Hmm, the TS100 can't pump enough heat into the joints between the two PCBs (at least for the ground plane connections). Gonna have to bring out my old, less fancy but higher thermal mass iron.
I did a quick comparison of the sound of a few different #trackball models - the Microsoft Trackball Explorer, Elecom Huge, Ploopy and a quick test part
The Microsoft and Elecom ones have very low "stiction" at low speeds which is really nice. The Ploopy is great at high speeds but slightly frictiony at low speeds depending on direction. Hoping I can mod the design to fit silicon nitride bearings into it!
@ekaitz_zarraga I haven't tried ball transfer units but I think the grease in them would make them have too much friction. I found a blog post from 2017 where someone tested a few different bearings and concluded static ceramic bearings felt smoothest.
I think the increased friction you see on my green test piece is due to the ball. It's got a matte surface which makes it have a bit more sliding friction, compared to the glossy finish of the Microsoft and Elecom balls.
@ekaitz_zarraga Well I bought the 4mm ones... They're not 4mm. They're 15mm. The seller put the diameter of the holes in the listing title instead of the diameter of the actual ball.
So they're too big for using in a trackball and also really not smooth at all.
I've been talking with someone on reddit about modding ball transfer units into the #Ploopy#trackball. They're basically omnidirectional ball bearings.
It was kind of hard to source the small ones in the UK (seem to be available mostly to companies, but I have no VAT number) but I got some eventually.
Here's a quick video comparing them in a test part to the Ploopy's stock bearings: https://imgur.com/a/Y7NeHqx
I'm quite enjoying the ball transfer units in the trackball. They're the lowest friction bearing option I've tried. That means you can flick from one side of a bunch of screens to the other, but it also means it's easier to be precise.
With high static friction, it's hard to overcome it to do a small movement without overdoing the movement.
Yesterday I did a third iteration of the BTU mod for the Ploopy #trackball
I cut off just the front section and printed it today - my supports were a bit excessive so just that bit took 7 hours!
I've been using it this evening and it feels good. I moved the bearings a bit further up the walls so it's harder to push the ball sideways by accident.
Anyway, last night I printed the trackball bearing mounts and fitted them into the trackball. They needed a little bit of filing and drilling to get them to fit right, but they work well!
I used the trackball all day today and it's definitely a small improvement over the roller bearings. Unfortunately the snooker ball is too rough so there's about as much friction as before. It's nicer though because it's the same in all directions!
One of the mounts (the one closest to the camera) needed to be reshaped a bit to fit - the pocket is a slightly different shape. But I'm kinda shocked my first attempt works so well!
I ordered an alternative ball for the #ploopy trackball. It was sold for a Logitech cordless optical trackman and is a bit smaller but still works.
Using it with my silicon nitride bearings with an adapter, it was surprisingly not much of an improvement over the pool ball. However, once I put the original roller bearings back in, it makes a huge difference! There's now very little friction to overcome when going from stopped to moving, which makes precise movements a hell of a lot easier.
I designed some quick bearing mounts for the Ploopy trackball today - instead of roller bearings I wanted to use silicon nitride ball bearings. They don't rotate, they're just a low friction surface.
Rather than re-printing the entire massive top part of the trackball, I chose to just make them small "adapter" inserts that you can put into the bearing holders in the existing part.
@ekaitz_zarraga Thanks! They're Bosch-Rexroth R053010810. They were actually a bit hard to find a good supplier for in the UK (even before Brexit finished) unless you're a company.
If it would be helpful I can list some of the suppliers someone on reddit found.
@ekaitz_zarraga Thanks for the suggestion - I think we settled on the Bosch ones because they were available in both the US and EU. The small Alwayse ones also have a screw thread on the bottom that makes them tricky to fit in the Ploopy body :(
I've been writing a blog post about my various iterations getting the Ploopy to a point where it's just about perfect for me. It's getting very long - I need to learn to be more concise.
As a designer I should probably be more aware about the information the reader actually cares about!
@ekaitz_zarraga It looks fairly simple. I'm hand-writing the HTML, not using a CMS or anything. Do you have any resources for what needs to actually go in the XML file?
@ekaitz_zarraga I've made a few updates to the RSS feed. It now has a link in the footer of the front page to https://www.gbryant.co.uk/feed.rss (so that's a new URL, the old one is gone). I also added the pubDate as you suggested.
Thanks for prompting me to add it, it was quite easy! The trick now is remembering to update it! If you could check it that would be great, because I don't currently use an RSS reader.