8 replies to this topic

[cheyner]

Right away, I would like to thank Rogue and One Wing Angel, with a shout out to Buffdaddy.
I suggest reading BuffDaddys Praxis thread to see how to take this apart right, I started taking pictures after starting the mod.

You are going to need:
-Praxis
-Philips head screwdriver
-Needle nose pliers
-Optional foam block to keep screws organized (There is alot, of varying sizes, do something to keep them straight)

First off, open the Praxis:

(pay no attention to the spring arm locations, I did not take a pic before starting)

Next, take out the internals and remove these 2 screws:


You can now remove the arm/spring pod dealy:


Open it up by removing the one screw:


You can now pull out the bumper and its rod, after which gently lift the arm up over the post to remove tension from it:


Pull out the rod the arm rotates on, then you can turn the arm so the spring arm can be removed:


Put the arm back on, but with the spring arm behind it, instead of in the hole, then put back the rod and gently pull the arm back over the post:

(Credit goes to One Wing Angel for this idea.)

Now for some shell work to make the other spring relocation possible. First off, rough up the shell around the post we will eventually putting the other spring arm on:


You are going to want alot of epoxy putty for this one, not Octo-Shot amounts, but decent none the less.
Make sure not to go above the notch in the one post for the spring/arm pod dealy:

Also make sure to get some around the back of that post. This looks like alot, but it is actually just enough to get the shell to close I found out.


Now, I am sure some of you have encountered a problem with your Praxis, where it will drop the clip randomly on you.
While waiting for the putty to dry, I noticed a stress mark on the trigger lever that seemed to be in an odd place:


How the hell did that happen?

Oh?

That's not good at all.

Just trim down that piece of plastic a tad, and the problem should be fixed:



Now, if you get distracted easily like I do, your putty should be dry by now like mine was. Without putting the top plate of the pod back on, put it back into the other internals. Put the plate back on that keeps the pod from sliding forward, but only put the 1 screw in, on the side with the pod half. Put the whole assembly back into the shell and put the screws back to hold it down.
I only have one poor picture to show what you should have now:

Told you it wasn't very good.

Now for the reason you put almost everything back before we were done, push the arm over enough so you can remove the screw holding the spring arm down. Now grab you needle nose pliers and pinch the spring arm and lift it over the stock nubs, and over the screw port nextish to the farthest forward one:

Feel the power?

Now put the other side back onto the pod and put the screw back in it. If you put enough epoxy putty your post will still be centered in that space, I did not use enough:


But it's late/I'm lazy, so I tried putting it back together anyhoo:

Success.

You barely notice the increase in tension while priming, and it definitely shoots hard.

[Buffdaddy]

Excellent!

I have one thought: obviously more power for ranges here. But does it have an affect on accuracy? We had an NIC chat earlier on this issue; The little nub in the sled can only induce so much spin on the disk. So does the extra power upset that balance, or is it still shooting relatively straight?

[cheyner]

I just went and fired off a clip to make sure, but it does not seem to effect accuracy. All disks hit my core from across my apartment in a decent grouping. Outside is another question altogether though, if its not raining when I get done work tomorrow I will try and test outside, or Thursday, probably Thursday.
I found out Saturday that the Nitron is basically useless while running, hopefully I will now be able to use this Praxis outside.

Edited by cheyner, 19 September 2011 - 11:41 PM.

[WicketTheModder619]

Well you beat me to posting a write-up. I was editing my video write-up for youtube. I had my Praxis done about 3 weeks ago, but nonetheless, great job! Glad to see someone else envisioned that screw port to be a great spring rest.

[Meaker VI]

'cheyner', on 20 Sept 2011 - 04:12 AM, said:

You barely notice the increase in tension while priming, and it definitely shoots hard.

Something awesome about the way this whole series works - you get mechanical advantage on priming; as opposed to standard spring blasters, where you need to actually compress the spring.

Did you make sure to get that post put back in place it with the shell on? I'd be worried about that post ripping out if you didn't have it connected on the other side of the shell. Having the screw go through it should make it plenty sturdy if you did get it lined up though.

[cheyner]

'Meaker VI', on 20 Sept 2011 - 3:23 PM, said:

Something awesome about the way this whole series works - you get mechanical advantage on priming; as opposed to standard spring blasters, where you need to actually compress the spring.

Did you make sure to get that post put back in place it with the shell on? I'd be worried about that post ripping out if you didn't have it connected on the other side of the shell. Having the screw go through it should make it plenty sturdy if you did get it lined up though.

Agreed, and yes, I did get the post to line up with the other side, I just had to squeeze that section of the other half of the shell and it popped into place.

[NerfRogue83]

Thanks for the shoutout Cheyner----I have already posted my modding answer to this elsewhere........it's cool to see people go back and forth developing new ideas to capitalize on these blasters great fun factor. Good work man!

[arfink]

I did my Praxis up yesterday, I like putting the spring over the back side of the lever. It helps a good deal. However, I was impatient and just moved the front of the spring to the front screw hole, instead of putting it around the frontmost post with e-putty like you did. It still improved the ranges a bit. However, for me the big deal with increasing the spring power is it seems to have made the disks even more stable in flight.

I have not fired this outdoors yet, however I do have a pretty long basement (around 60 feet) and this amount of spring power increase does not produce a consistently measurable increase in range for me, mostly because every shot, stock or otherwise, always went the 60 feet and hit the wall, though the new spring power level does seem to have significantly reduced shot drop. However, in stock form I would frequently have disks that would flip or tumble for some reason, but now they basically all fly flat and level, which keeps them surprisingly consistent.

Something I think people already know about the vortex blasters though- they take some skill to use. My blaster is fairly consistent now, but you will still need to lead your shots since they move slow, and you need to get a feel for compensating for the curving of the shots. All the shots will always curve, but it seems like now they will more or less curve the same amount. The sights are therefore useless, and it's actually better to fire from the hip or from chest-height and watch the discs fly and adjust your aim based on that.

I suspect that any further increases in range and accuracy will have to come from 1) new disc types, probably heavier, and 2) new launching methods.

Edited by arfink, 25 September 2011 - 12:00 PM.

[arfink]

'Buffdaddy', on 20 Sept 2011 - 04:21 AM, said:

Excellent!

I have one thought: obviously more power for ranges here. But does it have an affect on accuracy? We had an NIC chat earlier on this issue; The little nub in the sled can only induce so much spin on the disk. So does the extra power upset that balance, or is it still shooting relatively straight?

The nub in question is actually a small wheel. The disk rests against this wheel when it's in the "chamber" and the throwing arm drags the disk past this wheel. The amount of spin induced has less to do with the force exerted on the disk and more to do with the basic circumferences of the disk. The edge of the disk is not slippery, but somewhat grippy, and the disk and wheel will turn together as the disk moves past. Thus the wheel is actually not the part inducing the spin. The wheel itself has no spring or anything to make it turn, just the disk brushing past. The wheel pushes the disk against the opposite wall of the barrel, and the rolling action of the disk along the wall is what produces the spin. The wheel is just a low-friction means of forcing the disk against the side wall without being constricted.

Perhaps at extremely high power levels it might be smart to increase the friction of the side wall by laying down a strip of rubber band, but this would only be necessary with very hard, heavy homemade disks that would otherwise just slip on the side wall of the barrel.