Nagini | Build Journal

Yeah you just want to make sure that the focus and exposure doesn’t change from image to image because that can cause issues when your pc is referencing points between images. The painters tape is also a good idea because in my experience reflections always cause artifacts and an uneven surface on the model where it should be flat. Little markers are mainly helpful for big flat surfaces where there is not a lot of detail to reference from, so I would put a bunch on say the top surface of the deck. You will probably need to go back and clean up the geometry after anyway but this stuff helps with getting a cleaner result to start with.

2 Likes

I played around with meshroom the other day and only took about 20 pictures. All it returned was a clump of triangles, so thats when I figured I should do some actual research and realised I needed a specific type of GPU and that my sample count was nowhere near sufficient.

My work is looking at some quite advanced 3D scanning software/hardware solutions and I know a guy who may be able to let me play with them, so I’m considering that instead…

Thank you for the advice with the camera settings, it makes sense to keep everything as consistent as possible.

the computing power will do for speed, not for accuracy, the accuracy is entirely the quality of the pictures,
for a medium object with 20-40 pics you should be good

you should give a try to autodesk recap, esay for beginers and gives good results, don’t remembre how their subscription/demo policy works though

lidar will give you good results !

1 Like

I have the educational license for fusion 360 via my Uni so autodesk recap is a great shout. Ill keep you posted :slight_smile:

1 Like

I was doing the dishes yesterday and had a bit of a eureka moment. What if I could use a baking tray as an enclosure? Obviously the receiver would need to sit outside but…could it be feasible?

So like any normal, put together, sane human being a put the tray to my deck and realised that the depth and width were perfect:

Maybe I could buy a couple of new ones, cut them up, join them with a bracket and some epoxy, give it a splash of paint and call it an enclosure?

That then led me down a train of thought about using sheet metal instead. I’ve heard that sheet metal can be unforgiving at times, so decided against that.

But then, how about wood? The few wood enclosures I’ve seen so far (looking at you, Hoyt) are sexy, clean and elegant but must be an absolute BALLACHE to build.

Then another eureka moment struck. I must be on the ball today. How about using a skateboard deck?

The length is perfect and it already bends in the right places. Would just need to fill the holes with dowels (the easy part) and make some side panels (the hard part)

Anyway, just a couple of thoughts. The enclosure is a massive sticking point for me right now because money is tight this month and I’m feeling impulsive. If anyone has any suggestions for filling the sidewalls of a wood enclosure I would love to hear them.

Tbh, I think 3d modeling, printing and then laying up glass was a much better approach than this. You could even skip the 3d modeling and just use styro or even wood for your mould.

This problem you’re running into rn is why so many choose a tried-and-true platform to build off of. I made this error in judgement w my first build and it made finishing it exponentially more difficult.

This thread might provide some inspiration.

3 Likes

I reckon you’re right…it would be less work too. My priority now is just to get something I can ride safely, I’m itching to take her for a proper skate.

As much as I’d like to go the photogrammetry & 3D printing route, I think there’s a time and a place, and realistically this enclosure isn’t complex enough to warrant that. It will be time consuming and unnecessary. Maybe in the future though.

I really underestimated how difficult it would be to find an enclosure and in future builds it’ll probably be the first thing I decide on. You’d think given they can be made cheaply with a vacuum former and ABS sheets, Chinese manufacturers would be swooping in with a million different designs on mass production but I guess the DIY esk8 market is too small.

Cheers for the link, had a read through and that was really informative. I appreciate all of your help so far :slight_smile:

I don’t know if you’ve seen this but Kami Juins has a video where they used two skateboards sandwiched together as a deck enclosure combo.

1 Like

I remembre seing a couple realy great builds a good few years back made this way,
@DougM is I think one of them, and there was another, a green board I realy liked with one sheet of metal as lid over 3D printed sizes

There was the accoustic board made this way, but I don’t remembre from who it was

Trust me or not, but even this one I have seen XD there was that guy with the snowboards deck

This actualy looks good, again 3D printed parts for the side are the easy way to go

The lower budget one, without a 3D printer would be cutting plywood layers, the same way you make a topography model
that would be a royal PITA though

That’s awesome, I love Kami Juins builds. As cool as it would be, I dont think I’ll have the space with my wide flat battery to do that :frowning:

Yeah I think ill stick to the original plan. Sheet metal would be nice but a lot more complicated to design I reckon. 3D printing for the sides gives me the same problem as 3D printing the enclosure, I won’t be able to accurately replicate the curvature without tons of trial and error.

