Painted GraviTrack

Solar botics
March 5, 2018

We always enjoy seeing our products being modified, revamped and DIY-ed, as well as the results of these transformations.

Our customer Vera Kark provided us with some thoughtful feedback on adding mechanical tweaks to improve our Solar GraviTrack build and documentation. She also painted the brown MDF of the machine. She used tempera paint on the wood components still in panelized form, and the GraviTrack's performance seemed to be unaffected. 

The GraviTrack looks great in vibrant jewel tone colours, however, we do not recommend applying paint to the hand mechanism itself. You can paint the base and the rails, avoiding the hand mechanism completely. The moisture and the thickness of the paint might affect the precise tolerances of the moving parts, and will interfere with its proper functioning. Another relatively safe option might be felt tip marker since the moisture from alcohol evaporates quickly.

 

Photos & video by Vera Kark

P.S. Also, a particularly bad idea is painting your GraviTrack after the assembly is completed. Even though we were using a very watered down acrylic paint, the mechanism seized up the moment the paint became sticky. Don't be like us. Take care of your GraviTrack.

A portrait of a sad stuck GraviTrack

MORE POSTS

June 7, 2018
Notice of Solarbotics Credit Card Proces...

It is my unfortunate duty to inform the customers of Solarbotics who have used our web interface to place credit card orders that this information used on solarbotics.com has been compromised.

November 7, 2009
Closed for Rememberance Day (Nov 11th)

Hey everyone! The first week of November has already slid by, and that puts us coming up to Remembrance Day, or Veteran's Day for our pals in the US. We'll be closed on Wednesday, November 11th to observe the event. We will resume the processing/shipping of orders and responding to any correspondence we've received when […]

May 21, 2008
Solar-powered hopping robots? It's been ...

Actually, it's been done, but not this nicely. Those guys at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have a nice report on their "microglider" project. They do some fine work! Bah. That picture is too small! Let's look at a BIG one! Ooo! And they have more big pictures here! This one is nice - […]

October 23, 2009
Protoshield, FTDI Breakouts, GM10s IN ST...

Alriiiiight. It's Friday, and you know what that means... We get to sleep in tomorrow morning! WOOOOO! Also, it means that it's time for the weekly news post of new product goodness. Today we've got four items to show off: Freeduino SB-Protoshield FTDI Basic Breakout (3.3V) FTDI Basic Breakout (5V) Designed particularly for the Freeduino […]

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.

cart