Good DIY aluminium profile sim rig instructions?
- Thread starter Bez
- Start date
It's been fun reading this thread, lots of interesting ideas. Thank you to Kurt for the link above...
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I've made a few minor changes to my plans, but I've gone ahead and placed my order with Faztek. Unfortunately, MayTek and 80/20 were just too expensive. I've decided to order several 97" lengths the extrusion and I will do all of the cuts myself. I was able to buy plenty of profile to eventually build my articulating triple monitor mounts, as well as have extra for some other projects around the garage, with shipping included for less than what MayCad was quoting without shipping. By cutting everything myself, I'll also be able to start construction and get everything in place just the way I want it, before making the final cuts on some of the support beams (Main pillar height, and pedal support that connects to the main pillar) to fit exact.
The major change was to use a slightly smaller profile due to the abundance of connectors. I originally planned to use ultra-light 40mm x 40mm and 40mm x 80mm profiles. Faztek offers 1.5" x 1.5" (38.1mm) and 1.5" x 3.0" (76.2mm) heavy profiles that I was able to get cheaper. I decided to go with heavy instead of light since I am using a slightly smaller profile in hopes of increasing rigidity, despite the smaller extrusion.
VESA Mount: I found a promising mount on newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882876024
Looks to offer full motion at a cheap price and supports up to 33lbs. I ordered 1 and if I like it may order 2 more.
I also placed an order for a Sparco R100, mounting kit, and sliding rail from Amazon.
With any luck, construction should begin next week. I'll try to clean up my CAD design, dimensions, and exact cut list and get it posted here in case anyone is interested. Thanks again to everyone who has helped!
The major change was to use a slightly smaller profile due to the abundance of connectors. I originally planned to use ultra-light 40mm x 40mm and 40mm x 80mm profiles. Faztek offers 1.5" x 1.5" (38.1mm) and 1.5" x 3.0" (76.2mm) heavy profiles that I was able to get cheaper. I decided to go with heavy instead of light since I am using a slightly smaller profile in hopes of increasing rigidity, despite the smaller extrusion.
VESA Mount: I found a promising mount on newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882876024
Looks to offer full motion at a cheap price and supports up to 33lbs. I ordered 1 and if I like it may order 2 more.
I also placed an order for a Sparco R100, mounting kit, and sliding rail from Amazon.
With any luck, construction should begin next week. I'll try to clean up my CAD design, dimensions, and exact cut list and get it posted here in case anyone is interested. Thanks again to everyone who has helped!
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hi there, i have finished my cockpit and have some photos. But i am not happy with the seat support, because i can not set in various positions, and have made a extra order to fix that....only left some profiles to make a basement for CPU and some profiles to make a better seat support.
I wanted to get one monitor only but have order 2 extra profiles to make 3 monitor in near future
hope you like, no finished, ok?
PS: photos are low quality, sorry
I wanted to get one monitor only but have order 2 extra profiles to make 3 monitor in near future
hope you like, no finished, ok?
PS: photos are low quality, sorry
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thanks lorimer, the plate for mouse pad was bought at sim-lab...richard is a very good man and helps all that he can. The profile is mechanized in one side and think is 20 cms long (if need exact measurement tell me)...if need photos or how to order profile mechanized, i will help you ;-)
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Finally got all my materials in. The aluminum arrived late last week, I got my Sparco R100 the day after, and 3 27" Acer IPS 144Hz G-Sync monitors arrived on my door yesterday (Got a great deal on factory refurbs from Newegg). Now I just need to find some time to work in the garage and get everything cut to length and start assembly. Hopefully I'll have some time to work/pictures this weekend.
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these guys make what I think are the simplest, cleanest looking frames out of t-slot
http://sim-lab.eu/product/gt1-cockpit/
I'm going to try and replicate something very similar. already have a nice seat from my project car (which wont be finished for years!).
http://sim-lab.eu/product/gt1-cockpit/
I'm going to try and replicate something very similar. already have a nice seat from my project car (which wont be finished for years!).
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I've barely had time to work over the past couple weeks, but I've finally got it mainly complete. Here's a few pictures of the process. Most everything went smoothly, except for my monitor setup - that's been a real pain in the neck. I ordered 3 Acer XB270HU monitors, as I got a great deal on them refurbished, and there are next to no options for 27" 144hz IPS panels with G Sync. One came with about 50 dead pixels, which was RMA'd. Then I found out there must be some sort of compatibility issue with iRacing, because all 3 of the monitors freeze up for about 1-2 seconds about every 30 seconds or so, making them completely unusable. So, back they go... I now have a single Curved 35" BenQ XR3501 on the way. It will have to do for the next couple years until some quality 144hz IPS panels come out. Anyway, on to the pictures.
I ordered all 97" lengths and cut myself. I was treated to two boxes weighing about 95lbs in my driveway, which was a real treat to move inside.
All cuts were made with a 12" mitre saw and a Freud Diablo 96 TPI non-ferrous metal blade. I was surprised at just how clean the cuts were. I didn't even really need to sand, but I scuffed the ends real quick with some 320 grit sandpaper, and I'd say the cuts were just as smooth, if not smoother than the factory cuts.
About 2 hours of cutting and sanding later, I'm left with a box full of my future sim rig. Everything was pretty straight forward with assembly. The sparco R100 mounted directly to the frame, but I did need to pick up shorter screws with a regular allen cap head. The pan head was too big to fit inside of the R100's sliding rails. Nothing a quick trip to the hardware store couldn't fix.
One minor nitpick was there was a tiny bit of play in the steering wheel. The wheel mount itself is rock solid, but the Thrustmaster TX only has 2 mounting holes, so there was some vertical wiggle. I lined the aluminum frame the steering wheel mounted to with rubber t-slot cover and that did the trick. Everything is nice and tight with no wiggle room, and I don't have to worry about the aluminum frame cutting into my wheel base.
