MFG 3d printed combat pedals

Post #34 has info on the spring adjusters. The ones you have are already outdated. The hole for the nut is copied from the original part, which has a large rectangle hole instead of a hexagon, and will therefore easily spin out the nut when tightening. I am sending new adjusters to all the testers.

New adjusters have hexagon nut holes and it is impossible to spin out the nut:

Final pedals will be 3d printed. There is a reason why no mfg combat pedals in 5 years. You need a 100k$ 5-axis cnc + operator, and 6-12 months of his wages. I'll let you imagine what the price of a pair of combat pedals would be in that case. Also people already made 3d printed ones but not for sale because each one is a 30 hour print and is too large to be sent in an envelope around the world. I have managed to make mine a 3 hour print and small enough for shipping. So this is it :) This is the only way we get nicely shaped combat pedals, if we can make it work.

Like I said before, I already have a fail-safe. A solid, non-destructible set myself. But that one takes 50% longer to make, so before I offer those, I'd like to see if we can shave off some printing time first. Each of you received differently made set of pedals. Those sets that survive will be the settings and internal structure I'll use for final versions. If none survive, than I will use the fail-safe settings and almost solid model.

This is the setup that I use right now: 4 bolts plus a support bracket, it's indestructible. I'll be sending it out to all the testers (minus the hydraulic brakes mod) along with fixed spring adjusters.

These also allow for 44mm width adjustment for the pedals. (not seen in this render)

What do you mean by "fixed" spring adjusters?

Q: if the hole above the 4 bolts is closed, can 2 extra hight adjuster holes be added?

I know that then more force is needed on the toabrakes because of the smaller lever but with a lesser stiff spring setting, that could be compromised...

What do you mean by "fixed" spring adjusters?

These will be the re-engineered bars for adjusting the spring strength

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Great that you are discussing this with us, the direct copy nut holder slips because the material is not as strong as the MFG material (which I dont even know what it is made out of ... but it is darn strong stuff)

Nice to see the newer more snug design :thumbup:

What do you mean by "fixed" spring adjusters?

The small parts where you insert the spring, with holes for different spring strength, pictured in the render above. The ones you already have are both outdated in design, and have errors in them. I changed the design and fixed the errors and will be sending out new ones along with the new pedals.

Q: if the hole above the 4 bolts is closed, can 2 extra hight adjuster holes be added? I know that then more force is needed on the toebrakes because of the smaller lever but with a lesser stiff spring setting, that could be compromised...

Maybe possible. Like you said, it decreases the lever for braking. I will try it out and If there's no problems I will include it in the new batch of test pedals.

Great that you are discussing this with us, the direct copy nut holder slips because the material is not as strong as the MFG material (which I dont even know what it is made out of ... but it is darn strong stuff)

Nice to see the newer more snug design

Discussing is good, 30 thinking heads are smarter than 1 :) MFG material is a composite of wood dust and glue, so basically rock. But the nut in the 3d printed hole slips because in the original design it only grips the nut in 2 points. In the new design the nut is a hexagon, and the hole is also a hexagon, gripping the nut in 6 points. So event with no change in material strength or printing time, it fixes the problem of the spinning nut.

Wheel Stand Pro mounting plate is just a little bit too short for combat pedals. Pretty uncomfortable when your heel is sitting on the edge of the plate, so i guess i have to weld an extra plate to make it bit longer. Sorry about the dirt! :D

Oh that's interesting! I'm most curious to see all the different ways people have their setups.

I see in web images, that big black cylinder connecting the 2 silver rods, is located at the very end of the silver rods. But yours has about 10cm left. Did you try sliding it to the end?

Might not solve the heel issue completely, but could help a bit.

We might have a winner here!

I put this version last to try out because I didn't have high hopes for it. First of all, the brake axis goes straight through the middle of the foot rest, not at all what it's like on an F-16 or a WWII warbird. So I thought, that's ridiculous it'll never work right. Then you got all these adjustment holes, how's that gonna look.

BUT, I like this one the most out of all the versions I tried myself. The brake axis through the middle of the foot rest means, that while you're pushing rudder, you're never accidentally applying brakes, no matter how hard you push the rudder. Because when you're pushing rudder, you apply backwards force to the brakes. So it actually works better then the old one. Where you had to be very careful not to accidentally apply brakes when using weak spring setting.

Plus there are mounting holes for 20mm up/down/left/right adjustment. And the support bracket underneath means I don't have to worry about printing settings and amount of materials used, you will not brake these ones in half no matter how hard you try.

If you want to see how much lower these are, mount the ones you have now, with only 1 bolt, to the lowest position. That's how low these new ones go.

And the new spring adjuster can reduce spring force by 90%. Effortless braking for those without much room under their desks. And even on the weakest spring setting, it is impossible to accidentally apply brakes instead of rudder, because the center of axis goes above the pressure point.

There is also still enough room to put holes for F-14, F-16 and F-18 style designs:

So you can pretty much disregard the ones you have now, feedback on those is useless now. You will all be getting these new pairs next week.

Can't wait to try, although I have no real complaints about the ones I have now

Oh that's interesting! I'm most curious to see all the different ways people have their setups.

 

I see in web images, that big black cylinder connecting the 2 silver rods, is located at the very end of the silver rods. But yours has about 10cm left. Did you try sliding it to the end?

Might not solve the heel issue completely, but could help a bit.

