How to Assemble the Kinect Grip of CatweazleMagic

These instructables are related toThingiverse Thingi https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2529475/#files

You can download there all related .stl’s. I here will try to explain the best practices to assemble the whole thing.

Step 1: What You Need to Succeed:

- 4x Socket head Cap Screw (Din 912) M3x12 or longer

- 2x Socket head Cap Screw (Din 912) M3x25

- 6x Washer (Din 125A) M3

- 6x Hexagon Nuts (Din934) M3

- 4x Springs Du Ø4.6, D Ø0.6, L25, N10

- 1x 1/4" Tripod Screw (for sale on some Chinese web stores for a few dimes)

- 1x Knurled Nut (Din466) M5

- 1x Plain Rubber Washer SAE AS 568A NBR 219 (8.5 x 3 x 19)

- 1x piece of plain rubber I mm thick (old tyre tube or something like that)

- ¼ liter fine sand. Any type will do (although calculations have been done with north sea dune sand)

- Pair of Scissors

- Pair of side cutting pliers

- Set of Allen keys

- Piece of sand paper, any grade will do

- Two component PU adhesive

- Cheap Crimping pliers (see picture)(be sure to check the use before buying anything)

- File (just to take away a few brambles)

- Sliding Calliper

- Countersink Bore

- Ø 5 mm Bore

- Little sharp knife. Anything will do as long as you are comfortable in handling it and don’t end up cutting your own fingers off.

Step 2: Cleaning Up

After printing you probably end up with something like in fig. 1. At least I do hope so, because if else, something went terribly wrong.

Step 3: Cutting and So On

The first step is to remove all support material. This is not really amazing but just plain logic. I leave it to your common sense how you do this. In the end of the day everyone has his own little tricks and habits to this.

After that take away the large printing brim. I added this for a stable print. With ABS one particularly needs this to avoid the print loosening itself from the heated bed and ending up with a whole lot of sphagetti.

Step 4: The Bottom Hole

Cut open the hole on the bottom and watch your fingers!!!

Take your time to finish it well. This is important because the contra weight will be fitted inside .

Inside the hole there is a spiral wound groove with a trap on the end. Make sure this groove is free of any obstructions, because in this groove the notch of the contra weight will run and then fall into the trap as thus being locked into the grip.

Step 5: Pull in the Nuts.......(pardon?)

Pull in two M3 nuts in the hexagonal holes of the break out piece, by means of a Socket head Cap Screw and a Allen key.

Hereafter you can assemble the whole grip with the 1/4" Tripod Screw in the middle.

Step 6: The Plain Rubber Washer, or Why Rubber Won't Stick

Once the two pieces are assembled with the 1/4" Tripod Screw , the plain rubber washer can be added.

This one needs definitely some sanding first. Rubber oozes an oily stuff to its surface, which makes it almost impossible to glue without sanding it first. The sanding is to take away the oily stuff.

After the sanding the plain rubber washer can be glued into the top of the grip with the two component PU adhesive.

Step 7: Fiesta

The grip should look now like this.

Yahoo, pat yourself on the shoulder and pour a beer; you have just finished your first part. Congrats you’re a pro, pour yourself another beer!

Step 8: The Contra Weight Cap

Next thing are the contra weights.
Be sure to only print the contra weight you wish to have.

First the thread inside the cap needs to be cleared of material overload and a nice clean pilot edge should be created. A countersink bore gives the best results in such a case.

Step 9: Glue in the Spring Holder

Turn the cap on contra weight of your choice. This is very important! In this way you can be sure the spring holder is well aligned with the thread inside the cap and these two won't collide. It is a very tight fitting.

Then fit in the spring holder and glue it together with the cap. With ABS this can be done by means of acetone.

When the glue or the acetone has hardened, you can drill out the hole without drilling through the bottom. After that glue in the spring.

Step 10: The Bulbous Contra Weight, a Love Story

The big contra weight has also a printing foot included. This should be removed until the bottom is a round sphere.

Step 11: Fill Them Up Until They Choke in It.

Fill up the contra weight of your choice with sand. For this you can use the funnel.

Step 12: Resizing the Knurled Nut

And now for something completely different: the coupling! First we have to rework the M5 Knurled Nut.

The knurled sides have to be flattened until a equal dimension of 12 mm remains, equal from the centre of the nut.(see drawing 28C.pdf “Tripod Nut”).

Step 13: Cutting the Thread

Now the threat has to be bored with a drill of Ø 5.3 mm. Hereafter a new threat can be cut with the size of ¼” -20 UNC. This is the threat size which all tripods for photo camera’s use.

Step 14: The Result

The knurled nut should now look like this.

Step 15: Resizing Awfull Litle Screws

When you look at drawing 28B, you will notice 4x Socket head Cap Screw M3x8, while this size is not sold. M3x12 is the closest one can get. Here for we will use the cheap crimper.

While the crimper as a crimper is a total useless piece of junk, it has also a threat cutter onboard. This now is very convenient. Especially for the small threat sizes, which are quiet awful to resize by saw. First you turn in the screw in the crimper cutting hole. With the Sliding Calliper you measure the thickness of the cutting blade. By subtracting the thickness of the cutting blade you know how much the screw has to stick out to arrive at the right dimension after the cut. Resize it and notice how easy the cutting goes. Most of the time removing the brambles is not even necessary.

If you wish to remove the brambles, just turn the screw a bit more up after the cutting. In this way you can handle these little sizes very easily.

Step 16: Turning in the Nuts and Rolling Everything Up

After all parts of the kinect coupling have been thoroughly cleaned and made fit into each other, especially take care of the sliding hooks, make very sure they slide nice and easy, the nuts can be pulled into the bottom side.

Step 17: Burn Some Rubber

Now cut off a piece of a old tyre tube, or find yourself another piece of NBR Rubber 1 mm thick. If you don't have any old tyre tubes, just take a fresh look around: there are loads of waist rubber crying for a second change in live and being useful in the great community of things.

Draw the contours of the bottom plate on the NBR and cut them out.