This is NOT a coffee cup!

[MChalkley]

One other enhancement to THE CUP: Lately I've found that it's so dry and dusty that the top gets loaded with dirt as I work - getting a mouth-full of grit when I'm anticipating a refreshing cool drink isn't exactly what I had in mind.

Then I saw an ad on TV for those new Saran wrap bowl covers with the elastic built in. Eureka! Size medium works fine. Small would be better, but I don't know if they're made in a small size or not. Gives the cup a kind of sunburn-victim-wearing-a-shower-cap look, but it's effective.

Ah, the never-ending pursuit of perfection... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MarkC

 

[Harv]

Mark -

I know what you mean about the lid getting dirty on the job -- not sure I'm ready to put a shower cap on it yet, though./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

I would like to pursue the magnet discussion a little, but rather than contribute to the pollution of that other thread I thought I'd try the daring feat of switching it back over to this one. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

The magnet I am using is one of the pair I ripped out of an old disk drive myself. Don't know if you saw that picture. After a little experimentation I wound up doing what I thought was exactly what you did.

On the first pass I simply glued one of the magnets in the circular depression in the bottom of the cup. That worked prettygood, but under heavy vibration (as seems to be common while tractorin'), I noticed the cup would slowly walk around a little bit on the fender. So I then went back and removed the magnet (no small feat) and mounted it again, this time with the addition of a ring of that magnetic sign material around the rest of the base. I took extreme care to be sure that the magnet and the sign material were exactly flush with each other, providing total contact with tractor when set down. This pretty much took care of the "walking" problem.

Now I'm beginning to wonder if all hard disk magnets are created the same. Although I did discover how painful it was to get your fingers caught between two of these magnets, I'm not sure they're as powerful as the one you're using. My cup will stick to the side of the refrigerator and even to the bottom of an old metal TV tray, but only when empty. I seriously doubt it would hold a full cup in either of those positions. Did you once say that yours would?

I suppose I could add the other magnet, but that means removing the one magnet again so I can reposition it to make room for its mate.

I do not consider the Chalkley Cup a frivolous option at this point -- it's a necessity!

What say you, oh wise one?

 

[scruffy]

Harv, Although I am not whom you addressed your question to,
Let me categorically state: No the h/d magnets are NOT created equal! Four of the ones (two sets) were very strong magnets individually, one set (two individual magnets) were at best .5 of the strength of the other two sets. One set was salvaged from a 100mb h/d, and one came from a Quantum 540 mb h/d (strong), and one set (if I remember correctly) came from a 1 gig drive (strong). The two larger drives produced the stronger magnet sets (by at least a factor of 2 if not 3). I cannot state definatively that the larger the drive, the stronger the magnet, although that may be true, I wouldn't state that without thoroughly researching it via stripping many drives down, and keeping a record of the capability of each in picking up a set amount of weight, and the total amount it could lift without loss of magnetic quality.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by scruffy on 10/26/00 04:00 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Billc]

Really a non-related issue. Because of all the dust there is no way I can use "The Cup" with or without a shower cap.

My question: I need to put in a storage system into the canopy to hold gloves, ear plugs, safty glasses, etc. I think you did something similar this past Spring. Any pictures? I'm going to put in one container that will lock dust and dirt out. Another for the gloves and such...probably some mesh netting.

 

[MChalkley]

Harv -

As Scruffy said, the magnets are quite different. Still, I didn't use the strongest of the magnets that he sent me, and I only used one of the pair, but I did make sure I left room on the bottom for the other one if I needed to "upgrade" the strength of the connection.

I'm surprised yours doesn't hold any better than it does, though. Mine will stick to the side of my truck (or the refrigerator), even when it's full, though this tests strength of the connection to the absolute limit - any vibration at all and it will fall.

My reasoning was this: I wanted magnets strong enough that they would do the job without contact to the fender. This was for ease of picking the cup up. I didn't want to have to break that bond every time. What I did was mount the magnet to the bottom of the cup without removing it from it's mounting plate. This extra thickness, plus the thickness of the Goop I glued it down (or is it up?) with, lets the magnet remain recessed 1/16" or so below the level of the sign material. For reference, the picture I posted is at http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/5-15619-cupbottom2.jpg.

Clearly, though, if yours won't hold up a full cup stuck sideways, you need more power (boy, isn't that a recurring theme?). Instead of attempting to remove the magnet you've already attached, couldn't you remove some from their mounting plates and glue them around it? Or maybe even break them into pieces and glue them in? You could nestle the whole/broken magnets (one at a time) into the Goop, taking care to keep them just below the surface level of the sign material. I don't know how much trouble the tendency of the magnets to want to stick to themselves would give you, though.

