4/7/15 UPDATE ON PAGE 2. SUCCESSFUL PIN REMOVAL.

I'm trying to give my ROTF Mindwipe regular hands so he can hold 5mm weapons. I've looked into buying junker figures for their hands but if I can use what the figure came with that would make my life easier.

So here's the pin.






The pin doesn't poke out the other side so I can't tap it out. Do I have to still a hole into the hand so I can tap out the pin? Or is there some other way? I'd like to remove the pin and do as little damage to the hand itself as possible.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

i have seen a tutorial for these kinds of pins, its called a cap or capped pin. get yourself a VERY powerful rare earth magnet. use a soldering iron to heat up the pin and soften the plastic, then while its hot use the magnet to try and pull it out.

if i can find the link ill post it.

found the video.

 

Mindwipe's Blade gimmick is great, but I often have wanted regular hands too. Good luck! These guys all steered you right.

The only thing I would add, if you can, get a real thin blade screw driver, and when you heat the pin with the soldering iron, sometimes you can use the screwdriver two kinda wedge it out from between the parts even easier.

 

You are gonna want a bigger magnet, its not that the one you are getting wouldn't work, its that:

1. It is small enough to be dangerous, as you are going to be removing something that's very hot and don't have a lot of room to grip it, and you will not want to place it on another piece of metal and pull because of reason two

2. It may work a couple of times, but a neodymium magnets magnetic strength will begin to permanently diminish when placed in temperatures beyond 80°C/176°F, and the smaller the magnet is, and the longer its exposed to high temperatures, the more susceptible it is such loss, so no matter what magnet you end up using remove the pin from the surface of the magnet with pliers as soon as it is removed from the figure

There are magnets (such as samarium cobalt) that have a higher maximum operational temperature, but they are more expensive and slightly weaker than neodymium magnets, generally I prefer to use an electromagnet for hot pin removal, but that's just me

A normal neodymium magnet is fine, you should just be aware of their limitations, that is why I recommend you use a larger magnet, one large enough for you to grip with your fingers and still safely be able to remove the pin.

Just happy to help, keep us posted on this project, cause Ive got a mindwipe too, and I've always hated those hands as well, but I couldn't bring myself to mod it cause I only have one, and really like the alt mode

Haha, and that was tamed down version, I didn't even mention curie temperature, teslas, magnetic flux density, or the differences in field strength based on the shape and orientation of the magnet, and how those things effect the magnets optimal use...

I get easily carried away when talking about suff that interests me, sorry if it was a bit difficult to follow.

I ended up responding to another magnet related comment on a different thread, and thought you might get some use out of it, so I'm gonna paste the relevant bits below:

Pro tip: dismantle your old electronics for "free" permanent magnets, some of the many very common things that use magnets are:

Speakers: earbuds and cell phone speakers almost exclusively use neodymium magnets, most high quality headphones will use neodymium magnets, older or lesser quality headphones will use iron ferrites, and standing speakers usually use huge ferrites, or alnico cores, those that use neodymium cores are usually pretty expensive

Small electric motors: cheap cylindrical brush motors usually use two ferrites, small vibrational motors found in cell phones use neodymium, disc motors may use a large ferrite, a neodymium ring, or a samarium cobalt ring, however most large motors use electromagnets so they will not be worth dismantling

Disc drives: all optical disc readers use magnets, (usually neodymium) for fine control of the lens, hard disc drives use large extremely powerful neodymium magnets for fine control of the disc read heads

way more things utilize magnets than what I've listed, those are just the the most commonplace items that many have on hand and may be willing to dismantle

Here is a pic of just a few of the neodymium magnets I've obtained by dismantling outdated or broken hardware



Well ok, some of those are samarium cobalt and alnico magnets, I know which is which...
...do you?  

 

Questions on how to customize need to go in Creative General Discussion.

 

Success!

Here's an update guys! I got my soldering iron and magnet today and went to work.

As Sponge mentioned earlier the magnet I got was really tiny. (Definitely should have read the description more closely before ordering but oh well  ) As a result the magnet was no where near the strength I needed it to be to seamlessly pull the pins out. These hands actually it proved very difficult to free the pins. On the right hand I ended up just softening the surrounding plastic enough to just pull the swords free from the pin. On the left hand I did manage to pull the entire pin out from the hand.

For both cases though I did have to ditch the magnet and just use pliers to get the pieces free. I'm still pleased with the results.

I want to thank all of you for all your advise, you really helped me get this project started.

With that said I'd like your advise and help again as to how I should continue with the project. My main goal is to have Mindwipe hold 5 mm weapons so what would my best option be for cleaning up and hands and ensuring they'll hold weapons? (look at the last two pictures to see a closer look at the hand).

Thanks again for helping me get this project started and I look forward to hearing the best method for me to continue!

 

The hand might not be big enough for what you are trying to accomplish from what I can see. Normally I would take drill to it and slowly make it bigger.

