mdocod
Flashaholic
HOW TO: build 6AA>2D, 9AA>3D, 12AA>4D, 15AA>5D, 18AA>6D Battery Adapters for Mag-MODS
I'll just get right to it here. This is the basic instructions on how to build a battery adapter for a mag-modification. It's a lot of work but might be a fun project if you want to give it a try
Materials List:
*minimum order or amount needed based on adapters size...
Tools List:
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The following instructions are based on building a 6AA>2D carrier... only minor changes need to be made to adapt to longer carriers.. those changes are listed at the bottom of this post.
Cut 2 5mm thick pieces of 1.25" acetal delrin using the saw. These will be the end-caps of the adapter.
Cut 1 ~0.025" (less than 1/32") thin piece of 1/25" acetal delrin using the saw. This will serve as an intermediate spacer that holes the cells in place. It needs to be darn thin, thin enough to bend a little and thin enough for the positive "button" top of AA cells to protrude through far enough to make contact with the next cell.
Cut 3 114mm long pieces of 0.25" acetal delrin using the saw. These will be the "supports" that line everything up.
Cut 1 133mm long piece of #10-32 threaded nylon rod with some tin snips or other solid hand-grip cutters. this will go through the center of the adapter and hold everything together. After cutting, you will need to fix up the ends of the rod so the nuts will thread on smooth. Go to the bench grinder and fire it up. Holding the rod at about a 45 degree angle from the grinding surface, with the grinding angle away from the rod rather than towards it, gently spin the rod around applying very slight pressure into the grinder. This will taper the end of the rod and produce a smooth approach for the threads. You will likely have a bur of material on he end of the rod, the wire wheel on a bench grinder can usually buzz that off nice and easy and also be used to gently clean up the tip of the rod even more.
find dead center of the 5mm thick 1.25" dia wafers you have cut and mark that spot. You may want to build a jig of sorts to do this.... This is where the compass and other drawing tools will probably be necessary.
Now mark each wafer at various points:
3 dots should be 9.5mm from center, 120 degrees apart.
3 more dots should be 7/16 inch from center, 120 degrees apart, but centered in-between the first 3 dots you drew. (60 degrees offset)
drill the center hole in one of the end-caps with a 7/32" bit
drill the center hole in the other end-cap with a #21 wire size bit
drill the points 9.5mm from center with the #36 drill all the way through.
drill the points 7/16" from center with the #F bit, the rods will go through these holes. The F size bit is slightly larger than 1/4" and will provide the clearance necessary for the rods to slide freely but still hold straight.
Now, using the countersink bit, chamfer one of the #36 holes on the end cap who's center hole was drilled to 7/32" between 1/16"-1/8" should be enough chamfering. This is for the head of the flat head screw on the based of the adapter to slip into partially, (since the head of the flat head screw is usually taller than the thickness of the washer that it needs to be made flush with)
After doing this, tap #6-32 threads into each of the holes drilled with the #36, and tap #10-32 threads into the hole drilled with the #21 bit. The tapped center hole end-cap is the "top" end cap.
Using the tin snips, cut up some copper sheet. 2 strips about 5/16" by 2" is about right. Now use either a 5/32" drill or ideally speaking, a sheet metal punch, put 2 holes in each piece of copper about 16mm apart spaced roughly centered or slightly to one side of the strip will also work fine. Also snip the corners off.... here's an example of what they should look like:
Drink a beer, or 2, you deserve it.
Take your 0.1875" #6-32 pan head screws and use them to fasten the copper pieces you have fabricated to the plastic end-caps. On the end-cap with the chamfered hole, make sure to install the copper piece on the side of the end-cap opposite the chamfered hole, no using the chamfered hole. (use the other 2)
After installed the copper, insure that the copper clearances the other holes on the end-cap, then fold the copper over the screw to create your contact points for the cells in the adapter.
