Crawler Canyon Fab Lab #1: Battery on Servo on Axle

[@doptimusg]

I just ordered a servo on axle mount for my "what was once a trx4" I think I've just been inspired to also go battery on servo. I'm a big fan of the work you do.

[@clarkb1900]

I cut a short strip from an old bicycle innertube, and double-knotted it into a loop through the strap slots. It doesn't lock down hard like Velcro, but the rubber grips and keeps the battery centered, while also letting it shift during an impact, and all I have to do is pull on the knot to slide the battery under. :}

[@meirdeaph]

You make it look so easy came out perfect

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Repetition is often a convincing substitute for skill. I don't know what I'm doing, I've just done it a lot.

[@Brian_Mowry__BMOW71]

Nice job! The fab lab was all over that one! All kinds of weight up front now!

[@NTX_RC]

Love fab lab, hope it becomes a series

[@JIPPERR_1]

Love the fab stuff 👍👍I've definitly got major components of my rc stuck together with gorilla tape, excellent stuff. I've used cable management velcro wraps for holding batteries in, they're pretty small, no plastic bit but they usually have a fat end with a slot to pass the other end through so they hold pretty good.

[@Oper8or]

I like it! I'll have to try this out and see if I can do this with a 3d print instead. No table saw but my grinder would load up too bad with Al. Thanks for sharing this. Its a great idea.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

If I had the patience for 3D printing (and the ability to design the parts to begin with,) I'm pretty sure it's a better option. You could have tabs that extend down to bolt through the servo mount holes, no tape required. Uh oh, I think I just mentally envisioned Revision 2.

[@4by100]

@@CrawlerCanyon it might be difficult because you have such experience with subtractive manufacturing but getting the printer figured out and working in CAD software really raises the ceiling of potential fabricobbling imo

[@4by100]

Do you have any experience 3d modeling in CAD software? I bet you could do something real simple and print it tray side down for support-less printing. I spend a lot of time when designing to minimize the amount of supports needed

[@CrawlerCanyon]

CAD software is beyond my grasp. I've spent so long making one-offs (I am a human rapid prototyper) that even the notion of sitting down and spending hours to design something, then waiting a bunch of hours to print it and find out if it works... I just can't. I'll just make it. I will indeed do more work to maintain a certain level of laziness.

[@WreckitRalphie]

Thanks for this video because I just ordered an soa mount for my gatekeeper soon to be ecto

[@KutterNixon]

great video, time for me to give a go at making a BoS tray

[@craigseary2368]

i buy boxes of alcohol swabs from the chemist to preclean for tape and for anything that needs to be glued

[@Andy_Yates]

Well now I'm curious why you're not supposed to use the cross slide and fence together. It seems like a logical depth stop for things like repeated cuts of the same length (assuming one doesn't have a miter saw on hand nor a crosscut sled). This all sounds like I am speaking from personal experience, but that is most certainly NOT the case... I promise. 😂😅🙃Also the battery bracket came out great 👍. Thankfully I have a proper miter saw now too

[@CrawlerCanyon]

The rule of thumb is that the "small part" or the board should always be outside of the blade, and not between the blade and the fence. So if you're using a miter jig, because you're too lazy to finish building that sliding table, every cut is going to have the small part of the board on the fence side. So it's kinda the illegal LEGO maneuver of table saw cuts. Does make for endless repeatable cuts, and I do it all the time.

[@Andy_Yates]

@@CrawlerCanyon Thank you! That makes sense. It wasn't lazy so much as having the material to make the sled. I got the dewalt job site table saw a couple years ago and couldn't get back to CA until a couple months ago to get my dad's miter saw. When I learned of their existence a while ago, I did invest in one of those miter boxes for circular saws. I have better, safer options these days. I've been using the fence incorrectly this whole time then if the small cuts aren't supposed to be against it. I was treating the fence like a datum and square surface. Gives me food for thought to use that saw a bit differently. I have been using pushers though... my fingers stay clear of that blade

[@CrawlerCanyon]

@@Andy_Yates The push blocks come out when the material gets narrower than 1 inch. I ain't trying to notch any fingertips.

[@4by100]

I know quite a few of your rigs have BoSoA at the moment, do you think the front weight bias trumps the higher battery position? I've considered designing/printing something to do BoSoA with my 24th scale, but it puts the battery a lot higher than if it were on the chassis.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

The battery sits higher, but now it's unsprung-- so the overall CG actually goes down. When you move the battery onto the axle (and make no other changes,) you REALLY notice that the rigs feels oversprung. This is why I have the bag of softer springs ready.

[@4by100]

@@CrawlerCanyon OOOO, I see I see. It adds the weight to the drivetrain rather than the chassis. I should give that a shot some time!

[@james-dt4ei]

I have a question! I've been debating on getting the vs4 phoenix portal build kit or the redcat gen8 rtr. What do u think would be better for crawling and trail? Plus upgrades. If I get the phoenix I have to get 3 servos motor I don't know what to get.

[@CrawlerCanyon]

Vanquish by 1000%. Friends don't let friends buy Redcat-- it's a false economy. To get a Gen8 even comparable to an RTR from TRaxxas or Element, you'd have to dump several hundred dollars into it. Vanquish selling a kit will save you money in the long run, because there are no garbage RTR electronics to replace. Flash Hobby 60kg for steering (about 60 bucks) and JX4409MGs for dig and OD (15 bucks apiece.) The (IMO) perfect motor for the Phoenix is the HW Fusion Pro at 150 bucks, but you can do really well with a 1080 and a CHEAP motor. For radio, a Radiolink RC4GS or a Flysky GT5 (the GT% is actually nice for the Phoenix because you can put OD on the 3-position switch which will allow you to have selectable RWD.) So everything on top of the kit is about 300 if you go with the more expensive motor option-- but you will have something that needs literally no upgrades. My original Phoenix portal is almost completely stock.

[@baumannj724]

Slightly off topic, what’s your favorite brand of LIPO?

[@CrawlerCanyon]

I wouldn't say I have a favorite brand so much as I have a favorite size: 3S 1500s, and 4S 1300s. Every last one of them is from Amazon, and I buy whatever two pack is cheapest on that day. I've tried Zeee, CNHL, Ovonic, Goldbat, and Hoovo, and honestly haven't been able to tell the difference between any of them. They've all charged to capacity, and I've had two packs puff a cell out of, oh, two dozen or so? I don't even mind with the packs being $15-18 each.