5 replies to this topic

[hereticorp]

Welcome one and all to my LpL CS Construction writeup.

This has been a long time in coming being as I've been too busy making them for comission to do pictures, but finally it is here and you can all rejoice.

To build an LpL CS, you will need a few things, and it is much cheaper to do so if you are also building a +Bow
You can find the details of the materials needed in the L+L CS SDK Thread this guide will cover construction of the LpL CS.

Tools Needed:
Scroll Saw or JigSaw
Drill Press or handheld Power Drill
Phillips Screw Driver
Knife (To clean the edges of the polycarbonate)
6-32 Tapping Bit
13/64" Drill Bit
5/32" Drill Bit
7/64" Drill Bit
5/16" Spade Bit
3/8" Spade Bit
9/16" Spade Bit

You will also need some full sheet label paper to print out the templates on.

Print out the templates and cut them out, lay them out on the polycarbonate along with your +Bow templates, it should only take one sheet of 1/8" and one sheet of 1/4" total.

Cut out the polycarbonate pieces using a scroll saw or jig saw, and make sure to cut out or drill out all the interior holes as well. Pay special attention to the catch drilling because you are going to use a 5/16" Spade Bit, NOT the 9/16" that the template indicates. If you lay the spades out you'll see that one fits the hole marked and one doesn't.

Cut the main spring in half, leaving a 6" piece, you can cut it to 6.5" if you want but it's not going to help anything.

Cut a 6.5" piece of PETG tube, yes this wastes 4.5" of a 12" piece, but I'm sure you can figure out something else to do with it.


This is what you should have when you're done.
1 Set of Polycarbonate pieces, cut and drilled
1 Main Spring, cut to 6"
1 Catch Spring (You'll have to find one of your own, the one in the pic is an Ace, I think it's #178)
1 6.5" length of PETG Tube
2 3/4" Lengths of 1/2" Nylon Rod drilled through the center with a 5/32" Bit
3 3/4" F to F standoffs (Yes, there's 5 in the picture, you need 3)
4 1/4" F to M standoffs
2 3/8" Unthreadeded Round Spacers
1 1/2" OD, 1/8" Length Unthreaded Spacer
1 1/2" Screw Size 1-3/8" OD Extra Thick Reinforced Rubber Washer
8 Nylon 6/6 Flat Washers
5 3/4" Screws
1 1-1/4" Screw
2 2" Screws
9 3/8" Screws
10 1/4" Screws
3 Lockwasher Integrated Nuts
1 SCH40 PVC Pipe Fitting 1" to 1/2" Compression Fitting


Use your Tapping bit to thread all the appropriate holes, two on each trigger housing piece, two on each grip piece, one on the catch plate and four on the fixed catch plate.


Peel off the templates and the protective plastic from all your polycarb pieces, leaving you with your materials.


Assemble the catch, gather the two pieces of the catch together and place 4 nylon washers over the holes on the fixed catch plate, put the other 4 nylon washers on 4 3/4" Screws. Place the catch plate over the fixed catch plate and insert the four screws into their corresponding holes. Tighten them down almost all the way, making sure that the catch plate can freely move vertically but that it doesn't rattle back and forth.


Gather the pieces pictured above in order to assemble the grip.


Screw the M to F standoffs into the threaded holes on top of the trigger housing pieces and use3/8" screws to attach the trigger housing pieces to the grips as pictured.


Use the 3/4" standoffs to attach the two resulting pieces together, two standoffs in the grip and one to attach the lower part of the trigger housing. Use 1/4" screws to attach.


Your completed grip should look like this.

[hereticorp]

Use a 1-1/4" screw to attach the trigger to the trigger housing as shown, use the 3/8" unthreaded spacers to allign the trigger and use one of the nuts to secure. Do not over tighten, make sure the trigger can move freely but also make sure the lock washer is fully engaged so that the trigger doesn't decide to fall out suddenly.