Drill a 5/32" hole in each fender washer ~9.5mm from center. There is a reason for using fender washers with larger center holes than necessary, hitting a hole perfectly at 9.5mm on one of these is not easy, expect some error and move on, it should work fine. Then take your countersink bit and ream one of them out good, Chamfer it a bit, then test your flat head screw to see if it sits flat in the washer, remove enough material for it to be as flat as possible, or slightly sunk in, but ideally, not sticking up. The chamfered washer should be used on the "bottom" end cap and that hole you drilled/chamfered should line up with the chamfered #6-32 hole in the end cap. The other washer does not need to be chamfered, you can use the round-head screw on the top side.
Now using the 3/8" long #6-32 brass screws, install the fender washers on the face of the end caps opposite the copper pieces. Using the remaining hole to fasten the washer to the end caps. Install #6-32 brass nuts on the other end of the screw.
Tighten everything down pretty good. Try not to strip out the threads. These threads are surprisingly strong in Delrin plastic, but screwing up now would mean a lot of work, so try not to!
Using the grinder, grind down any of that 1/2" screw that is protruding from the nut on the end-caps. Make it flush with the nut.
Remember that thin wafer of plastic about 0.02" thick? There's more work to be done!
Mark this sucker with the same positions marked as the end-caps above. (center point, 3 at 9.5mm from center 120 degrees apart, and 3 at 7/16" from center also 120 degrees apart, with the sets of 3 offset by 60 degrees [in-between each-other])
Drill the center 7/32"
Drill the 9.5mm from center points 1/4"
Drill the 7/16" from center points 17/64"
You may find that cutting an additional "thicker" piece of plastic to mount up behind the thing wafer while drilling works better, you'll need to drill out the center first in a jig of sorts, then bolt the 2 pieces together with a #10-32 bolt and nut in the center (optional), a vice can then be used to clasp the nut or bolt-head while it's being drilled.
Install the 3 1/4" rods into the holes on 1 end-cap, then slip the other end cap over the rods, making sure that the brass nuts are NOT in the same channel. Now slip the #10-32 threaded rod up through from the bottom end-cap to the top one and thread it into the top end-cap. Thread it such that it is sticking out about 1/2" over the top, now thread the brass acorn nut onto the threaded rod, once the threaded rod is fully seated up into the nut, crank down on the nut and gently tighten it against the top end-cap. This will help keep the threaded drop from turning while trying to tighten up the #10-32 standard nut that should now be installed on the bottom.
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For 9AA>3D adapters:
end-caps should be 8mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1/2"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1/2"
1/4" rod should be ~169mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~190mm long
you will need 2 of those 0.025" wafers
For 12AA>4D adapters:
end-caps should be 13mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 3/4"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 3/4"
1/4" rod should be ~230mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~250mm long
you will need 3 of those 0.025" wafers
For 15AA>5D adapters:
end-caps should be ~18mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1"
1/4" rod should be ~290mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~310mm long
you will need 4 of those 0.025" wafers
For 18AA>6D adapters:
end-caps should be ~23mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1.25"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1.25"
1/4" rod should be ~350mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~370mm long
you will need 5 of those 0.025" wafers
-----------------------------------------------------------
enjoy!
I'll just get right to it here. This is the basic instructions on how to build a battery adapter for a mag-modification. It's a lot of work but might be a fun project if you want to give it a try
Materials List:
- 1.25" dia acetal delrin plastic rod stock* (white so you can mark it)
- 0.25" dia acetal delrin plastic rod stock* (white or black)
- #10-32 threaded nylon rod stock* (white or black)
- 1x#10-32 standard duty (not heavy) steel hex nut
- 1x#10-32 brass acorn nut (plain finish)
- 4x#6-32x0.1875" pan head philips drive machine screws (any metal)
- 1x#6-32x0.375" flat head brass machine screw (plain finish)
- 1x#6-32x0.375" round head brass machine screw (plain finish)
- 2x#6-32 brass hex nuts (plain finish)
- 2x0.25"x1" fender washers
- a few square inches of copper sheet stock ~27ga thickness works good
Tools List:
- Miter saw, or radial arm, or cut-off saw, or circular saw with home-made jig to get reasonably good 90 degree cuts on the 1.25" rod. Ideally speaking, a finishing blade should be installed, fast ripping blades will leave an uneven surface but will work, use slower cutting speed to compensate.
