This is NOT a coffee cup!

LazyK · Nov 2, 2000

Bob..gotta love Harv's "Bucks Motor" magnetic
cup. Your suggestion of using ABS or PVC in the construction of a sleeve holder for the cup is sound and proven! I used 4" pvc couplers. Scribed 1 i.d circle and 1 o.d. circle on a 1/8" thick
piece of rubber sheet.
Cut out the cookies, slipped the i.d.cookie into the coupler, gluing the edges to the raised ring at the 1/2way point with epoxy.Rolling the coupler flows the epox nicely around the outside edge of the cookie...do top and bottom edges. Let the epox cook-off on what now looks like a mid-way diaphram. With a very sharp razor, slot the rubber cookie about 6-8 radii, stoping just before you get to the stiff, crusty ring of epox. Try to make the, 'almost-to-the-edge-cuts,' evenly spaced.
Glue the o.d. cookie to the top edge of the coupler,slot it to make the almost pie wedges.
You now have a 2-layered, adjustable finger grasping cup holder, suitable for mounting in several creative configurations.eg: with 3 small l-mount tabs securing the coupler to a magnetic base plate.
Try a 'VEL' or 'CRO' surfaced base plate, which ever grabs your headliner/carpet/jacket cuffs etc.
Anyhow, you could go larger diameters of abs/pvc to accomodate serious cauldrons of liquid along with the rubber 'almost-one-way-holding' fingers.
Hey, I'll mail you one of my prototypes or one of the 40+ production copies a friend of mine and I made as highly appreciated XMAS presents 15 years ago in Alaska. I swear, a few are still installed in trucks and boats of my friends. Best praise is for the two layers of fingers which allow adjustable tension for holding Big Gulps, cans, bottles and the occasional Glock attitude adjustor. My offer's real or I'll take some pictures.

p.s. cup holder could be slotted for a cup handle without loosing the variable grasp.

Lazy K - Chip

MChalkley · Nov 2, 2000

Harv - Very, very well done! And an excellent picture of your efforts, too. I predict great things for you, your tractor, and your cup!

Next time I do another one, I'm going to use a rubber ring more like the one you used, or real neoprene, as Matt suggested, if I can find some. The only reason I used magnetic sign material is that I started with that, and saw no need to peel it off the outer ring to install magnets in the center. I'd like to experiment with a couple really strong magnets mounted flush with the bottom of the cup and then covering the whole bottom, magnets and all, with neoprene for a more custom (and perhaps deceptive /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) appearance.

As for tipping the cup first, you'll notice that I mentioned in my very first post after installing the hard drive magnet, that the cup was easy to pick up, as long as I tipped it first. And that's with one magnet - I'm sure yours is next to impossible to pick up without tipping it! Nice job!

MarkC

MChalkley · Nov 2, 2000

Harv - Two questions: I know you used magnet #41, but which three types of magnets did you buy, and which was the strongest of the three? Thanks...

MarkC

MattB · Nov 2, 2000

Harv ordered items #41, 42, and 43. #43 definetely being the strongest of the three. He actually used the smallest and cheapest of the three (item 42 is about the same size, but thicker and no steel bracket)

If you REALLY want that cup to stick, try bolting a couple of item #39 to the bottom of that cup. Of course, you'll want to bring your prybar along out in the field just in case you need a drink...

We are soon going to post a page of pictures of our customer's uses for the magnets (we already have a uses page, but no pics). Mchalkey & Harv's cup will be on there...I know y'all are a bunch of tinkerers, and several of you have ordered magnets recently. If you have some good ideas with pictures, we'd love to see them. Email them to us at matt@fieldlines.com. We love to see these projects!

-Matt B

glennmac · Nov 2, 2000

I'm not a tinkerer or gadgeteer, so I have zero interest in making a Chalkley Cup. But I would buy at least one if someone had it for sale. May be a bigger market than for tiltmeters.

Wouln't want 52 ounces, though. Much too big.

bpence · Nov 2, 2000

Mark, I knew it. We're in the wrong business. If Glenn and his fellow tractorers from the legal world would buy Chalkley Cups, that can only mean the sky's the limit. I can still see it....Orange ones, Blue ones, Green ones.........

Bob Pence

glennmac · Nov 2, 2000

Actually, I was being quite serious, and thought Rick might be interested in expanding his product line.

It is quite clear that tractor operators want cups and are fascinated by gadgets. I would volunteer to demonstrate them to the three tractor dealers in my area. Simple sales pitch: you have them in three different sizes and colors, fill them up, and walk over to a tractor and stick em on the fender, hood and sideways or upside down on the rops. Maybe the dealers would carry them. Get some more business for our magnet man, too.

Call them Tractor Cups. You know, "tractor" is from the Latin meaning "to pull". Tractors, magnets, cups --it all pulls together.

Muhammad, maybe we need another poll on how many of us would buy a magnetized cup if dealers had them available.

Muhammad · Nov 2, 2000

Maybe we need a lot of polls... see the feedback forum for my post about polls.

glennmac · Nov 2, 2000

Or maybe AtTractor Cups.

And sell them to to Deere, Kubota, NH, etc. head office marketing people, offering to put their logos on the cups. Like they do on other tractor incidentals such as caps, wheel spinners, etc.

scruffy · Nov 2, 2000

A thought to add to my original suggestion of ABS/PVC pipe (of proper dimension) with a cap, and slot down the side for a handle. Just add the magnets to the backside of the ABS/PVC pipe and stick it to the ROPS or ANY vertical surface, then you can use any type of container you desire in it w/o having to modify the container itself. Should even be able to slap a quart of J.B. in there for the fishin' hole.