Static can look the most realistic than anything. You can build an aplicator for under $5.00!!! It works just as well as the other homemade or store bought ones. Check out this website.
http://www.009.cd2.com/flyswat.htm
I wouldn't use the strainer, more of a screen with walls on the side I feel that it works better. You may also want to have larger holes in the screen.
Peace
Great lead. I may try it.Only problem is I have never seen an electric fly swatter.
ThanksLee
train_frk-0079 http://www.009.cd2.com/flyswat.htm I wouldn't use the strainer, more of a screen with walls on the side I feel that it works better. You may also want to have larger holes in the screen.
I have seen the fly swatters at Harbor Freight Tools.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Or you can build a really good for under $20 - This one is even better than that expensive Noch one:
http://www.ztrains.com/pages/tech/grassinator/grassinator.html
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I made one last night and it works great. I did find one of the electric flyswaters at Harbour freight and the best thing was it was only 2.99 on sale untill march 25th. It was very easy to make. Thanks for the great alternative.
I just got an Email from Electronic goldmine. They are sold out of the 12 VDC Negative ION generators. They still have the 120VAC units but I fear that they are too powerfull. (7.5kV)
73
Bruce in the Peg
train_frk-0079Static can look the most realistic than anything. You can build an aplicator for under $5.00!!! It works just as well as the other homemade or store bought ones. Check out this website. http://www.009.cd2.com/flyswat.htm I wouldn't use the strainer, more of a screen with walls on the side I feel that it works better. You may also want to have larger holes in the screen. Peace
Yep, works great. I spent $5 for the whole thing. Then I discovered that you ought not use a flammable adhesive--say, an aerosol--around this tool.
I put out the fire fairly quickly.
Midnight RailroaderYep, works great. I spent $5 for the whole thing. Then I discovered that you ought not use a flammable adhesive--say, an aerosol--around this tool. I put out the fire fairly quickly.
What's the word I'm looking for.....oh, yes. Oops!
I built one of these a while back, and it works great. Best of all, I spent less than $5 for the whole thing. Electric flyswatter $2.99 at Harbor Freight (these are normally $7.99, but they frequently go on sale for $2.99), and then a trip next door to the dollar store for a strainer. Total cost: $3.99 + tax.
Oh, and a good adhesive to use is non-aerosol hair spray. A lot less flammable (sorry, MR! ).
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
Bruce,
The 120v input one available from Electronic Goldmine is only half as powerful as the 12v one! The 12v on had an output of 15,000v, the 120v one has an output of 7,500v. Anyone who wants to build a 'Grassinator'; please be careful with your 120vac wiring!
I too built a static grass applicator using a Harbor Freight electronic fly swatter. The fly swatter was $2.99, a six pack of aligator clips was $1 at HF, and the tea strainer was another $1 at a dollar store. Because I could not find a tea strainer with a plastic frame, I had to use some sheet styrene to make one. Add in some wire and heat shrink tubing and the total cost was about $7. I am quite pleased with how well it works using Woodland Scenics static grass! Note that you will get different results depending on the adhesive substance used. I got decent results using diluted white glue but fabulous results using acrylic house paint. The white glue wicked up the static fibers making for a less fluffy but still acceptable look. However, the acrylic paint gripped only the very end of each fiber with the result being very soft and flexible grass standing straight up. The paint I had was dark green and similar to the color of static grass I used, so the result looks like a very thick and healthy Summer lawn. I would imagine that a dark brown paint would give a realistic Spring or Fall look of thinner green grass growing out of dirt. I will have to experiment more.
Hornblower
The 12VDC Negative Ion generator at Electronic Goldmine is intermittently out of stock. Keep checking back. I used the plans from Z trains to build my grassinator. I have used WS grass and Silflor over real dirt. Diluted white glue worked well for me. I am going for the tall grass look in the California Central Valley and Foothills. I found the Silfor products looked best for this purpose. Static grass comes in several lengths 2mm, 4mm and 6/6.5mm. The WS is 2mm. Silflor has a variety of lengths. There are several other companies making static grass whose products I have not tested yet. Check out the Scenic Express catalog for more details.
While the Silflor looks great, it is Petty expensive. I am hoping some other companies jump in with some lower priced alternatives. The WS is much cheaper, but in my eye doesn't it have the correct color and isn't tall enough.
