Borderlands 3 inspired build

[SentencedToBurn]

3 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Good to see you back! Insane projects like this deserve to be published and completed even if it takes years.

I just read a compilation of shorter stories by Ray Bradbury, included was *Somewhere There is a Band Playing* which he kept writing for half a century! So take your time but keep us informed...

Thank you! Yup I am hoping to get a bit more regular with this now like at least a few hours every weekend.

The next step is to mount the fuel tank, wire up the glow plug and then keep my fingers crossed that it actually starts and runs after all this.

Also have been looking up on how the pickups are wired up, figured since I have nearly 50mm of depth, and this is a Franeknstein already, maybe I should just go all in and try and make my own pickups. Worst case I'll always throw them away and order an 81x or something. But winding my own coils and putting together a basic preamp to make them active - it just sounds like it's worth trying. Just need to work out what metal is used as the core of the coils, and what's the traditional number of coils around each one etc, although can just experiment too.

[SentencedToBurn]

Mounted and wired up the gauges today. I wasn't sure if they were going to suit the overall look but as far as my own odd tastes go I'm pretty happy.

First; Tacho - this is meant to read the frequency / rotation of an electric motor, but for now I'm getting no reading. I'm using a 1:1 ratio transfer from the motor to an alternator so my thought was to count the RPM of the alternator which will be the same. The gauge has a few settings though so I need to play around with it.

Second: Voltmeter/ammeter. You can see the 12V battery needs a bit of a charge as it just dipped below 12, also the ammeter is set between the main fuse and the battery, so it basically shows the total current flow. In this case it's only powering the gauges and the light on the starter switch. I tested it with the starter motor turning over - it was pulling about 2Amps, which is pretty much in the realms of what was expected.

Third: temperature gauge. For now the probe is just hanging, I'm still thinking of the best placement.

So I'm keen to have the Tacho configured correctly and the temp probe installed before hooking up the fuel tank / glow plug wiring, last thing I want to do is overrev the motor or have it overheat on me due to the lack of airflow. I dont think it'll be a problem since the intent is to idle it, but I'd rather not risk it.

 

[Bizman62]

That's so insane! Love it!

Since you're going to have a running motor, have you thought about producing energy to power at least a built-in preamp, maybe other effects as well? Seeing how the LED on my battery operated amp blinks with every strum on the strings when the power is low tells me that producing sound requires more power than silence. Following that thought your engine should rev up with every power chord! Wouldn't that be nice?!

[nakedzen]

I wonder if you even need a pick for this, since the vibrations from the motor could be enough for the strings? Which in a crazy way would be very cool.

[SentencedToBurn]

33 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

That's so insane! Love it!

Since you're going to have a running motor, have you thought about producing energy to power at least a built-in preamp, maybe other effects as well? Seeing how the LED on my battery operated amp blinks with every strum on the strings when the power is low tells me that producing sound requires more power than silence. Following that thought your engine should rev up with every power chord! Wouldn't that be nice?!

Hey I have actually but so far I've been a bit limited as I don't have that much space in the body. However since I decided not to use the entire rear section as an exhaust and I simply have a tube going in/out - the rest of the rear section is empty so there is a bit of space. I agree it would be awesome to have this thing plugged straight into a cab... And have a built in FX generator. The only thing I'm thinking is that if the power source isn't cleaned up well - then I'll not only have a ton of noise coming through the active pickups, but also the power source that will run the FX and the actual amp. Might need to see how it actually sounds once I get it to run and produce a sound of some kind, and then the option to improve it further is to do an internal FX+Amp build. Mate imagine doing a DIY valve amp, and have the valve mounted externally.. covered off by a metal cage of some sort. This is getting pretty out there! Awesome.

15 minutes ago, nakedzen said:

I wonder if you even need a pick for this, since the vibrations from the motor could be enough for the strings? Which in a crazy way would be very cool.

Good point, although these motors are smooth - that's relative, they still vibrate quite a bit. I think you're right even with the rubber bushings separating the motor cradle and the body, and trying to insulate the motor from the exhaust it'll still probably move them around. Will be interesting to see whether like a light palm mute will help otherwise I can imagine the noise getting out of control.

[nakedzen]

27 minutes ago, SentencedToBurn said:

Will be interesting to see whether like a light palm mute will help otherwise I can imagine the noise getting out of control.

Built in noise gate? Take the guts out of an ISP Decimator etc.

[SentencedToBurn]

Awesome thanks for the suggestion. I'll have to look it up. I'm a total noob when it comes to anything remotely outside of basic gear. Last 15 years I've literally been using the same 2 pedals, the same 2 amps and 2 guitars one of which I've rebuilt. That's it. So learning as I go, most of the time it's knowing what to learn is a challenge as there is so much info out there. 

[SentencedToBurn]

The plumbing and most of the engine related wiring has been completed: exhaust, fuel in / return, air filter, and the sensors as well as the glowplug.

I actually tried starting it today but the fuel isnt getting through to the carb. I think there might be a seal issue somewhere in the exhaust so I'll be checking all seals and will replace the gaskets again. But I'm also missing a primer bulb so will get one of those. Getting super close though.

