This is a project aimed to inject a new level of customizing into the Shocker platform. Myself, I had already made many other parts of a Shocker (frames, feednecks, triggers, vertical adapters, etc) but I had yet to perform much cosmetic milling outside of simple cuts made onto base-model markers. It's difficult to make interesting cosmetics when confined to the bodies which have already been milled by Smart Parts, because there isn't much material leftover for new shapes. To fulfill this goal of making new cosmetics from the ground-up, I set out to make a new batch of Shocker bodies which would start out as unmilled blank "slugs" that include all the internal features needed to make a functional marker, then afterward the fancy milling can be applied to the external areas.
Unmilled Slug body - version 1.3 - 2013: (outdated)
My first trial in producing a new Shocker body essentially involved replicating the same methods used by Smart Parts, but with a few other changes in mind:
· Solenoid insert chambers drilled from both the front and back of the body, intersecting in the middle.
· Solenoid insert set screws were moved to the exact center of the insert chambers, instead of being positioned toward the middle as with OEM bodies.
· Boss-latching feedneck replaces the fragile threaded feedneck, and is integrated directly into the body.
· Material added in front of the vertical adapter.
· The angled eye ribbon canal is no longer a compound angle; it's been simplified down to a single 30º angled hole.
· Relocated the frame approximately 3/8" further backward to enhance the marker's balance and ergonomics.
· Most of the above changes make the bodies easier for me to produce. There were a couple other minor changes but they're too small to notice.
I set out to prototype the new Shocker Slugs, now armed with this slightly modified design. I had enough 2"x2" material lying around to make four pre-production bodies. The milling process went well for some of them, but not very well for others. In brief, I ran into some problems drilling the deep solenoid insert holes, and also some difficulties with the SFT o-ring groove. Only half the bodies survived the production process while the rest were defective. I didn't have enough resources to keep experimenting with these, so some parts would need to change before I could make more (see version-2.3 below). Although only some of these were actually functional, the preproduction bodies served their goal of being blank-slates for milling experimentation.
Unmilled Slug body - version 2.3 - 2014: (current design)
This revised body design is meant to carry the Slugs into production. I made a few changes based on prototyping the earlier design; the biggest problem was milling the solenoid insert chambers. The previous bodies just weren't viable; I had to find a way to change the design so it would no longer rely on these troublesome holes and difficult-to-find OEM solenoid inserts.
For this goal I came up with a "transfer plate" system which would replace the solenoid inserts on the bottom of the body. The good news is the solenoid inserts are no longer needed, which instantly makes it easier to build a marker from spare parts. The four loctited set screws were also eliminated; they're replaced with small o-rings that seal between the body and transfer plate. Less reliance on OEM parts is a step in a better direction; common o-rings can be bought from multiple sources and will never go out of stock, whereas "legacy" parts like solenoid inserts are difficult to find.
The only drawback of the transfer plates is that they require yet another large chunk of raw aluminum meterial, with higher cost in the end. The amount of material required for the Shocker body is still the same 2"x2" chunk, but now I have an additional 1-3/4"x1/2" piece of aluminum that gets milled into the transfer plate. However, this is a welcome change because the advantages still outweigh the slight cost increase.
It was also around this time that I realized there might be an interest in making unmilled vertical adapters and eye covers. Yet another possability was making a transfer plate with integrated vertical adapter. I liked this idea for the simplicity, but unfortunately I estimated the costs to be too high, so the idea was shelved. I may revisit the integrated vertical adapter in the future, but I give no guarantees.
After prototyping the new design, the components turned out just as I imagined, and functional too...
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Shocker Milling Grafts:
This section of the page will be used to catalog the various cosmetics being applied to these unmilled bodies.
· Tube Shocker(s)
· Quasar Shocker
· Tiger Shocker
· Fire Shocker II
· Spinal Shocker
· Reptile Shocker