I've had a great deal of fun with my cup. It's amazing how many people notice it. It's distracting their interest from the rest of the tractor. Most folks won't ask, but they clearly wonder how it stays on. Being a ham, if I notice someone watching who doesn't ask, I usually eventually find some oportunity to stick it to the side of something (like the loader arm), so they can figure it out for themselves. It really gets their attention for a second, though.

Let me know how you make out with yours.

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Billc - Why couldn't you use the shower cap for the dust? I know why you wouldn't want to, of course (the appearance), but why did you say you can't?

I think I'm going to look around for a sturdy plastic container that I could cut a cover from that would rest on top of the cup to protect it from most of the dust. If it fit fairly well diameter-wise, it should be just as effective as the shower cap and a lot easier to use, not to mention the appearance.

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Harv - A footnote to my previous message:

I just remembered another reason I took care to recess the magnet a little. The sign material is slightly compressible, so if the magnet isn't recessed, you aren't getting maximum benefit from the slip resisting and vibration dampening qualities of it. It also may allow the cup to more easily be forced to tip slightly, which would break the bond and allow it to be knocked off. You could try glueing another layer of the material around the edge before you add additional magnets. Just a thought.

Remember: Perfection is the goal - accept nothing less! (There's probably a "TractorByNut" web site somewhere on the web where they grab current examples of our antics for their own amusement. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif)

MarkC

 

[Harv]

Okay, I'm convinced I could use more/stronger magnets.

Scruffy - the drive I liberated my magnets from was a Quantum Q250, which is a 5" drive. Maybe bigger isn't always better. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Actually, on that same point, Mark -- even with the mounting brackets removed my magnets are a tad thicker than the depression on the bottom of the cup. I first used some rubber floor matting material to build up the rest of the cup bottom and I made sure the magnet was raised a hair from making actual surface contact, as you had indicated in your earlier post. The holding power in that configuration was pitiful, so switched to the magnetic sign material and a perfectly flush mount.

Dang! I have the extra magnet here at home, but my Chalkley cup is 120 miles away up at the tractor property. I never know what to bring home and what to leave there. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

If I can find better magnets, maybe I'll just go buy another cup. I was thinking about doing that anyway just to have a spare. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I love projects like this, and I'm certainly not going to give up before I achieve total perfection. To do less would be to dishonor the good name of the Chalkley cup. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[bpence]

I am in absolute total awe here!!! No, seriously. I am in total awe.

For years I've been bouncing around with travel cups, screw top pop bottles (soda for the folks out east), and various other liquid refreshment containers and maybe it's just me but I've ended up wearing just about every type of drink imaginable, and so has my tractor. I haven't found a cup holder or travel cup/mug (and I own a bushel basket full) that would work.

Chalkley Cups. H/D magnets. You have no idea how this discussion has solved one of the greatest engineering dilemas known to man in modern society.

Now, unfortunately there isn't room for a real Chalkley Cup on a B7100 HST, although a smaller Baby Chalkley Cup (a mere 32 oz size, but with the official 7-ll badging and made by Alladin) has been enlisted and properly modified through the use of H/D magnets, etc. to sit quite nicely on the cover between the operator's legs (the bigger cup would not have allowed the operator to even get on and off the machine without "jumping" over the cup, thus creating a safety issue). And the use of a food container size shower cap to cover the top......pure genius. I can't remember the last time I had a drink of coffee or soda or gator aide that didn't have dust or grass or something in it while working the tractor.

I was out last night doing a bit of bush hoggin just to try out this new tractor cup arrangement. Ok, I wanted to play on the tractor, too. No spills on me, no dust in the top of the cup, and the cup was where it was supposed to be every time I reached for it.

Ahhh, the simple things in life. A good tractor, some field to cut, and a cup of coffee to take with you....and not have to wear.

Thanks, guys.



Bob Pence

 

[MChalkley]

Harv - Maybe your tractor fender is made of less ferrous metal than mine. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Seriously, though, it must be the strength of the magnet. I just happened to be very fortunate in that the ones Scruffy sent me were perfect. But, as I say, I made sure I mounted it off to one side so I could add another, if necessary.

When I found out how great this solution really was in practice, I went out and bought, not one, but two spares. Then I found out that the lid in my original had a slight crack in the flexible lip that makes the seal, which caused it to leak on me when I drank from it, apparently from one of the times it landed upside down during the development stage (R&D is expensive, you know), so I now have the lid from one of the spares on my original cup.

All this talk of errant limbs has me thinking: I'm getting ready to do some major clearing in the woods around my house, so maybe I'll go install that second magnet...

MarkC