Here's a look at the Silflor:
Here are some tips that I learned while using the Grassinator:
Decide where you are going to grass and carefully mask off other areas that you don’t want grass particles. I found the particles migrate quite a distance from the application area. You can vacuum up the particles but it is better to not have to do this step. Think Barbershop floor after a long day…The other reason for the masking is that the grassinator sets up quite a strong field and particles of glue covered grass will stray and stick to other objects. They can be a real pain to remove later (voice of experience).
Vacuum the area to remove any dust or stray particles. Later, when you vacuum up the excess grass fibers, you can get a clean pile of grass fibers to re-use if the area is free of debris. At the price of some of the grasses, you will want to collect and re-use.
Load the applicator in a box or container to capture the excess spilled grass generated by this step.
Stick pins into the surface of the area to be “grassed” spaced about every 2 to 3 inches apart. Try to put these to the side of the area, along the edges.
Paint the area with glue, let it soak for a moment, then reapply the glue mixture. Make sure that the pins are in contact with the glue as the wet glue completes the electrical path.
Attach the negative clip to the first pin in your area to be grassed.
Fire up the applicator and hold it with the screen parallel to the surface to be grassed about 1" above the surface. Shake the applicator and slowly move it back and forth. Grass will fall to the surface and immediately stand up. Very cool.
Keep moving the negative lead to other pins as you slowly fill in the area to be grassed. As you move farther away from the pins, the static charge gets weaker, hence the pin placement every two or three inches.
When you are satisfied with the look and density of the grass, gently pull out the pins. Be careful not to push down or touch the grass as it dries. The pins will pull out chunks of grass if they are not removed before the glue is dry.
When the glue is dry (overnight is best), vacuum up the excess grass. This is best done with a clean vacuum bag so that you can reuse the grass (I have re-used the grass several times, it works well).
My two cents,
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
thebigeI decided to give the fly swatter applicator a shot. It works fairly decent for the money. I recorded the project as three part series for my youtube channel. You can check it out here: http://tiny.cc/tUKb5 Happy Grassing! E http://www.youtube.com/thebige61
Thanks for the great Video! I put one together this afternoon in about 15 minutes, using things I had at home, so it was free . It works lika a charm! Nice to be able to spend that money I saved on something more "railroad-like".Once again: THANKS!
Swedish Custom painter and model maker. My Website:
My Railroad
My Youtube:
Graff´s channel
http://www.youtube.com/thebige61
I was looking into the flyswatter too. What are you guys using for static grass? Our LHS does not carry the static grass products. Can you use cut up yarn for the grasses?
Thanks
Mike Dcikinson
Apparently the original flyswatter conversion site is gone. However, I've made the original article available here if anyone is interested ....
http://dandhmodelrailroad.yuku.com/topic/383/master/1/
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
OK, this was one of those cool projects where everything just fell into place. I read the how-to site this afternoon about 4 pm, realized I had almost all the parts on hand (including the tea strainer), hit the local variety store on the way home to pick up a flyswatter, and by 7:30 I had the whole thing built! However, when I used it to apply grass, the results were less than impressive. Specifically, the fibers just didn't seem to stand on end the way I expected.
A couple possible problems: I touched the alligator clip to the screen a couple times to see that it worked before loading the strainer with grass - did I discharge most of the battery power (I noticed that when I touched the clip to the screen after using it, there wasn't nearly as much of a spark as before)? I used some Woodland Scenics grass that I had on hand - does Noch work better? I dd not build the "high power" version - do I need to go back into the case, bypass the resistor and clip the capacitor and try again?
Thanks in advance for any hints from others who have used this tool.
Tom
I have tried this link several times, but it says it is an error!!! Is there another link... I can't find any reference to making one out of one of those "electric fly swatters".
Bob/IronGoat
IronGoat I have tried this link several times, but it says it is an error!!! Is there another link... I can't find any reference to making one out of one of those "electric fly swatters". Bob/IronGoat
See my post above !!!
Thanks, Mark..... Bob/IronGoat
potlatcher OK, this was one of those cool projects where everything just fell into place. I read the how-to site this afternoon about 4 pm, realized I had almost all the parts on hand (including the tea strainer), hit the local variety store on the way home to pick up a flyswatter, and by 7:30 I had the whole thing built! However, when I used it to apply grass, the results were less than impressive. Specifically, the fibers just didn't seem to stand on end the way I expected. A couple possible problems: I touched the alligator clip to the screen a couple times to see that it worked before loading the strainer with grass - did I discharge most of the battery power (I noticed that when I touched the clip to the screen after using it, there wasn't nearly as much of a spark as before)? I used some Woodland Scenics grass that I had on hand - does Noch work better? I dd not build the "high power" version - do I need to go back into the case, bypass the resistor and clip the capacitor and try again? Thanks in advance for any hints from others who have used this tool. Tom
Bump - Still looking for answers to my earlier question.
