Do not cite the old magic to me
1 Like
This morning it occurred to me that maybe some kind of mesh or screen could be used between the sled and the surface being painted. Like a silkscreen setup? The sled could ride on it, and paint sprayed through it. Dunno.
I thought about that, too, but I figure it will make your spray less precise, still get it all over the sled, and have a chance to build up and drip.
Remember that these engineering problems for the sled and frame still don’t do anything to solve:
- designing a mount for a sprayer
- designing a control unit for the sprayer
- writing firmware to control that sprayer
- developing a process for using multiple colors
- making sure it paints crisp lines
You’re in for a lot of RnD for something like this.
Thinking about this some more during my commute, I really think your best bet would be to make stencils using a standard Maslow frame. What you could do beyond that to make things easier for yourself is design them in a way that mounting them to the wall of the boat with magnets is easy. What you could do to help ensure that there is no paint bleed put strips of foam around the edge of the stencils and Trace them with a router to make the foam’s Edge match the stencil. The compression holding the stencil against the surface should compress the foam and create a seal that prevents the bleed.
Actually, even better, you could just laminate some 2 lb commercial foam against the wood that you’re going to use to make the stencil and cut it just like that on the Maslow. But if you get very thin sheets, and place them strategically, you can minimize that cost.
The Country House Gent YouTube channel is a Brit who sold everything he owned for a life afloat, bought a narrow boat, and now supports himself cruising and making videos on youtube and Amazon Prime. His boat is named Aslan. Guess that was too subtle but I assumed that you’d heard of it. We have Brit inlaws who have rented narrowboats, and while it’s been talked about we never tried a trip with them. My health wouldn’t allow it today, alas.
Keven discovered that his isn’t the only narrowboat named Aslan. I either didn’t know or forgot that Aslan is the lion in the Narnia books, we read them to the kids but that is pushing 40 years ago.
This is starting to sound more appealing. We have a good-sized open area on the roof, and I should be able to just install clamps on the gutters to attach the belts. Would probably retract and bring the whole thing inside when not in use.
A couple of questions:
-
I have copious amounts of 240VAC power available inside the boat from an inverter and from an engine-driven generator, but… boat. water+electricity != mix well. Not too excited about having a 240VAC power strip hanging out a porthole a few feet above the water, with or without a flipflop providing buoyancy. I have 12VDC available in abundance, with heavy cables, which rational or not, would make me considerably less nervous. Can the Maslow run on 12V?
-
Probably don’t need a router to cut foamboard/styrene stencils. I know I’ve seen adapters made for holding pens etc. Thinking about trying this little hand-held usb-charged Dremel-esque carving tool we have. Is the router/adapter required to transfer the side loads between the belts, or can I just use some foam pipe insulation and duct tape to install the cutter for proof-of-concept?
Thanks as always.
Bill wrote:
Can the Maslow run on 12V?
the power supply that the maslow ships with is 24v, that runs the
electronics/motors. The spindle needs it’s own power
- Probably don’t need a router to cut foamboard/styrene stencils. I know
I’ve seen adapters made for holding pens etc. Thinking about trying this
little hand-held usb-charged Dremel-esque carving tool we have. Is the
router/adapter required to transfer the side loads between the belts, or can I
just use some foam pipe insulation and duct tape to install the cutter for
proof-of-concept?
Yes, the arms ride directly on the router, you will need a 69mm diameter pipe to
clamp in the mechanism for the system to work.
David Lang