Do you have the loop version of this rather than the T-Handle? Printed it out and it looks good but I think it may look cleaner on my build with the loop.
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I should be able to send that tonight
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How did the fit turnout?
I should’ve mentioned, this is the recommended slicer settings, if you hadn’t seen:
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Captured Loopkey - Mount V5E.3mf (184.3 KB)
Captured Loopkey - O-Slider V5E.3mf (348.5 KB)
Captured Loopkey Drawing v3.pdf (176.4 KB)
Edit: updated the drawing, bc it was flipped
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Fit turned out pretty good, no issues for me here. Clicks into place and holds well. Just a bit of resistance during travel. I just used my standard print settings which were 4 walls, 40% infill, and brim. Oriented them how you showed them. I haven’t put in an XT90 yet, I think it’s gonna be pretty tight but will work. Working on finishing up some phase wire soldering and then was going to move on to the battery wiring.
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Alright, got some updates on this one.
@sleepless I may have taken what you said about planning out wiring lengths before gluing a bit too far…
Here are some pics of the wiring process:
Here is a pic when I was planning on just using the captured loopkey, currently working on my own version of this that has 2 loopkeys that allow you to select the battery that you want to use. Internal or external port. I like the one I have working right now but I think I may swap over to a fixed-side, moving internal slider version. We’ll see where that one goes.
Charge port and external XT90 location
Phase wires connected
New sensor wire connectors because yet again I am stupid and bought the wrong part (5 pin rather than 6 pin)
I’m about 65% of the way there on the wiring at this point I would say. Still to do are:
- Finish design on double loopkey
- Drill holes and wire up the loopkey, external XT90 port, and charge port.
- Epoxy in all connectors
- Butyl tape on washers
- Finish phase wire/sensor wire extensions to back of board
- Make footpads to cover wires
In other news:
The Chain Drive and Airs are here!!
and I put together the drivetrain:
I gotta say, these really are beautiful pieces of hardware. When using all Apex stuff the installation of everything was a breeze and using the circlip to retain the motor pinion is just so easy. @ApexBoards is there any portion of the drivetrain that comes pre-assembled that needs loctite or is it preapplied to things like the motor sprocket screws? I would assume so but just wanted to make sure.
Still need to do a bench test of everything to make sure things are in working order but I wanted to get the phase/sensor wire extensions made first to make sure there aren’t any issues with them as well.
I feel like things are slooooowly coming together. The closer I get to having the full thing assembled the more I am liking how things are shaping up!
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thank you! Chains look good man, don’t forget they will stretch out slightly as you use them, just keep taking the slack up until they finish stretching mate
Aiiii, that’s the way it should be man!
Anything assembled by us has been done so with the appropriate thread retaining compound, anything you have to assemble obviously needs the right stuff 
The build is coming on man!
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If i ever get a new drivetrain it will be their stuff looks so clean and user friendly.
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After over a month it is UPDATE TIME
Captured double Loopkey
So the main goal of this build was to be able to have a lightweight board that could be extended in range for the purpose of getting to the jump/riding destination. In order to do this I needed to find a way to be able to attach 2 battery packs to the board safely. I initially thought about doing parallel packs but that only works for the way there, because both packs need to be the exact same voltage when plugging them in. So you could only use them when paired as “one” pack and you could only remove the range pack and not add it back after the small pack is drained. I came to the conclusion that just having 2 completely separate packs would be the best scenario, and in order to have an internal pack, and an external pack I designed:
The Captured Double Loopkey:
This way I can have my internal battery for jumping and short rides, and then have an external battery for range if I need it. Thanks to @sleepless for the original captured loopkey design here. Still need to sort out the details on how I am going to do the external battery but that is a future me problem 
As of right now it functions pretty well, a bit sticky on sliding out due to the resistance from the XT90, not sure how much that could be improved. I would like it to be more smooth but not quite sure how to go about it. Ideally I would also like a bit more of an air gap between the middle position and the outer, but this was the max amount of space I could take up on the apache case.
