his 2 DOF flyer, but since going to JRKS and Simtools, he hasnt looked back.

I got the neck and moving blocks holes drilled out and press fitted the bearings (press fit BSFT style - piece of 4 x 2 , large hammer, lots of select words)

Next will be to start drilling out for the motors to mount on and work out where the boss gears and chain will be set up

Here is another one to add to the mix. Don't know if it has been posted on this site before.

Has anyone thought to mount a seat mover with its high speed 2 axis action to say a larger movement 4 axis frame with slower but higher torque actuators?

@SeatTime , I could fit 50:1 gearboxes the the existing motors and get double the torque easy. It depends if the material holds up though. I dont see why not, but I am not going to try it with these

I posted it on the linear actuator's kickstart post:
maybe it's a better place to brainstorm rather than pollute bsft's topic about his work in progress.

Thanks @RacingMat , my brain is polluted enough as it is.

I finished drilling out the ends of the rods and tapping thread so now to start putting one together to see how bad my construction and alignment is .

I had all of 10 mins to quickly trial fit the parts, a biit of extra drilling to allow more free movement, but its on track, well one unit anyway

Sweet looking good indeed, well thats the hard part done on one unit.