I haven’t tried the maytech dual-trigger. I’m mostly interested in what’s going on with the OSRR remote. I’d like to buy the guts to do my own builds with. It’s compatible with my thumb-wheel and larger screen. It should be an easy switch out with the feather platform. Once I can get the OSRR electronics, I’ll make a few high-end enclosures with different ergonomics and features to work a long with it. After I get that done, I’ll be closing in on my holy-grail remote.
Dude that one remote will cost more than some boards 
Thanks for sharing your process, bookmarked!!!
I was thinking about making a template out of some thin plastic sheet on the cnc for holes positions and/or contours. Mostly because I can’t trust myself to do it by hand 
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Did you put your CNC inside some kind of tent to keep the dust in?
Yeah, it’s a different level of remote. For some it’s overkill, but I really like riding with a nice remote.
Doing them by hand is always a nail-biter. I make the holes before I do any CNC work. I’d hate to totally fuck them up after 3-4 hours of table-time.
Dust management is a bitch. My router is in my garage/shop. I have a dust-shoe with a powerful dust-collector and a 4" shop-vac to help clean things up, but I still have to use a leaf-blower once a week with my garage-door open to dust everything off.
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I finished up the tool paths and milled the deck.
Here are the tools that I use get the job done. This collection of bits costs about $750. They cost alot, but these ones are also very durable. I use Amana tool bits. They made a library that you can load right into Vcarve, so I don’t have to set up their bits at all. Which is really nice.
After the deck comes off of the machine, I take over. To shape it and make it look sexy I use an angle-grinder fitted with a flap-disk to remove the bulk of the material. Then I switch over to the orbital sander to smooth things out. It takes 45 minutes to an hour for me to get that part of the job done depending on how my back is feeling. On flat decks I use the CNC to machine a bunch of material off of the bottom with the large v-bits in the picture above. This board was a little too tall to fit under the gantry with the v-bit so I just did it all by hand. Using the machine saves a little time, helps with consistency and aids with dust management.
I’m very happy with how the shape turned out, and a 12s4p pack is going to fit easy with some padding.
I already started the fiberglass lay-up. I’ll be working on that, the lid and my remote tomorrow. I’m gettin’ excited 
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Looks amazing! What cnc do you use?
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Axiom. They have really nice small format machines, and while they aren’t cheap, they are far more affordable than many other that I researched. They have a nice line up for different levels of users. I have an AR8 pro which is perfect for making skateboards. https://www.axiomprecision.com/
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As an added shout out to Axiom and Vcarve; I have a degree in the culinary arts. I am not an engineer. Before I bought my CNC I knew nothing about using it or the software. The machine and software are user friendly. Axiom has a good forum and customer support. The machine is super sturdy. It survived my trial and error learning method. I thought that I messed it up a few times, but I just had to reset something or do some minor maintenance. I dropped in at Axiom’s shop a couple years ago. They’re nice people. If that ever changes, I know where they work 
Vcarve is widely used and they have awesome bite-sized tutorials. Learning the software was a breeze.
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While I’m waiting for epoxy to cure, I’ve had some time to work on my remote. The electronics for the transmitter are done. I use @Stephanme’s feather rendition of the firefly right now for my DIY remotes.
The Feather packet radio and LoRa boards by Adafruit that were selected for this project are well-equipped, arduino-based micro-controllers. For those of you who aren’t arduinists, a basic arduino board involves a central processing unit (CPU) and some pins for inputs and outputs. The feather has a lot of extra toys. It has a micro-USB port that can be used for programming and charging. It also has a jack for a lipo pack. Additionally, it has all kinds of pins for digital and analogue inputs and outputs. Last but not least it includes a packet radio or LoRa module.
I made some changes to the project that might be worth noting. First, I translated the project over to a really convenient proto-board that Adafruit makes for the Feather microcontrollers, so that a custom PCB is not needed. It saves on soldering time and helps make things really compact. Also, It has a bunch of ground and power pins to help with wiring. Adafruit makes some good stuff for tinkerers.
The only thing that would make the feather better, in my opinion, would be if it had a 5V power supply for a really high end thumb-stick (a lower price would be nice too). Fortunately, they have a tiny 5V power-booster that gets the job done, but it does require some extra soldering. I added that to get a steady 5V power supply, but the signal from the thumb-stick still needs to be brought back down to 3.3V. That is accomplished by using two resisters to make a 10/20k divider-circuit. Again, this is more soldering, but you get a really nice, non-printed thumb-stick for your effort.
The last upgrade that I made was to just increase the screen size from 0.96" to 1.33". The difference is substantial. I’m only using one on this design, but I might resurrect my two-faced chicken nugget for my next build.