That doesn't really solve my problem, it's just and adjustment for people with different height. I need that extra 10-15cm behind my heels to feel comfortable :) And regarding your last update, that sounds really promising, even i didn't really have a chance to try the first ones! :)

I need that extra 10-15cm behind my heels to feel comfortable :)

Is the mounting plate DIY or someone selling them?

Is the mounting plate DIY or someone selling them?

It came with the Wheel Stand Pro Super Warthog stand, mounting holes ready for MFG Crosswind, Warthog stick/throttle etc. I suppose it could be possible to stretch pedals bit forward, drill new mounting holes etc but i'm not sure if this thing underneath will hold it in place safely enough. Maybe, maybe not. Making the plate longer would be the safest and easiest option i think?

I prefer to use the pedals on the higher position but the new model seems to not have the lowest row of holes. Is it possible to add those?

On the ones you sent me the recesses for the bolt heads were slightly too small and I had to enlarge those a bit to install the pedals. Especially on the wholes which were on the thick part of the pedal. Also I had to smooth the surface a little bit with sandpaper as the coarse surface was ruining my woolen socks ;) .

Other than that those have worked fine so far.

Any word on whether the postal system has restarted?

I prefer to use the pedals on the higher position but the new model seems to not have the lowest row of holes. Is it possible to add those?

Interesting, I will add the lowest row of holes back in. It doesn't change anything manufacturing wise, and if anyone uses them, they're back in.

On the ones you sent me the recesses for the bolt heads were slightly too small and I had to enlarge those a bit

On the old design that you have, bolts had to be very snug to provide support. On the new design there is a support bracket under the pedals so that is no longer an issue.

I had to smooth the surface a little bit with sandpaper as the coarse surface was ruining my woolen socks ;) .

I shall include a pair of new socks with the updated design, what size? :)

Kidding aside, I can make them super smooth, like my 3d printed joystick grips or WWII throttle units. But then it takes the same amount of time (3x) to print a set of combat pedals, as it does to print a complete WWII throttle unit, 24 hours. So I can either make 500$ a day printing a throttle, or 30$ a day printing combat pedals. You can see my predicament there. I'm only spending time on these due to the virus delaying components and materials for my other projects, and as a "favor" to the community. I had my pair designed and mounted a year ago, but thought, MFG will make his own, and other people are 3d printing and will make theirs for sale. But no one did, so hegykc to the rescue :)

MFG ones will be cnc-ed from the same material as the rest of the pedals, and the same finish quality, way better then these. But that heavy package will cost you at least 150$ with import duties. I was planning on selling mine for 29$ + 10$ shipping. But only as a favor to fellow simmers because I have way better paying jobs. They are designed so I can make 2-3.000 units in 1 month, package them up and have them ready as people need them. So the choice is really, for now at least, either this or nothing :)

Any word on whether the postal system has restarted?

I have a friend from a neighboring country, where there's no limitations. I will send him the updated design, and he will re-route them to you. The new designs go out on Monday:

The new design looks fantastic and I am already really enjoying the first trial set so can only imagine what these will be like to use.

The rough surface on the has allowed a superb level of grip in socks so wouldn't want them smooth anyway

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Huey foot rests. As I haven't flown chopper until now, my personal feedback is pretty pointless, so I need chopper pilots to try these out if anyone is interested.

 

Combined with the hydraulic damper, and disengaged or totally weakened spring, it could be pretty close to the "trim release" system on the real thing.

 

Late to the game again!! If you need anymore heli pilots to try these bad boys out, I'll try them, they look solid and more appropriate for my needs.

It came with the Wheel Stand Pro Super Warthog stand, mounting holes ready for MFG Crosswind, Warthog stick/throttle etc. I suppose it could be possible to stretch pedals bit forward, drill new mounting holes etc but i'm not sure if this thing underneath will hold it in place safely enough. Maybe, maybe not. Making the plate longer would be the safest and easiest option i think?

 

Let me know what your solution winds up being. I'm looking into just buying a plate of 1/4" aluminum and cutting it to create a heel rest plate in front of the pedal mounting plate on my Wheel Stand Pro. (My pedals haven't arrived yet due to international shipping, so I can't test a solution yet.)

Interesting, I will add the lowest row of holes back in. It doesn't change anything manufacturing wise, and if anyone uses them, they're back in.

I tried again both of the positions and actually flew a while so that one pedal was higher and the other one was lower and I have to take my earlier words back as I now found out that I preferred the lower position. It was more comfortable for a longer flight. So disregard what I said earlier and no need for the lowest row for me. Maybe someone else likes it though.

I shall include a pair of new socks with the updated design, what size? :)

43 ;) .

No need to make the pedals super smooth and it seems that quite many like the grippy surface. And just to be more precise I only sanded off the sharp edges on about two 2mm wide strip where the ball of foot touches the pedals. That was too grippy for me (and my socks) and it really is not a big job to fine tune it.

Great job anyway :thumbup:

Clearing out some space for a youtube studio, so took some trial shots of the new combat pedals. Still some equipment missing so disregard the single blue spotlight and insufficient lighting:

Looking good

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Looking outstanding can't wait until they arrive and give them a try.

Cant wait to try these beta pedals out!

I have the MFG width extenders on the “arms”, assume those are not going to be compatible with the rear brace...?

I have the MFG width extenders on the “arms”, assume those are not going to be compatible with the rear brace...?

These pedals are already wider than original foot rests. Try them and tell me if you want more width. I can easily make brackets with extra holes for wider mounting options.