- Drill press, or if you are really skillful, a hand drill and a vice might work.
- #6-32 thread tap (taper tap is fine), I mount mine in the cordless drill to speed things up.
- #10-32 thread tap (taper tap is fine).
- #36 drill bit
- #21 drill bit
- #F drill bit
- 17/64" drill bit
- 1/4" drill bit
- 7/32" drill bit
- 5/32" drill bit
- 5/64 allen socket
- Vice of sorts, ideally on a drill press
- Tin snips (that can cut copper sheet)
- various measuring and drawing type stuff. (a good ruler, compass, pencils, markers, etc)
- 0.5" dia Countersink bit that can cut metal worth a darn.
- Bench grinder, or other rotary grinding wheel tool
- Optional but very ideal: sheet metal punch with various size bits
- Optional: Headlamp (you're a CPFer, you MUST have one of these!) makes illuminating your work area much better!
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The following instructions are based on building a 6AA>2D carrier... only minor changes need to be made to adapt to longer carriers.. those changes are listed at the bottom of this post.
Cut 2 5mm thick pieces of 1.25" acetal delrin using the saw. These will be the end-caps of the adapter.
Cut 1 ~0.025" (less than 1/32") thin piece of 1/25" acetal delrin using the saw. This will serve as an intermediate spacer that holes the cells in place. It needs to be darn thin, thin enough to bend a little and thin enough for the positive "button" top of AA cells to protrude through far enough to make contact with the next cell.
Cut 3 114mm long pieces of 0.25" acetal delrin using the saw. These will be the "supports" that line everything up.
Cut 1 133mm long piece of #10-32 threaded nylon rod with some tin snips or other solid hand-grip cutters. this will go through the center of the adapter and hold everything together. After cutting, you will need to fix up the ends of the rod so the nuts will thread on smooth. Go to the bench grinder and fire it up. Holding the rod at about a 45 degree angle from the grinding surface, with the grinding angle away from the rod rather than towards it, gently spin the rod around applying very slight pressure into the grinder. This will taper the end of the rod and produce a smooth approach for the threads. You will likely have a bur of material on he end of the rod, the wire wheel on a bench grinder can usually buzz that off nice and easy and also be used to gently clean up the tip of the rod even more.
find dead center of the 5mm thick 1.25" dia wafers you have cut and mark that spot. You may want to build a jig of sorts to do this.... This is where the compass and other drawing tools will probably be necessary.
Now mark each wafer at various points:
3 dots should be 9.5mm from center, 120 degrees apart.
3 more dots should be 7/16 inch from center, 120 degrees apart, but centered in-between the first 3 dots you drew. (60 degrees offset)
drill the center hole in one of the end-caps with a 7/32" bit
drill the center hole in the other end-cap with a #21 wire size bit
drill the points 9.5mm from center with the #36 drill all the way through.
drill the points 7/16" from center with the #F bit, the rods will go through these holes. The F size bit is slightly larger than 1/4" and will provide the clearance necessary for the rods to slide freely but still hold straight.
Now, using the countersink bit, chamfer one of the #36 holes on the end cap who's center hole was drilled to 7/32" between 1/16"-1/8" should be enough chamfering. This is for the head of the flat head screw on the based of the adapter to slip into partially, (since the head of the flat head screw is usually taller than the thickness of the washer that it needs to be made flush with)
After doing this, tap #6-32 threads into each of the holes drilled with the #36, and tap #10-32 threads into the hole drilled with the #21 bit. The tapped center hole end-cap is the "top" end cap.
Using the tin snips, cut up some copper sheet. 2 strips about 5/16" by 2" is about right. Now use either a 5/32" drill or ideally speaking, a sheet metal punch, put 2 holes in each piece of copper about 16mm apart spaced roughly centered or slightly to one side of the strip will also work fine. Also snip the corners off.... here's an example of what they should look like:
Drink a beer, or 2, you deserve it.