The two-faced nugget:
Here is a parts-list for the transmitter along with some pics of the wiring:
- Adafruit Feather M0 board (part# 3176)
- Adafruit Featherwing Proto-board for Feather M0 (part# 2884)
- Adafruit 5V booster for the thumbwheel (part# 3661)
- UFL adaptor with external antenna and SMD connector.
- One monochrome 128x64 SSD 1306 OLED screen. These can be found all over Amazon. Buy the ones with 4-pins.
- One JST XH 2.54mm 4-pin housings with connectors and wire leads.
- Any 3.7 v lipo battery will work. I use a 500 mAh that fits the footprint of the micro-controller board perfectly. If you don’t buy a lipo from Adafruit you have to reverse the polarity, or something will smell like burning. I remove the jack and solder the battery leads directly to the board. It saves space. The black wire goes toward the USB jack.
- The tactile buttons are standard issue and can be found on Amazon.
- I used a latching pushbutton and installed it on the back of the remote. It’s a lot nicer than the slide-switches that I tend to see used. This can also be found on Amazon.
- If you’d like to make a vibrating remote you need a 1k resistor, a 2N2222 transitor and a tiny disc vibrator. Again, these things are all on Amazon. Generally you can only buy them in bulk.
- To make the voltage-divider circuit to bring the 5V signal back down from the thumbwheel you need a 10k and 20k resister. You may as well buy a kit with all the above listed resisters on Amazon.
- Even though the Feather M0 comes with a micro-usb port, I add a micro-USB port that extends to the exterior of the enclosure with a neoprene gasket. It helps seal things up and makes it easier to access the charging port. This is not set up as a data port. Programming needs to be done through the micro-usb jack on the micro-controller board.
- Lastly, check out Ruffycontrols.com for the thumbwheel. I use the single-hall MSA series here. You can make some selections for the actuator, such as an elastomer or a plastic thumbpad. They have two different force level springs. I like the 70N spring. The 140N spring gave me “thumb fatigue” over long rides. If you do short/fast races the 140N spring might be just what you need. I think it has better speed and breaking micro-control. Lastly, choose the 5V model.
Now I need to make an enclosure for this thing. I’ve already made the vectors for the toolpaths. I’ll have a rendering soon. It’s going to look like a short, squat peanut and/or an acoustic guitar face. It will be ambidextrous, but the thumbstick will have to be flipped to accommodate the riders dominant hand. Kind of like a hoytt puck. I’ll lay out the receiver when I make it. More to come soon including the lid and fiber-glass lay-up. 
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This is awesome, is it super comfy? Maybe I’ll try this in the future
Any idea on total cost? I’m guessing ~100
It’s cush. I love it. The control is impeccable. The thumb-stick costs about $65 delivered. The two feather boards required cost $25 per. All together the BOM is a little over $150.
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Jeez lol that’s more than I expected. The thumb stick looks so nice though… $65. hmmmm
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These are the types of thumb-sticks that get used on military air-craft. They’re a step above.
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It really shines when you’re flying down hill. The micro control of the breaks is insane.
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Progress has been made. The deck is done, as well as the mechanical build. I’ve also finished the remote enclosure. Here is a run though of the fiber-glass lay-up. I’ve seen a lot of tutorials on this subject and, honestly, I’ve learned a little something from all of them, so I’m going to add my two cents right here regardless of redundancy.
Being able to reinforce your deck with fiberglass is really useful, especially for esk8ers. You can make your deck strong and stiff. With the integrated decks it helps to prevent de-lams, while also allowing me to manipulate the flex. Fiberglass cloth comes in different weights. The heavier the weight, the stronger and stiffer the resulting deck. Heavier weights also use proportionately more epoxy to apply. Epoxy is the expensive part of this procedure, so that is important to note. On this deck I used 6 oz fiberglass across the bottom of the deck, as well as, on top of the the nose and tail. Paired with the 6-layers of bamboo in the body of the deck, this ended up giving the deck a nice flex for a guy that weighs a buck-seventy.
Using good epoxy/resin is important. I’ve been using West-systems for a while and like it. I use their 105 epoxy with 207 special-clear hardener. It sets up in a reasonable amount of time and doesn’t yellow. I have also used a product called Super-sap and like it as well. This stuff can all be found online, but locally you can find it at plastics supply stores and stores that have supplies for fixing boat-hulls.
The basic tools are foam brushes, foam rollers, a cup with a mixing stick and a lint roller. Good sheers are helpful as well. When preparing the deck I only sand with 120 grit and go no higher. If you smooth the surface out too much the epoxy won’t bond as well. After sanding, I clean the deck with rubbing-alcohol. It dissolves residues and evaporates quickly. After it dries, I use a lint roller to remove dust from the surface.
After the surface is prepped, I mix up my epoxy. The epoxy/fiberglass application happens in 4 basic steps: saturation, fill, sand and gloss. In the saturation step you apply the fiberglass and saturate it with epoxy.