 

It looks tiny and may take work but I've compared it's width with a typical 5mm peg and it should work. What type of drill and drill bit would you recommend?

 

Ok. Here's "something" you can try:
(DISCLAIMER: I'm a BASHER. Not a expert customizer like many here. I learn from trial & error)

This is a trick I use to make hand & fist holes. Take the hands, pick the spot you want to make the fist holes. Mark it if you want. Then take Mr. Soldering Iron & touch it to where you want the hole. That'll melt the plastic & make a raised pocket. Go as deep as you want as long as the irons tip isn't bigger than the hole you want. Maybe do it on both ends of the hand as a start & end point. Then either dremel or drill the hole to size. The pocket will help guide you properly without the tools skipping or popping around. And if the tip is thin enough, you can go all the way thru the hand and size the hole to fit. Then use a blade to trim any bits off...

 

I did actually think about using my soldering iron to make the hole. I do think the tip is too thick to go all the way through but it could be a good starting point.

 

I "clean" my soldering iron tips by using a dremel sander disc. They eventually shave down pretty thin & help me poke holes thru stuff lol

 

Holy freakin shit Mr smart guy.

That's killer. I'm gunna start butchering everything like that I throw away. When I'm making stuff, I ALWAYS seem to get in a spot where I WANT magnets, but never have them on hand.

Thanks smart dude!

 

It will fit, I measured with my calipers that at the widest part of the hand, the width is roughly 9.3 mm, and I recommend you use a pin vice, or other manually operated drill, as an electric drill or dremel is much more difficult (and dangerous) to use when the part is this small, and you don't have it in a work fixture of some sort (like a vice)

What you describe is the literal purpose of a centering drill bit

But whatever, just clean it properly, use the proper kind of tip, and this sort of use is fine

No no no no, NEVER CLEAN A SOLDERING IRON TIP LIKE THIS, there are specialized tips for those applications, and you are supposed to clean the tip while it is hot, either by wiping the impurities or excess solder off into a damp sponge, or placing the tip in a "cleaner" that is basically a nickel wire sponge

Sanding the tip will result in subpar heat distribution, require much more frequent replacement, and in the long run will cost you more than just buying the proper tip to begin with and performing proper maintenance

Their your tools at the end of the day, but I really felt I should clarify that that type of use is incredibly destructive, and runs directly counter to the manufacturers instructed procedures regarding proper maintenance and upkeep

 

Hahaha! Thanks for the tips. Told you I was a BASHER. Im only using my soldering iron to melt stuff or pop pins. So I'm not too concerned with ruining it. They're cheap enough...

As for the centering bit: I've known of them, I ve had them. But melting a centered spot is really quick & easy. No swapping bits.

Thanks again tho. Might try sponge...

 

I know for a fact my Dad has a pin vice so that would actually be a much better method. That is if I can find it. He isn't very organized with his tools.

Thanks for this suggestion though. This sounds like a very good method.

And just one extra question. What caliper do you have? I've been wanting to get one for quite some time but just haven't gotten around to it. Is it digital or just a regular one? And how much did it cost?

I know that's a lot more than one question but I'm just curious.

 

No problem, I have three, the one I have for work is a high end digital Mitutoyo caliper that cost around 150$, excellent battery life, but I really need them because they are coolant/waterproof and have an output port to directly enter tool offsets, but again those are strictly for work and beyond what is needed if you aren't regularly having to work in a machine shop

Around the house I use a fairly cheap digital carrera precision caliper, I think I've seen it as low as 25$ (but I got mine for free after fixing it) I'd recommend it, as its been reliable, though it can eat through batteries pretty fast, but otherwise its good enough for any light work, most cheaper digital calipers are ok really, just not for HEAVY use, so yeah I'd say go digital, brand doesn't really matter that much, just know that the cheapest of the cheap usually have an appetite for batteries so voracious that you will end up spending more on batteries than the calipers within a year, so like mid-tier between 25 and 50 dollars is probably the best value for money, when you aren't using them in a work capacity

The last set I have are an old set of dail calipers, they are fine but you will have to learn how to read them properly, and make sure they are calibrated correctly, below dail calipers are slide calipers, I've used them before, and just like rulers, the cheap ones leave some room for interpretation when caught between the tics

So basically I'd recommend digital calipers, for their ease of use, and wide variety in price, their only detriment is their need for batteries, and the cheaper they are, the faster they eat through them in my experience, so keep that in mind when pricing

And for anything make sure the resolution (precision) is at least 0.01mm/0.0005in, as that's pretty much the standard for digital calipers, if you need finer resolution than that, it will be cheaper to buy a micrometer, but you probably won't lol

 

Dang. You're smart!   You certainly know your stuff. That's some excellent info you gave me. I was looking at a caliper on Amazon for 11 bucks but seeing as how you proved me wrong with the magnet I'll certainly take your advice this time go with something a little higher end.   Thanks for your help.

 

Good information here. I need to do some streamlining here, etc.