Thanks,
On the regular version - you should never make direct contact between the screen and the ground clip with the power on. This induces a high voltage short across the circuitry and as you obviously discovered, will either weaken or damage the electrical components. This is a "cheapie" product by design, and as such, has no built-in circuitry to protect itself from direct shorts. The resistor that is in parallel with the capacitor bleeds off the charge to the screen when power is shut off.
In its original configuration as a fly-swatter, the bug is the resistance in the event of a direct short - and much like a breaker, the bug is obliterated !!!
Now - in the case of the high power unit, the resistor in parallel with the capacitor is removed, thus disabling the auto-matic discharge of the capacitor. In order to discharge the capacitor on the high power unit, you must ground the screen to the clip AFTER you turn off the power.
I built the Z trains version with the 12VDC negative Ion generator. I have accidentally touched the clip to the screen (momentary contact) with no ill effects. While it didn't seem to harm the device, it did give off a nasty spark and woke me right up...not recommended practice.
This particular unit is very powerful and very effective at "Grassing". I do offer some tips and suggestions in my post on the previous page. The parts for this version of the grassinator totaled around $20.00.
Link to instructions:
I built a static grass applicator out of the Harbor Freight fly swatter. It works great! I think I'll have to solder the joints though.
Mark R. Apparently the original flyswatter conversion site is gone. However, I've made the original article available here if anyone is interested .... http://dandhmodelrailroad.yuku.com/topic/383/master/1/ Mark.
This link doesn't work either. Does anyone have the steps needed to build the 'fly swatter' applicator?
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
HaroldA Mark R.: Apparently the original flyswatter conversion site is gone. However, I've made the original article available here if anyone is interested .... http://dandhmodelrailroad.yuku.com/topic/383/master/1/ Mark. This link doesn't work either. Does anyone have the steps needed to build the 'fly swatter' applicator?
Mark R.: Apparently the original flyswatter conversion site is gone. However, I've made the original article available here if anyone is interested .... http://dandhmodelrailroad.yuku.com/topic/383/master/1/ Mark.
Sorry about that - try again .... link has been fixed.
First to clear up some mis-information;
This was a misprint on the Electronic Goldmine web site. Both the 12V and 120 V Negative ION modules from Electronic Goldmine have a 7.5kV output. The number 15 is in reference to Hz, not kV.
You can build an aplicator for under $5.00!!! It works just as well as the other homemade or store bought ones.
Not even close. The flyswatter version's static field won't even come close too the field generated by applicators based on the 12V or 120V applicators. How do I know? Tests with an Electroscope tell the true story of static charges.
The 12VDC Negative Ion generator at Electronic Goldmine is intermittently out of stock. Keep checking back.
No, the 12VDC Ion Generator from Electronic Goldmine is permanently out of stock now. Another Source of 12VDC Ion modules in the US is Model-Trains-Video.com
What are you guys using for static grass? Our LHS does not carry the static grass products. Can you use cut up yarn for the grasses?
No, cut up yarn will not work. Try Scenic Express for Static Grass Flock, they have a vast selection of brands, colors and lengths.
There is a comprehensive article on building the 12VDC applicator, the 120VAC applicator, and a video tutorial for modifying an electronic Fly Swatter into a grass applicator, available for free in issue #6 of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine. Click here to read the issue online or go to MRH to download it for free.
The author details building all three versions and there are videos demonstrating applying static grass with each one. Finally he tested each applicator and a Noch Grassmaster using a foil leaf electroscope to compare the static charge produced by each of the units tested. Guess which one was the most powerful?!
As was mentioned before, do be very careful if trying to build a 120VAC applicator. The MRH article details how to do this wiring with absolute safety using a grounded power cord and fusing the live AC line to minimize, if not prevent, the possibility of being shocked!
Hope this information is helpful to someone.
The web pg won't come up for me
gjvjr50 The web pg won't come up for me http://www.009.cd2.com/flyswat.htm
That site has been taken down. Check my link I provided above, it's copied from the original site as the original owner didn't want to host it any longer.