It’s important to follow directions when measuring out the epoxy and resin. I have pumps that measure it for me, which is very convenient. Once you measure it, mix it for a good two minutes. For the saturation step, I apply a thin layer to the surface using the foam roller and then drape the fabric over the deck and smooth it out using the roller in one hand and the brush in the other.
Epoxy irritates skin and is difficult to clean off of your hands. So be careful with it. Gloves are recommended, but all gloves irritate my hands as well, so I just try to be careful. If I get it on my hands I wash it off immediately with acetone before it starts to cure.
Epoxy does not dry, it cures. It undergoes an exothermic, chemical reaction and turns into plastic. When you add fiberglass to your deck, you are essentially adding a layer of highly reinforced plastic. Make sure to allow it to cure fully before moving on to the next step. Curing rates very depending on the hardener used. It also varies greatly depending on the temperature of the curing environment. Curing in a garage on a hot day could halve the curing time, but you should cure at the temp intended by the manufacturer to get the best results.
After I apply the fiberglass, I always check it after 45 minutes to see if there are any big air bubbles that have popped up under the fabric. You should still be able to chase them out with a foam brush if necessary.
The fill step is easy. You just add another layer of epoxy to make sure that the fiber is filled and the surface is shiny. After this step, I wait a full day before moving on to the next step. If you don’t wait long enough before sanding, the surface will smudge and make a mess. If you are patient, It sands cleanly. When I sand fiberglass, I always wear full protective gear. Full goggles and a dusk mask, I also cover my body. Fiberglass dust is itching-powder. If you aren’t careful, you will itch like mad for days. I promise.
I sand the surface smooth with an orbital sander. I start with 80 grit to level the surface and then work my way up to 220 grit. After sanding I clean the surface with rubbing alcohol again and dust roll it. The gloss layer is a thin layer meant to give a nice finished look. If you can apply this layer in a low dust environment, that is preferred. It’s disappointing to wrap up a perfect mirror finish only to return in an hour and see little dust particles all over it. Colorado is dusty and I’m a wood-worker, so I’ve learned to accept a certain level of disappointment in my life.
That’s the basics of fiberglass and epoxy-resin. Now this thing needs a lid or I’m going to be standing on my battery. Then grip.
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Two question:
Do you let it dry between saturation and fill ?
Do you throw away all your rolls/brushes after each round or do you manage to clean them?
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The lid is made form bamboo lumber that matches the grain of the deck. No bent aluminum here, friends. It is reinforced with plexiglass to keep it from splitting and backed with cork to help it sit nicely and resist moisture. These layers are all bonded with the same epoxy that I used on the board.
The CNC cuts the lid out and removes some material to help with the shaping step. I use a 6.25/30 degree double-bevel along the edge. The bevel makes it easier to fit and remove the lid.
The lid is then bolted in place and contoured to the concavity of the deck. I use a grinder and orbital sander to get the job done.
It took me a while to get this lid just right. First, I tried just bamboo. It split on some of the test decks, so I reinforced it with plexiglass. I thought about using neoprene for the seal, but the cork mills really cleanly and looks nice. On the initial test decks that I made the lids would stick and not come out. The bevel helped, but when the compartment is bored out the deck “tacos” in the middle by about 1mm. This makes the opening slightly hour-glass shaped. I was able to compensate for this in the CAM software. Now the lid is slightly hour-glass shaped as well. The lid is a pain in the ass, but now it’s right.
The bottom and top have now been reinforced and I have a lid. Paint and grip is next.
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I let it cure between saturation and fill. Everything gets tossed. I’ve tried cleaning and reusing things but it is not easy with epoxy. Unfortunately, it is a wasteful process. There are some real pros out there that just use a spreader. They’ve got skills.
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I’m used color grip on the deck, but I still painted it, because it looks sharp. I taped the board up and used an asphalt-colored splatter-paint. After, it dried I went after the grip.
For grip I use products from Lucidgrip.com. They sell a growing variety of recycled glass-grit. They have three grades and a palette of colors. For this deck I used black grit speckled with course and glow. It’s going to look like I’m riding on top of deep-space at night.
I don’t prefer Lucid grip’s adhesive. It is weak and it smells bad. I just inlay it in the epoxy that I have. I put down a layer of epoxy and sprinkle the grit over the surface liberally. After the epoxy cures, I shake off excess into a trash bag and collect it for use on another project. Then I roll on another layer or two of epoxy depending on whether or not the grip has properly adhered. A roller is best for the last coats. You want thin layers. I’ve layered it on too thick before, and the grip literally disappeared into the epoxy 
There she is. She looks kind of like a Viking ship so I named her Gulvieg after one of Odin’s wives. She was cast into the underworld three times and some how managed to escape. A real trouble maker 
I’m almost done with my remote. The basic assembly of the deck is just about done as well. I still need to make a battery.
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