Leave a comment

roxybisquaint November 17 2011, 04:38:15 UTC
I think to give it a more authentic look, you need to get some heat shrink tubing on there. Maybe you could even have the black tubing cover the snaps (then cut away the tubing enough for the snaps to actually snap together).

Reply

Nice avatar... tackdriver56 November 18 2011, 03:09:16 UTC
I'm still trying various ideas, but that's a new one.
One idea involves slipping neodymium magnets inside the braid before closing the ends... no visible fasteners at all. Need to autopsy some hard-drives. Got any donors?

Reply

More authentic look? tackdriver56 November 19 2011, 18:19:16 UTC
Just curious, but did you go back and check Allison From Palmdale? (sheepishly admits...)I didn't.
My first thought was to crimp the braid ends with the kind of connector normally used in the industrial application of the braid, but then I realized that it might present an amputation hazard if it got caught on something. Shrink tubing occured to me as a possible weak safety joint, but it wouldn't work well as a reusable fastener.
I've used Velcro on things before, and it's really not very secure: don't want to *lose* the bracelet.

When I have the time, I'm going to try a few other things, involving brass shell casings, thinking to keep the wire braid theme, but with a little post-apocalyptic artistic license in my "weak-link" safety fastener.

Magnets are still a possibility, just not sure how they're going to work: sliding one over the other would be VERY weak, end-to-end, like the little LED blinker batteries, the Force would be stronger, yet still release safely.

Reply

Re: More authentic look? roxybisquaint November 19 2011, 19:07:27 UTC
Oh, ha. I assumed you studied it!

Yes, I did look at the episode. I've thought about making the bracelets before myself so I already had a screenshot saved off. It kind of looks like flat metal braid (maybe about 3/8" or 1/2"?) with male/female connectors crimped on and probably just electrical tape covering the crimps. I have no idea what kind of connectors they are, though. I never put enough effort into the idea to find that out ;)

If it helps you, here's a convenient screenshot
http://allergygal.com/tscc/misc/allison-bracelet.jpg

Reply

Re: More authentic look? tackdriver56 November 23 2011, 01:48:06 UTC
Thanks for the screen-cap. I think the parts used can be found in this PDF: http://datasheet.octopart.com/61765-1-Tyco-Electronics-datasheet-531055.pdf They appear to be "250 Series", and it looks life the braid was soldered to a flat tab, rather than being crimped.

We don't use that style at work, but I can probably McGyver a closer facsimile to the Alison bracelet, than my prototype was.

The black material is very common: heat shrinkable tubing, which would cover any rough edges, and keep the flux and solder (lead) away from your skin.

But hey, with a T-888 on your A55, who worries about a little lead? ;-)

When I'm done with financial aid forms, I'll have another go at the Alison Bracelets.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reply


Leave a comment

Up