I ended up moving both the 5V and 3V step down circuits have been moved to the rear section of the guitar, and the Ardino will also be housed in there. Seems to be just enough space, and I'm also using the rear port with a small fan off an old nVidia card as a small exhaust vent to try drive some of the heat out.

Also I've got most of my components to make my pickup, I've done some reading up and got a few small preamps to try, and have also tested the output from the step down rectifier for both 5v and 3v, and they seem surprisingly clean even while the starter motor is turning over. I didn't expect that. So it's looking pretty good so far, the main test will come once it's running though.

I found I take a lot longer making brackets and components now, like the fuel line bracket had to match the angle of the shape with the body, and the same with the airfilter mount bracket. And even the mount and the position of the fuel tank, must have gone through about 6-7 options before settling on this one, as the fuel tank is pretty ugly and ruined the lines. This is probably the best spot I could come up with which is also relatively safe.

That's it for now, I'm really digging the look of it now that the engine side of things is nearly complete. The shield that will protect the player's junk from the gears and the exhaust will change the shape a bit further, so will have to have a good think of what it'll look like.

[nakedzen]

Sweet! Just a thought, I'm sure you're well aware but anyone using the guitar should be reminded of the carbon monoxide danger from using the motor indoors.

[SentencedToBurn]

1 hour ago, nakedzen said:

Sweet! Just a thought, I'm sure you're well aware but anyone using the guitar should be reminded of the carbon monoxide danger from using the motor indoors.

Hey haha absolutely, although with the nitro I believe you also get a bit of nitric acid vapour which I understand is probably worse to breathe in.

TBH my biggest worry about this is having a container with nitro strapped on to you. So whenever I go to test it itll be definitely with the garage door open just by the entrance. And I've got my CO2 extinguisher ready. I also decided to make bike-like kickstands for it a bit later, so you don't have to hang it on your neck and instead can place it on the bench infront of you on stands and play it that way. But yeah playing this indoors will definitely be a bit problematic, even with the small amount of fumes it generates.

[ScottR]

I don't want to play that thing...I WANT TO RIDE IT!!!!!

SR

[SentencedToBurn]

4 hours ago, ScottR said:

I don't want to play that thing...I WANT TO RIDE IT!!!!!

SR

LOL once I add the kickstands to it it should really resemble something rideable!

[SentencedToBurn]

Quick update - last weekend I installed a high volume fan as a bunch of RC nitro plane guys said it'll overheat without cooling in minutes, so figured I better play it safe. The fan will probbaly be moved as it looks a bit rubbish with that intake etc, but I'll see.

Earlier this morning I finally got it to try and start - it's trying to fire up, but the starter is spinning too slow to allow it to idle and give me time to release the start button, and ends up stalling. So I've just ordered a bunch of gears for the starter with double and triple the number of teeth, so once they arrive I'm hoping to be able to have high enough starter speed to allow it to idle while the starter is still engaged.

So a bunch of random problems, but they're pretty fun to overcome one by one.

[henrim]

As an instrument this is not my thing but as a movie prop or whatever decoration this is great! Very nicely done!

Practice your welding technique on scrap pieces though. The latest addition with “dime stack” lookalike weld is a cold weld and doesn’t look very nice. With some practice you can do much better even with a mig.

Edited August 19, 2023 by henrim
Typo

[SentencedToBurn]

Yeah i'm likely redoing that piece, as it was just to make sure there is sufficient cooling for the time being, using my mig with a 1mm sheet has been a bit hopeless, which is why I resorted to just spotting on the rest of it.

Ive been thinking of making a cover fo the entire bottom section, like a bonnet of sorts, but sideways, and encorporating the cooling fan that way so I think that part will be replaced soon.

[SentencedToBurn]

A few updates this weekend:

- Starting: I got it to start, however the starter motor speed is so slow that the motor stalls by trying to idle faster than the starter before I have the time to release the starter button. I ordered a gear with more teeth to see if I can match the idle speed to the starter, or get it closer so will see. Otherwise I will need to get my head around how bendix gears actually work so I can try and work out whether I can add that on or whether a whole new starter setup will be needed.

- Cooling: taking on some constructive feedback onboard (which was actually very helpful, otherwise knowing me I wouldve left that cooling monstrosity there for longer), I decided to make a start making the rear shroud panel and trying to work out how it will be joining to the front section. I tried visualising the end result, sketching it up, etc, but this is definitely pushing my ability to visualise things, so I'm just making a start and will keep adding / chopping / changing as I go until I'm happy.

So as far as the panelwork goes there is no real plan. If anyone has any interesting ideas then please drop them below. My only thoughts so far are to keep the front section partially open like you had in 1920s-1930s if you open the sides of the bonnet where the head / leads are exposed, and you have your radiator / fan at the front.

Here is where I'm up to, note that I may be changing it as I go depending on what comes next. The whole section is on a long hinge so it swivels backwards for access to the starter / solenoid. I had a grill added in but removed it as it looked bad, so still thinking about that one.

Rear view:

Front view - note the "floor" of the engine compartnent is angled as I'm leaving an opening there for now. So this entire cover swivels towards the rear and the intent is to have a bonnet-style latch there with an easy release for the back. Then I want to have the same for the front section except the front cover will be partially open.