The design did have a few minor faults at first though, the front
block tended to move a fraction when in use, also the
precision required to be able to adjust it without moving the position of
the arm was also a problem, so I had to remake the front block as it became
obvious that it was to small and the spring steel to light to take the
weight of the arm, these things happen when making a prototype, you can see
the differences in the new and old block below, and of course seeing as you need to swipe it side to
side it skates around unless it is fixed to a heavy base or weight
so I have fixed it to this black stone tile, it has a quite reasonable
action, the contacts are just plain brass as I didn't think it worth the
effort of fitting silver ones on a first prototype.
I like the simplistic looks, but I don't really like the brass and steel
spring idea as to make it really strong I had to use a silver solder joint
in the new block and that was quite tricky to do, I'm sure there is a much
easier way to make a really nice swiper with more precision adjustments
based on the knowledge gained from this prototype. |
