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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 18, 2011 - 12:53am PT
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Came home today from climbing and the prototype arrived!
Here she is.
It is a beautiful bronze color. First step was to cut the grips. They are over 5" long from the company....First I tried the scissors/razor blade deal...no go...might as well used a machete.
Already stumped. Sent an e-mail to Middendorf for suggestions and then had a great idea. Use a 3/4" stock knurled bar I had laying around (I don't know why I had it sitting here) and chuck it on the lathe. Using a modified cut off tool......Bingo, perfect cut. Not really looking forward to doing 250 of these this way, but it works.
Next step was swaging. Pretty straight forward here. I'll experiment with some possable options for a wrist loop later, some good ideas out there.
Next step was to check out the collet bore and wrench flats. For tonight I have not glued the grip yet. That will go down tomorrow.
Thats it. I will start wailing on it tomorrow and keep everyone posted. The hardend insert sticks out just a bit more than the end of the drill. I am not sure how big of a differance, if any @ all, this will make. Still waiting on quotes for the wrench sets, so I do not have final pricing nailed down yet.
I did order 50 25/64 collets. This should be enough to get started, soon as some sell I will get some more so there is no down time. Still looking like the first couple of weeks in Feburary to have everything in my shop for the build.
I will keep updating this thread as this project moves along. At some point I may get around to getting a list together of people who posted that they were interested or who e-mailed me directly. Still have a lot of hammering to do real quick so I can tell the shop to start production. have to try some different glue options, but there is time to figure that out.
Thanks Everyone!
Luke
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Jan 18, 2011 - 02:00am PT
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cool hand grip luke, they call him.
total length?
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2011 - 02:04am PT
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Right @ 5" with the collet in place and locknut shut.
Luke
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adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
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Jan 18, 2011 - 08:46am PT
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Nice!
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John Mac
Trad climber
Littleton, CO
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Jan 18, 2011 - 09:15am PT
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Looks great Luke, thanks for keeping us in the loop.
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2011 - 10:17am PT
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Dingus,
I don't think that the rockpeck is undesirable. The Hurricane drill just offers couple of different options. With the Hurricane drill you are not confined to just using standard SDS bits, you can use SDS or HSS bit which some people prefer. You can also cut down and SDS or HSS bit to shorten the length. It does use wrenches, but it also does not pinch your hand.
Hope this helps,
Luke
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adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
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Jan 18, 2011 - 10:40am PT
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Yup, Dingus, the Rockpeck has an integrated SDS holder on the end, so therefore has no collet to swap out and is incompatible with anything other than SDS shank drills.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
It ain't El Cap, Oregon
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Jan 18, 2011 - 11:18am PT
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Looking good* and standing by**...
*The holder, not me.
**Me, not the holder.
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utahman912
Social climber
SLC, UT
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Jan 18, 2011 - 02:07pm PT
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I would love one of these if you are taking orders. Be happy to pay in advance if you need to generate some working capital.
jb
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Disaster Master
Social climber
Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.
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Jan 18, 2011 - 02:19pm PT
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the Rockpeck has an integrated SDS holder on the end, so therefore has no collet to swap out and is incompatible with anything other than SDS shank drills.
The drill I had used SDS bits. I was told that the play allowed by the bit holder helped quicken the drilling. See what I mean?...
On the H-drill, the bit is clamped down w/ no play, right?
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adatesman
climber
philadelphia, pa
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Jan 18, 2011 - 02:40pm PT
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Correct, Disaster Master, the drill is clamped tight in the Hurricane with no play.
As for the play in the SDS allowing quicker drilling, I believe that only holds true for power drilling. My understanding of it is that the high frequency of the impacts will cause the drill to bounce back and forth between the hammer and the bottom of the hole, thereby recovering some of the energy from each blow and putting it into the next one. The high frequency impacts don't happen with hand drilling, so it really doesn't apply. Another way to think about it is bouncing a ball... if you just drop it it will only bounce back up so far, while giving it a push when it gets to the top will make it bounce higher.
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2011 - 02:47pm PT
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No need to pay in advance. I appreciate the offer though.
Luke
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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Jan 18, 2011 - 03:54pm PT
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...waiting for the Titanium one:-) Already have 2 hand drills (Rocpec and Hurricane) and 2 power drills. As I age, looking to carry less weight into the back country:-)
...I'll probably have to just get that trail motorcycle so I can haul all my crap up there fast on the nearby hiking trail.
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 20, 2011 - 04:31am PT
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Finished up cutting the grips I had here to length and epoxy is curing over night. Hopefully I'll give it a good test run tomorrow.
Luke
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tenesmus
Trad climber
slc
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Jan 20, 2011 - 08:15am PT
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Sure is purdy!
How big are your hands and will that grip let your whole hand rest on it?
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Disaster Master
Social climber
Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.
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Jan 20, 2011 - 10:23am PT
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How is the proto type working?
Is this a crack? Or a reflection?
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 20, 2011 - 10:25am PT
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Tensemus,
My hands are I guess average size. I fatten the grip up like Minerals did with tape. Grip does not cover the whole hand. My hand ends up covering up most of the locknut as well.
Hope this helps
Luke
edit: Disaster Master- That is a small scratch I put on it that is magnified by my camera flash.
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msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View
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Jan 20, 2011 - 11:08am PT
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looks really nice....I remain impressed and interested.
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Disaster Master
Social climber
Born in So-Cal, left my soul in far Nor-Cal.
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Jan 20, 2011 - 11:33am PT
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I would get one, if they can get done quicker than the 5 year D5.
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Luke Malatesta
Big Wall climber
Moab UT
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 20, 2011 - 11:35am PT
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I think I could get them done in under 5 years..lol. Looking like a month or so, as everything is almost ordered. The hammers were worth waiting for in my opinion.
Luke
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