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 GraviTrackafter 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.
Yes, I know what you're thinking. "But you were just closed for, like, a bajillion days for Maker Faire!!" And yes, you'd be right. Except for the bajillion part - that's just getting carried away. Solarbotics (and HVW Tech) will be closed tomorrow (July 1st), and Friday (July 3rd). Standard rules apply - you can […]
About a million years ago (and by that, we mean 3-4) we had a crazy French intern called Jerome. He had a squiggly beard and liked to exclaim "SUPER COOL!" whenever he saw anything that caught his attention. But because he came up with neat stuff like the BeetleBot, we let him stick around. Even […]
I occupy a studio space in a building that is a former movie shooting facility turned into an artist hovel. The building itself is wonderfully old but the hallways are also full of ancient audio and video equipment from the movie days. One of the things that got the attention of our RnD and tech […]
We've been having lots of fun with Openbeam, building all kinds of handy contraptions out of it. Today's issue of Hey Look It's New Stuff covers a big chunk of our stock. OpenBeam Extrusion - 1000mm Length $175.00 If you find it annoying to cut the 1m open beam extrusions down to size - you […]
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.