Progress on the build
Internal Wiring:
Here is where I did something very stupid and put the charge port where the lid latches closed…
The charge port is now off to the right of where the buckle comes down
Loopkey wiring
Here is how I joined up the 2 wires before soldering. I used a box cutter to cut away a section of the outer sheathing, then wrapped one wrap above where you start and the rest below. That joint is now covered in silicone rather than electrical tape.
Wayyy too much thermal paste, had to scrape it off the sides
Finished internal wiring, everything is either smushed between foam or held down with tesa/gaff/VHB tape. It is a VERY tight fit between the battery and the ESC, just snug when you close the lid. Not sure if I need to add a barrier between the cables and battery but suggestions are welcome if you see any shortcomings.
Cable extensions:
Nothing too fancy to see here
Using some jst extensions that I got off amazon.
Unpin them
Solder
Done
Do it again
Silicone to keep everything in place
Heatshrink everything together, ran out of big heatshrink for the extensions but getting some more soon. Also need to design some cable management. Gaff tape is holding everything in place at the moment.
Footpads:
I wanted to do something a little more elegant (and serviceable) than just running the wires below the grip tape so I decided to make them out of sheets of 3/16" and 1/16" thick rubber.
Really like the blue tape to cut out method, works flawlessly:
I measured out a line on both sides of the deck that was 50mm from the center holes for mounting the top box to give myself a point of reference, this way if anything could be flipped and used on the other side I would.
Cut out the first one (I used several passes with a large box cutter to get consistent lines)
Then reuse the cutout to make the pad for the opposite side
Re-tape the tape on and mark hole locations because you forgot to initially. I drilled out these with a step bit.
To get the correct hole locations for the other side you will need to put more tape down to mark that side’s locations. Since I had the reference line everything ended up lining up very nicely.
For the side with wires going under I wanted to have a layer that bridged over them for just a little bit more protection, that is what I used the 1/16" rubber for. I just laid the wires over the top and taped them on either end, then just traced them with a sharpie to get the cable channel outline.
Used the same tape to cut out the thin rubber
Then I just lined everything up and got ready to glue the 3 pieces together
All glued up
Now time for grip tape! Side note, this shit hurts! I scraped up my hands like 3 separate times working with it.
Cut out with box knife again
Drill holes from underside (again)
ezpz footpads that take about an hour or 2 to make.
Vinyl Skin
I ordered the skin from WePrintWraps, they were pretty quick to ship, and I just gave them the total length of the board and the area in the center that I wanted the art to be in.
Applying the wrap was a pretty painstaking process as I have not skinned anything before, but I just took my time, used a heatgun, and wasn’t afraid to rip it up and reapply if I was unhappy with an area and I would say it turned out pretty well:
VESC Settings
I tried to initially setup with metr but ended up just using the pc vesc tool
Motor amps: 60A/side
Battery: 30A/side
Regen: -12A
Throttle curve: Linear for now, going to tune this later
IT LIVES!!!
Initial Impressions
I had a bit of a crisis when first getting the bindings setup where I thought I had setup everything for the wrong stance but it turns out that bindings just feel so weird to me that I thought I was riding opposite from what I normally do. After angling the front binding a bit more outward it felt much more natural, but I still definitely have to get used to them as I had a bit of a spill at about 10mph on my first ride. Butt is scraped and bruised but not more than my dignity. I bought some triple8 bumsaver pads for learning how to properly ride this thing as I foresee much more falling in the future 
.
Power impressions are great though, so much torque and brakes are muuuuuch better than my old board. I took it up to about 21ish and it was rock solid, I don’t ride super fast and the board’s top speed is only like 25 anyways so this is great for me. I do think I want a bit more carve though. I weigh 125lbs and with the default bushings at the loosest while still being snug I felt like I needed more turning ability still.
Consumption is also pretty good? 19Wh/mi over 4.5miles of mixed street and gravel is pretty good in my book. First ride was 87% to 54% (30% usage) so hopefully I will get around 14 miles out of this little 12s2p.
Also free roll is INSANE on this chain drive, sooo nice to be able to cruise without the board slowing you down so much.
