64 replies to this topic

[DDM PLAGUE]

Awesome job Loc, just started work on a cockpit of my own and found this thread. You have given my a ton of Ideas.

[TheKennanator]

Please tell me you've created CAD for this build! Wonderful work.

[Loc Nar]

TheKennanator, on 31 March 2015 - 06:42 AM, said:

Please tell me you've created CAD for this build! Wonderful work.

Why thank you sir, and as it just to happens, there is a CAD file (.skp), that Foust was kind enough to make. Here's a link to the file on dropbox:

https://www.dropbox....0/simpit%20.skp

If you actually end up building, here's some suggestions and explanations to accompany the drawings.

Spoiler

I"m 5'7" and the cockpit has been used by people as short as 5' and tall as 6'4". Due to the ability to slide in/out it is very easy to get in and out of, and you only slide it forward as much as your legroom req so accommodates pilots of all 'normal' sizes. My dimensions and ergonomic relations are all based on researching ergonomics and using existing guidelines out there such as this one: http://home.comcast.net/~timothyboldt/Files/MIL-STD-1333B.pdf
For me, this design was intended as a placeholder and I first called it 'overnight sensation', in honor of a simple/quick DIY speaker kit that PartsExpress sells, but there turned out to be many advantages to this integrated sub/seat/armrail structure, which would be easy to integrate into a fully enclosed pit at any time, yet leaves the functional bits rather portable should you want to bring it elsewhere or need to move.

My drawing is not dimensioned, but if you use the tape-measure tool all parts will display correct measurements. All angles are 'normal' (special case angles if you know trig), so are either 90, 60, 30, or 15 deg. The layout is to optimize usage of a single 4x8 sheet, but there would be enough extra material to use a cnc router, but obviously you would need to make your own toolpath files since this is just a drawing. If you do happen to turn this into cnc toolpath files, I'd be very grateful for a copy of that.

If using normal tools, as laid out it's easiest to make the rip at 22" first. This ensures all the ensuing box structures will all be of the same exact width, and also makes the resulting layout and cutting much more manageable. Personally I only layout a single part at a time and use actual measurements from a edge edge rather than factoring in the kerf and hoping it comes out accurate enough in the end. So long as your 22" rip is accurate though, your end results will be nice 90deg box. My build log post has a lot of intermediary pics in it at different stages of construction.

My armrails were made from a 4 x 1/8" aluminum square tube that was ripped into 2 u-channels on a tablesaw, but they can be made from whatever you like. A friend used 1/2" mdf for those to good effect on his, but I prefer metal.

One of these days I'll clean up enough around my pit to take some update shots to show it in its current form. Not a lot different for MWO, but my Combat Pro pedals have been mated to the modded TM pivot mechanism and for SC I made a new center mount and extension with offset for the Warty.

It's held up well (~9000 matches on the stick, 6000 or so on this iteration of the pit), and is still in routine use although I mostly just lurk on the forums since the whole Transfail thing...

[Loc Nar]

No real updates documented or organized enough to share despite several revisions and improvements.

My mechstick at this point has accumulated ~10,000 matches total on it and this is the result of natural wear


Note: I used a Cougar grip for the first four thousand matches or so before switching to a Warthog grip so this is the result of ~6000 matches and the Cougar looks similar

[mclang]

It saddens to hear that my Warthog is bad

Fortunately I got it very cheap, so maybe it is still a bargain... Have you figured good way to fix the warthog gimbal that is possible do with normal home tools? Should I try the spring mod that was linked previously?