I ordered 3 Bytecc 100x100mm vesa mounts. These have full tilt/swivel adjustment. One thing to note, is it was near impossible to tighten the tilt adjustment enough for it to hold the weight of the monitor. I replaced the plastic knob with a standard 6mm allen screw and tightened it that way. Not ideal, but for $20 a piece, I think it's more than worth it. I drilled out the mounting holes so that the standard screws/t nuts fit, allowing the bracket to mount directly to the aluminum frame.
And here she is in her near-completed glory. I've already removed the additional monitor arms, since I've decided to go with a single 35" screen for the time being. Someday they will be reattached... someday.
Sorry for such a long post. I'll try to make another post with the final plans, exact cut list, and all the parts I ended up using in case anyone is interested.
I ordered all 97" lengths and cut myself. I was treated to two boxes weighing about 95lbs in my driveway, which was a real treat to move inside.
All cuts were made with a 12" mitre saw and a Freud Diablo 96 TPI non-ferrous metal blade. I was surprised at just how clean the cuts were. I didn't even really need to sand, but I scuffed the ends real quick with some 320 grit sandpaper, and I'd say the cuts were just as smooth, if not smoother than the factory cuts.
About 2 hours of cutting and sanding later, I'm left with a box full of my future sim rig. Everything was pretty straight forward with assembly. The sparco R100 mounted directly to the frame, but I did need to pick up shorter screws with a regular allen cap head. The pan head was too big to fit inside of the R100's sliding rails. Nothing a quick trip to the hardware store couldn't fix.
One minor nitpick was there was a tiny bit of play in the steering wheel. The wheel mount itself is rock solid, but the Thrustmaster TX only has 2 mounting holes, so there was some vertical wiggle. I lined the aluminum frame the steering wheel mounted to with rubber t-slot cover and that did the trick. Everything is nice and tight with no wiggle room, and I don't have to worry about the aluminum frame cutting into my wheel base.
I ordered 3 Bytecc 100x100mm vesa mounts. These have full tilt/swivel adjustment. One thing to note, is it was near impossible to tighten the tilt adjustment enough for it to hold the weight of the monitor. I replaced the plastic knob with a standard 6mm allen screw and tightened it that way. Not ideal, but for $20 a piece, I think it's more than worth it. I drilled out the mounting holes so that the standard screws/t nuts fit, allowing the bracket to mount directly to the aluminum frame.
And here she is in her near-completed glory. I've already removed the additional monitor arms, since I've decided to go with a single 35" screen for the time being. Someday they will be reattached... someday.
Sorry for such a long post. I'll try to make another post with the final plans, exact cut list, and all the parts I ended up using in case anyone is interested.
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Hey everyone,
I'm really glad I found this thread, because I'm planning to build an aluminium profile rig myself (After having settled on an Obutto revolution for a long time and then realizing I can get a lot more adjustability for almost half the price!)
It will be a VR-only rig to be used with an Oculus Rift, so therefore I don't need any kind of monitor stands, however my goal is to be able to adjust freely between a GT position, an F1 position, and everything in between. Basically it should be able to replicate any kind of seating position and relative wheel/pedals/shifter placement found in any car, and additionally, should also be able to accommodate a flight sim setup with a HOTAS and rudder pedals, since that's also what I'm doing.
My main problem currently is how to make everything as easily and quickly adjustable as possible when switching between different cars, while still having solid connections.
Does anyone have any ideas, how do you guys solve this problem?
Another thing that I have no clue about, how would I go about mounting all my stuff to the rig? I mean if I lined up some profiles with the mounting holes in the gear, how would I screw them together when the bolt would have to be inside the aluminium profile? Or is there another, maybe better way?
I'll be using a Thrustmaster T500RS, ProtoSimtech PT-1 pedals (If I won't have to wait a year for them to arrive) and Fanatec Clubsport shifter.
When I'm done with some sort of initial design I'll upload it here, it seems to be really tricky though, especially with trying to retain all the adjustability and an easy way to swap pedals.
I'm really glad I found this thread, because I'm planning to build an aluminium profile rig myself (After having settled on an Obutto revolution for a long time and then realizing I can get a lot more adjustability for almost half the price!)
It will be a VR-only rig to be used with an Oculus Rift, so therefore I don't need any kind of monitor stands, however my goal is to be able to adjust freely between a GT position, an F1 position, and everything in between. Basically it should be able to replicate any kind of seating position and relative wheel/pedals/shifter placement found in any car, and additionally, should also be able to accommodate a flight sim setup with a HOTAS and rudder pedals, since that's also what I'm doing.
My main problem currently is how to make everything as easily and quickly adjustable as possible when switching between different cars, while still having solid connections.
Does anyone have any ideas, how do you guys solve this problem?
Another thing that I have no clue about, how would I go about mounting all my stuff to the rig? I mean if I lined up some profiles with the mounting holes in the gear, how would I screw them together when the bolt would have to be inside the aluminium profile? Or is there another, maybe better way?
I'll be using a Thrustmaster T500RS, ProtoSimtech PT-1 pedals (If I won't have to wait a year for them to arrive) and Fanatec Clubsport shifter.
When I'm done with some sort of initial design I'll upload it here, it seems to be really tricky though, especially with trying to retain all the adjustability and an easy way to swap pedals.
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Nice, I'd like to know what seat the new one is. Sure looks good!hi mate, if you say about the playseat that appear in some photos, have been sold to a community mate...i have finished mine but have no photos yet. Tomorrow i will upload some photos with final desing...
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