Take your 0.1875" #6-32 pan head screws and use them to fasten the copper pieces you have fabricated to the plastic end-caps. On the end-cap with the chamfered hole, make sure to install the copper piece on the side of the end-cap opposite the chamfered hole, no using the chamfered hole. (use the other 2)
After installed the copper, insure that the copper clearances the other holes on the end-cap, then fold the copper over the screw to create your contact points for the cells in the adapter.
Drill a 5/32" hole in each fender washer ~9.5mm from center. There is a reason for using fender washers with larger center holes than necessary, hitting a hole perfectly at 9.5mm on one of these is not easy, expect some error and move on, it should work fine. Then take your countersink bit and ream one of them out good, Chamfer it a bit, then test your flat head screw to see if it sits flat in the washer, remove enough material for it to be as flat as possible, or slightly sunk in, but ideally, not sticking up. The chamfered washer should be used on the "bottom" end cap and that hole you drilled/chamfered should line up with the chamfered #6-32 hole in the end cap. The other washer does not need to be chamfered, you can use the round-head screw on the top side.
Now using the 3/8" long #6-32 brass screws, install the fender washers on the face of the end caps opposite the copper pieces. Using the remaining hole to fasten the washer to the end caps. Install #6-32 brass nuts on the other end of the screw.
Tighten everything down pretty good. Try not to strip out the threads. These threads are surprisingly strong in Delrin plastic, but screwing up now would mean a lot of work, so try not to!
Using the grinder, grind down any of that 1/2" screw that is protruding from the nut on the end-caps. Make it flush with the nut.
Remember that thin wafer of plastic about 0.02" thick? There's more work to be done!
Mark this sucker with the same positions marked as the end-caps above. (center point, 3 at 9.5mm from center 120 degrees apart, and 3 at 7/16" from center also 120 degrees apart, with the sets of 3 offset by 60 degrees [in-between each-other])
Drill the center 7/32"
Drill the 9.5mm from center points 1/4"
Drill the 7/16" from center points 17/64"
You may find that cutting an additional "thicker" piece of plastic to mount up behind the thing wafer while drilling works better, you'll need to drill out the center first in a jig of sorts, then bolt the 2 pieces together with a #10-32 bolt and nut in the center (optional), a vice can then be used to clasp the nut or bolt-head while it's being drilled.
Install the 3 1/4" rods into the holes on 1 end-cap, then slip the other end cap over the rods, making sure that the brass nuts are NOT in the same channel. Now slip the #10-32 threaded rod up through from the bottom end-cap to the top one and thread it into the top end-cap. Thread it such that it is sticking out about 1/2" over the top, now thread the brass acorn nut onto the threaded rod, once the threaded rod is fully seated up into the nut, crank down on the nut and gently tighten it against the top end-cap. This will help keep the threaded drop from turning while trying to tighten up the #10-32 standard nut that should now be installed on the bottom.
-----------------------------------------------------------
For 9AA>3D adapters:
end-caps should be 8mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1/2"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1/2"
1/4" rod should be ~169mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~190mm long
you will need 2 of those 0.025" wafers
For 12AA>4D adapters:
end-caps should be 13mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 3/4"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 3/4"
1/4" rod should be ~230mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~250mm long
you will need 3 of those 0.025" wafers
For 15AA>5D adapters:
end-caps should be ~18mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1"
1/4" rod should be ~290mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~310mm long
you will need 4 of those 0.025" wafers
For 18AA>6D adapters:
end-caps should be ~23mm thick
3/16" pan head screws can be the same or longer if you desire. (but not longer than the thickness of the end cap)
3/8" flat head brass screw should be 1.25"
3/8" round head brass screw should be 1.25"
1/4" rod should be ~350mm long
10-32 threaded rod should be ~370mm long
you will need 5 of those 0.025" wafers
-----------------------------------------------------------
enjoy!
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