Most of the time you don’t need to, just make it flat and add a moderatly flexible gasket
Plus your deck seems pretty flat

I’m more talking about the curvature of the deck that is acting as the enclosure

1 Like

I meant metal sheet + 3d printed side

2 Likes

Ah oka, that’s actually really nice. Will habe a think.

Wont be working on Nagini until a couple of weeks time probably.



Just documenting a few thoughts.

I may mount an old phone to the front of the deck to act as a low budget Davega so I can see my battery charge, speed, distance etc. All it would need is a waterproof case and 3D printed mount.

Once my printers up and running I intend to print some covers for the belt drive and underside of the motors to prevent stones coming and knocking things about. It’s also become apparent that I need a better carry handle solution than just holding the trucks, and nose/tail bumpers to prevent scratches.

Still planning to mount some lights as well…

Also, a carry handle. Probably machined aluminium.

Before:

After:

Details

Since I was already replacing my damaged BMS, I figured it would be worth just redoing some other aspects of the pack as well.

I was feeling quite dissatisfied with how messy my shitshow of kapton tape is, and also I had already managed to damage some of the shrink wrap. Those combined certainly didn’t give me much confidence that the pack will be able to hold up to any vibration, especially with all the air pockets between layers of tape. I decided to strip the battery back to P-group level.

Much happier with the way the pack looks and feels now :slight_smile:

4 Likes

I’m so frustrated with myself.

I got home from work early with the intention of getting a bit more done from home to catch up on some stuff that’s behind. Instead, I saw the Amazon package for blue foam and got excited and decided to work on my enclosure.

The first mistake is not giving myself enough time.

I knew this would be a lengthy, messy process, yet realistically I only had about 2 hours before it was time to make dinner, do the chores, spend time with my fiancé and get a good night sleep.

I started off working carefully but as time started to run out I felt more and more rushed.

I began with some cardboard as a base:

Then cut some blue foam to size and with double sided tape, attached it:

It was at this point I was concerned that I cut the foam too small across the width of the board. I decided to go ahead anyway.

I set up some bin bags as dust sheets:

Then began shaping the enclosure.

Because of how lightweight the foam was, I tried using the double sided tape to stick it to the deck. However because of the heavy duty velcro I previously added to hold the battery in place during testing, this didn’t work.

I still decided to carry on.

The final shape of the enclosure mould was decent. It’s not perfect, and I didnt take the time to make proper measurements and markings for the two height levels and rounded edges. I eyeballed it.

I then haphazardly wrapped it in packing tape. Completely ruining all the work I did to make the surface nice and flat to provide a good internal finish for the fibreglass.

Then I laid out the battery and ESC on top and realised it was going to be too tight of a fit for all of the wiring, especially the loopkey circuit which I haven’t made yet.

I realised I’d need to buy more foam and start from scratch. That’s fine. What’s not fine is the sticky tape residue on my deck.

So with a combination of heat gun, a plastic scraper and isopropyl alcohol I began chipping away at the tape. I was making frustratingly slow progress, and then this happened:

Some of the epoxy on the deck completley chipped off. Now, not only have I wasted time and energy on the enclosure, but I’ve made myself more work because I need to repair the deck once I’m done removing the adhesive. I don’t have enough epoxy left for a full coat of the underside so I’m going to try to patch it up, but I’m worried it’ll be obvious and look shit.

I’m covered in blue dust. My desk is covered in blue dust. The floor is covered in blue dust. All my tools are covered in blue dust. Even the kitchen has somehow got blue dust. Everywhere I walk is getting covered in blue dust. I need to make dinner. I need to tidy up before I work from home tomorrow. I’m pissed off with myself.

Rant over.

1 Like

I’ve been there too man, just take a breather for a while then knock one thing out at a time. Feeling like you’re tripping over yourself is one of the most frustrating things

2 Likes