Grab the two barrel frame pieces and use 1/4" screws to attach them to the grip using the standoffs you screwed into the trigger housing earlier.


You should end up with something that looks like this.


Insert the catch and line it up with the rearmost holes in the barrel frame, make sure the catch is all the way down and in contact with the grip. Mark the locations of the holes on both sides.


After marking, remove the catch assembly and you should have something like this


Use your 13/64" drill bit to drill out holes where you marked.


Use the 6-32 Tapping Bit to tap all 4 holes.


Replace the catch in the frame and use 3/8" screws to attach it.


Take your plunger rod and use your 13/64" drill bit to drill a hole in the center of the flat end, make it about 1" deep

Edited by hereticorp, 03 April 2009 - 07:55 AM.

[hereticorp]

Use your 6-32 Tapping bit to tap the hole.


Assemble the plunger head using the two round polycarbonate pieces and the washer with the spacer. Use a 3/4" screw to attach the plunger head to the plunger rod. Do NOT over tighten this, make it solid so that the plunger head does not rotate, but if you tighten it more the washer will expand and you will lose power on the blaster, you may even find that it fails to function at all.


Place the plunger cross over the screws on the inside of the catch. Spray a small amount of silicon lube into the plunger tube. Slide the polycarbonate plunger tube over the cross. Slide the spring over the plunger rod, and slide the plunger rod into the plunger tube until the spring contacts the plunger cross.


Wrap your 1" PVC fitting with 5 wraps of standard electrical tape, and insert it approximately 1/2" into the plunger tube. Far enough in so that the screw holes overlap. Then slide the plunger tube and fitting out a little bit.


Make sure the tape fits very tight, you will have to twist the fitting to get it to go in far enough if you did it right.


Wrap the outside of the fitting and the front of the plunger tube with eTape to complete the seal. Then slide the tube back into place, you should end up with the fitting resting against the plunger head and the screw hole about half way up the inserted part of the fitting.


Use the 5/32" drill bit to drill out the holes using the barrel frame as a guide. Make sure the plunger tube is aligned vertically before drilling. Drill through the plunger tube and the PVC, then flip the blaster over and do the same on the other side.


Insert a 1-1/4" Screw through the frame, tube and PVC and secure it with a nut on the other side. Again, do NOT over tighten this, it can distort the plunger tube, just tighten it enough so the lock washer engages.


Take your catch spring and attach it to the catch plate with a 3/8" screw, then measure where the end of the spring hits on the grip. Add 1/2" and drill a hole using the 5/32" bit, drill all the way through both sides of the grip.

Edited by hereticorp, 03 April 2009 - 07:56 AM.

[hereticorp]

OPTIONAL: Countersink the holes with a 3/8" spade bit so that the screw and nut don't stick out and so you can use a 3/4" screw instead of a longer one you have to cut off.


Detach the spring from the catch plate, insert the 3/4" screw through the lower loop of your catch spring and secure with a nut, then reattach the catch spring to the catch plate.


Attach the 2 3/4" pieces of 1/2" Nylon Rod to the plunger rod using your last 2" screw and nut. Tighten as much as possible to avoid annoyance.


Use a dremel to sand down the edges so that you don't cut your hand open on sharp grip edges or your finger on the trigger. Or if you enjoy blowing money like me, get a router table or what amounts to a router table.


The finished grip, routed and comfortable.


Closer view of the grip.


And finally, since I'm so happy with my router table, an extreme closeup of the beautiful job it does.

Hope you enjoyed the writeup, as always I am selling LpL CSs in my LpL CS Sales Thread

[Draconis]

Excellent writeup! One thing I noticed was different from my own builds, though... On the plunger head, you use the large washer in front, and the small in the back. I do the reverse. Any particular reason?

[hereticorp]

Excellent writeup! One thing I noticed was different from my own builds, though... On the plunger head, you use the large washer in front, and the small in the back. I do the reverse. Any particular reason?

Just seemed logical to me, no idea why really.