Adding magnets to a resin blaster

[NegativeEleven]

Ok, so in a confusing turn of events, over 3 weeks several people contacted me asking if I had blasters for sale. I sold the only blaster I had with magnets in the handle. I was left with one without magnets and not enough resin to pour another. The best way to get magnets in the handle is to just put them in that spot in the mold when you pour the resin. Through a miscommunication, or perhaps impatience on my part, I currently have 3 people who've paid me for blasters with magnets in the handle and one blaster with no magnets. I've ordered more resin and hope to fulfill those orders in a little over a week, but to keep my reputation in tact, I am going to mail a blaster on Monday to the first person who paid.

 

So here is my tutorial for adding magnets to a resin blaster. The pressure button on the handgrip of the Biker Scout blaster is a transistor you can find at Radio Shack for $3. http://www.radioshac...ntent=CT2032230

 

Rare earth magnets (neodymium magnets) can be found at art supply stores, often labeled "super strong craft magnets." You can sometimes find them at Lowe's or Home Depot on the aisle with screws, nuts and bolts, near the picture hanging stuff and velcro, but not all locations have these. A lot of them just have regular magnets, which aren't going to be strong enough. The ones I've got here are about 1/2 inch in diameter, and I'm gonna put 2 of them in the blaster (along with some smaller cracked ones that I've got lying around from another project).

 

 

Alright, here we go. First you're gonna want to clamp down your blaster with the scope removed so it will sit flat (note I've got a piece of felt in the clamp so I don't mess up the blaster itself). I used my Dremel - actually it's a $26 Chicago Electric rotary tool from Harbor Freight that has lasted longer than the 2 $75 Dremels I burned out, and it uses all the same attachments as a Dremel - to cut off the top of the resin pressure button.

 

 

 

 

Then I cleaned it up, sanded flat and drilled a 1/2 inch hole. The only bit I had that size was a spade, which was gonna leave a thinner hole below, so I used it to just get the basic outline then carved it out with the rotary sanding drum.

 

 

 

 

The transistor has a couple of leads sticking out of the bottom that you'll have to cut off with wire cutters. You can see my 2 magnets fit neatly in the 1/2 inch hole. I put a little Loctite super glue gel between the transistor and the blaster just to hold it in place. This part gets tricky because the transistor is steel I believe and is very attracted to the magnets.

 

 

 

Pre-drill the screw holes and put in some round-top slotted screws. Once you've got the transistor screwed down tight, clean up any scratches by wet-sanding with 400-800 grit sandpaper and throw on some flat black paint.

 

 

 

[NegativeEleven]

This took around an hour to complete (and that's with stopping to take pictures for this thread). This particular blaster is going to Tim (user name Soundwave). He's also on the waiting list for one of Duku's blasters and promises to take some comparison photos of the two blasters. I think mine's about 10% too big.

[Chef]

Nice tutorial there bud.

[Soundwave]

This particular blaster is going to Tim (user name Soundwave). He's also on the waiting list for one of Duku's blasters and promises to take some comparison photos of the two blasters. I think mine's about 10% too big.

 

Ok, I'm not gonna lie, It's pretty cool seeing someone else do some of the work for me on my build.

 

... Not that I have not had help already... But this is just awesome.

[kelt_knight]

I just ordered one of these blasters from NegiativeEleven

[BikerScout007]

Dude, your blaster is pretty dang cool. It might be a little bit bigger than the standard blaster, but with my big meathooks I find the standard blaster to be too small. Good job.

[freezerbee]

NICE dude. I took the exact same route as you did with the magnet/transistor combo. Elegant solution.