I finally got around to starting my first robot (years after i wanted to), after a long detour in playing with microcontrollers to do a bunch of other stuff. :-p
I ordered most of the parts i need from pololu but now i've found that i need standoffs to add a second tier to my tamiya plate chassis. I have the tamiya track set and the universal plate set but the standoffs i ordered won't work because they are only 3/16" of threading and the plate is 1/8" thick leaving only 1/16" to try to screw a nut on.
I was thinkign about modifying the holes on the plate somehow either by drilling and screwing into another material that is only 1/8" thick mounted to the top or underside of it, but that seems overly complicated. Any suggestions?
I have two suggestions
You should be able to find 1" standoffs at Radio Shack or a local hardware store. Or, you could try some solid/solidish tubing and long screws.
EDIT: You could even try hacking up the barrels of some throw away bic pens or the like.
I 2nd the recomendation for
I 2nd the recomendation for tube and long screws.
Check out this post from CtC on How to cut small brass tube. It works just as well with aluminium. If you measure carefully, you’ll be able to make four equal standoffs at any length you desire. Then you just need some long bolts and nuts and you are all set.
Thanks guys
That was a big help. I picked up a 2 foot length of 1/4" brass pipe and some 2" 6-32 machine screws (and nuts) which are just a little bigger than the holes in the universal plate. They didn’t have any long 4-40 screws which qre the perfect size for the tamiya plates. so i’m going to drill the holes a little bigger where the standoffs will go. A pipe cutter only cost about $7 so i just pick one up too, but that utility knife trick looks like it would work pretty good too.
