Custom work - Shocker SFT eye millingTech index -> Custom Work -> Shocker SFT eye milling
Beam-break eyes are the quintessential performance upgrade for Shockers, even dating back to 2003. Milling the marker body for a new eye cover is the ideal method to accomplish the upgrade, but it can be limitnig unless you have access to a CNC mill. On this article, I describe each of the various methods I've followed over the years, ranging from basic drilling all the way up to CNC milling for new eye covers.
Basic Drilling ("3mm custom eyes"): My original Shocker eye modification service back in 2003-2005 involved drilling the marker body for new eye lenses and wiring, using 3mm eye components available from other markers. Typically, the wiring would be protected using a small layer of heatshrink tubing to cover the wires and eyes, which is meant to prevent excess light entering the marker's chamber (which will fool the detector eye). These custom-installed eyes could be utilized in conjunction with one of my I-LEB conversion boards, or a multi-purpose board such as Morlock or Predator. Please remember this was before NXT beam-break eyes became available.
Below are some examples of bodies drilled using this method or something similar:
Face Shocker eyes installed
Nasty Shocker eyes installed
Pewter Shocker eyes installed
Dark Shocker eye drilling
Dark Shocker eyes installed
My original paintball business was built around these types of electronics modifications, so I did them quite often. Below is an example of a very unique looking modification: I drilled the body "upwards" beneath the outside of the anodizing, in such a way that the wires would be internal other than the small hole visible on the outside of the body. This was a tricky soldering job, and the exposed eye had to be covered with an opaque epoxy to prevent light pollution, but it worked good otherwise.
Red Shocker eye drilling
Red Shocker eyes installed
NXT eye retrofit; Left side eye cover: Shocker NXT markers were released in 2006, so their new beam-break eye ribbon system became prevalent. Other airsmiths began offering a style of milling to mirror the stock eye cover, allowing a cleaner installation process using NXT eyes, which had the distinct advantage of being common hardware that was shared by other markers, so the system is easily repairable by the player.
By this time, I had begun working in the CNC machining industry so I naturally followed the trend and began milling bodies in much the same way. I also needed to make new eye covers that would protect the left-sie eye base, which you can read about on a separate page for replica SFT eye covers.
The body's milling process is described below. Obviously the marker's left side needs to be milled to hold the new eye, but the right side also requires a quick modification to hold the new NXT ribbon. Some bodies need this right-side milling, but not all (it depends on the age of the Shocker body). I also re-thread the eye screw to use a #3-48 screw instead of the smaller #2-56 screw used by Impulse/ShockerSFT. The larger screw uses a larger allen key hex, which is more difficult to strip, making it preferable.
Left-side eye cover milling for NXT eyes
Retrofit milling required to install NXT eyes
Milling operation on multiple bodies
Finished milling with SFT-style eye cover
The CNC programs can be downloaded below. There are two programs, one for the left/nonvision side, while the other is for right/vision side.
o10160_SHOCKER_EYE_MILLING_NONVISIONSIDE.TXT o10161_SHOCKER_EYE_MILLING_VISIONSIDE.TXT Those programs are written for the base model SFT body, and use the body's surface to establish Z-zero. If you are running a different marker body, you will need to compensate for your own Z-zero. The base model Shocker body measures 1.335" wide, so dividing it by 2 will reach the center of the SFT body (Z-0.6675"). That number should allow you to shift upwards to accommodate your own Shocker body.
The eye wiring hole is made using a special compound-angled fixture that I built to hold the bodies at the required angle. This is an aspect of the milling process that I "put off" for years, but eventually realized it would make life easier by utilizing a precision fixture. In the past I had used a sine-vise to accomplish the same goal, but the sine-vise required a lengthy setup procedure and was difficult to make consistent from body to body. My compound milling fixture fixes that issue.
Drilling operation for compound angled eye wiring hole
Finished markers:
Finished milling: four base model bodies and one Strange body
Finished milling: one base model, one Strange, two Dynasty bodies
Finished milling: one Hybrid, one Dark, one Toxic, one Waffle Dynasty 06
Finished milling on 27 assorted bodies: twelve base model, one Freeflow, two Hybrid, three Shocktech, one Tonton, two Nasty, three Dynasty 05, one Strange, one Dynasty 06, and one Waffle Dynasty 06
Finished milling: Octane, Freeflow, base model
Finished milling: five base models, two Dark, two Dynasty, one Dynasty 06, one Toxic, one Hybrid
Finished milling: two base models, one Hybrid
Finished milling: two base models, two Shocktech, one Toxic
Finished milling: one base model, two Strange, one Octane, one Hybrid, one Dynasty
Finished milling: two base model, two Dynasty, one Waffle 06 Dynasty, one Toxic, one Dark, one Freeflow, two Hybrid, one Shocktech
Finished milling: one Tonton, one base model, one Dynasty, one Hybrid
Finished milling: three base model, one Toxic, one Strange, one 06 Dynasty
To accompany the body milling, I took the time to make a series of special beam-break eye covers which have their own separate page here. Shockers milled by me can also use NXT eye covers if you could live with the different cosmetics.
Milling videos: In 2015, I milled a huge batch of markers all at once, and took some videos to show the process. This also includes some info on the eye covers at the end.