Conclusion and future plans:
I absolutely love this board and can’t wait to learn how to use it to its full potential. Shout out to @ApexBoards for making some phenomenal products. My other main conclusion past the hardware is that I need to start working out and stretching so that 1. I can actually jump with this thing and 2. So that if I fall I don’t instantly tear or break something
Next steps:
- Heatshrink for sensor wires
- Blue loctite all the bindings in once I figure out how to properly set them up, anyone got any good guides for binding setup? I know they are generally supposed to be ran a bit more loose.
- Replace truck mounting hardware: Got some stuff from McMaster because I didn’t like that the M5 bolts I got use an M3 hex instead of M4, strip out super easy.
- Let a bit of air out of the tires: I am running about 45-50 psi and I think I wanna drop that down to 40 to see how it feels. I would like things to be a bit cushier on the tire side of things.
- Anti sink plates (Looking like @SabreDynamics claw mount at the moment)
- Make the epoxy look better somehow? Grey on black is not great and I would love to make that a bit nicer.
- Tune bushing setup: bought some 84a krank bushings from @RipTideSports to try and get a more carvy setup. Got a couple different shapes to try out.
- Tune VESC settings: I like where it is but feel like I could make it a bit smoother to ride, right now it feels like a lot of power that could be smoothed out a bit.
- Design some cable management to 3D print for the phase/sensor wires. A piece of gaff tape is not up to snuff for how much time I have spent on this build.
- Figure out how to go about the external battery. Not sure if I want to do something underslung or something akin to a hat that sits over top.
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Man that looooks good and a very detailed write up, looks good!
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Very nice! I was very interested in your build since the beginning since it was similar to my MH build. I love the way you went about your problems and did more of a diy approach. Great job and great build!
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Yeah man, the wheel sprocket acts like a flywheel making the free roll pretty fucking good. Also the sound 
Thanks man, im really glad you are enjoying this build, well done!
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Whithout solder ?
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Of course it’s got solder now! 
I was just showing how I did the join 
Unfortunate news on this one, had a bit of a spill after I clipped a bike lane bollard and now may have a fractured elbow . Doctors say they couldn’t see a fracture from the initial x-rays but suspect that it sill may be fractured due to the areas of swelling. Probably not going to be riding this one for a while until I am all healed up. I really knew I should have put in more time learning to ride in a more controlled environment before trying to make the commute to work on it, lesson learned I guess.
At least the board was 100% ok aside from a few tiny scuffs
Also, while I will have some time on my hands, @ApexBoards do you guys have a guide/recommendations on tensioning chains? I think I had them right but am not 100% sure, I set them pretty loose. Basically right at the point where you can easily move the wheel forward and backwards without it binding up.
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aww fuck sorry.
I accidentily did that not too long ago while switching songs on my phone cruising at like 8mph. The bollard was gone but the metal base that was bolted into the ground was still there, so it sent me stumbling off when it crashed into my front truck. My front truck has quite the mark on it now haha
Yeah I was going pretty slow as well but not being used to being strapped in made me go down pretty hard… Very thankful for my full face helmet, my face would not be looking too great right now
We do have some tips actually
Tensioning the chains is actually quite critical. You do not want them tight, they need a bit of give but you also do not want the chain hanging off the bottom of the wheel sprocket, that becomes a conveyer belt that can scoop small rocks up or whatever. There needs to be a small amount of play basically. Hard to put into words, maybe ill film a quick video for you
edit - really sorry to hear about your accident man. That sucks. best tip I can give you is get back on the board as soon as you possibly can. Ive ridden with a broken hand etc, just get back on when you feel fit enough and carry on. Chances are you learned a lesson and will be more cautious. eMTB’s are no joke.
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This would be amazing if you had some time! Like you said it’s a bit hard to get across over text.
My first thoughts after I fell/got home and realized it was a bit worse that I thought were: “Am I ok? I’m ok” and “How can I get back on the board as soon as possible” . Oddly enough I’m just more upset with myself for not getting used to riding it in a more controlled environment/wearing more gear. I’m seeing an orthopedic doctor to see if it is actually a fracture next week so fingers crossed it isn’t and I can get riding soon. I’m already regaining some of the mobility in my elbow so that’s a good sign at least.
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