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

January 30, 2014
Wednesday Links: Pulse Jacket, Wassilisc...

Today I wanted to share a how-to of one of my projects with you. So once I had some cats. And an extra apple tree. And I wanted to be noticed in the dark. So I made some fruit batteries out of apples and attached them to the running jacket. This way I could burn […]

March 20, 2003
GM2/3 Wheels!

WooHOO! We managed to get large, grippy wheels made for our GM2 & GM3 series of gearmotors! If you're familiar with the Parallax / MarkIII style Minisumo, these wheels might look familiar. The critical difference is that these wheels are keyed to fit the double-flat of our own gearmotors! We're presently stocking the black and […]

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 20, 2005
Monday - Holiday!

May long weekend is upon us up here in Canada, with Victoria Day being Monday. Ahhh, time to melt the igloo, unshovel the lawn mower and scrape away the ice so we can plant snow-peas! (Joke - it's actually quite nice here in Calgary right now...) Anyway, any orders received after 2pm today will not […]

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.

Copyright © 2024 Solarbotics Ltd. All Rights Reserved
cart