Metal GC2 Enclosure

[andygg1986]

I have had several people ask if I could design a metal enclosure since Foresight discontinued their "shank tank". I have a preliminary design that I was hoping to get feedback on. To try and minimize the cost, I was thinking about leaving the back open. In my view, the main advantage of covering the back was that you could lock the GC2 inside for retail locations. I don't think it adds any protection from an errant shot, so my thinking is that most home users wouldn't care. It looks like I could sell this design for around $150 + shipping if I get them made in batches of 10. They would be powder coated black. It has slots for the HMT arm as well. Since the plastic shield sells for $200, that seems like a good value to me, but if you guys think that price would be too high I won't move forward with having them made. I would be using a local metal shop that I have done business with in the past rather than outsourcing it overseas, and I don't want to sink a whole bunch of money into inventory by ordering a large quantity, which makes the manufacturing cost a little higher than I was hoping. (ignore the black line on the left top part of the enclosure, that is an artifact of my CAD software)

[andygg1986]

The first one is getting fabricated right now. They said it could take up to two more weeks because they are busy, but hopefully it will be close enough that I feel confident enough to order a batch the next go around. After talking with more people, I decided to add a handle to the top to help with moving it for lefty righty play, and I will have an optional back piece for an extra amount of money which is TBD

[wbond]

What did your final design end up looking like?

[andygg1986]

Very close to post 10. Screen tilted up in the middle position, a couple of holes on the top for the handle to mount.

[wbond]

andygg1986 Awesome, the handle will be great because I move mine every time I play since my sim setup is in my garage.

[taylor310]

Same Wbond, I have a backyard enclosure i can use and then the garage for the winter. Handle will be greatly appreciated.

[fortysixandtwo]

Having a handle On top sounds like a great idea! Looking forward to this..

[linkkingx]

I'll probably be in for one of these as well. I'm not sure how much I trust the overpriced plastic one from Foresight. Luckily I haven't had any instances yet where it has been put to the test.

[siebo]

I might be interested in one as well.

[Kevin_C]

Handle would be excellent. Is the GC2 easy to move without the handle. I have a handle on my Skytrak and if this would be as easy to move I would definitely go with the GC2 and this case

[Kevin_C]

How heavy would it be with the GC2 and case?
Easy enough to move for Righty Lefty play? I have a number of lefty friends so being able to move is critical. This is the main reason I have stayed with the Skytrak.

[andygg1986]

It’s going to be made out of aluminum. I would guess it would add about a pound to the GC2, so it should be easy to move back and forth. What would really make moving it easy is if you could mount a rail on each side of your mat to press the feet of the enclosure up against so you don’t have to mess with alignment

[Justahack]

Would you be able to do one for the quad?

[andygg1986]

I don’t have a quad so it would be tough for me to make. If you wanted to, you could mock one up using cardboard. Then either mail me the cardboard or sketch out the dimensions and I could make the engineering drawings and have my shop make a test one. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further. Just so you know, the first one costs considerably more because of the setup costs involved. I will need to sell close to 10 of the GC2 enclosures to recoup the setup fees. I’m not sure if there are enough people with Quads who want enclosures to make a business case for producing them, but if you just want one for yourself I’m happy to help with the engineering side of it.

[Godfather]

Looks awesome. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

[Kevin_C]

Can we see an image with the handle?

[andygg1986]

Here are some updated pictures with and without the optional back piece. The handle is a black cabinet handle and the feet are furniture feet threaded with 1/4-20 threads. That is pretty standard so you could swap them out for a different style if you wanted, or if you needed it raised up a lot for some reason, you could use carriage bolts.

[FNBogey]

Are the feet rubber or have rubber on bottoms? I’m afraid the unit could slide. The original metal tank used rubber feet.

[andygg1986]

The ones that I found have nylon plastic on the bottom. I’m curious why you are concerned the GC2 would slide. I hadn’t considered that being an issue. I always set it up and then don’t touch it once I start playing. I’m sure you could find other rubber feet with the same thread size like this https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-vib...4aAsC4EALw_wcB

The reason I had picked the ones that I did is that they had longer threads to allow for more vertical adjustment.

[andygg1986]

I got the prototype back today. I need to shift a couple of the cutouts slightly but overall it looks pretty good. I will update the drawings and get the first batch ordered tomorrow, so they should be available in about 3 weeks.

[linkkingx]

Quick question. Does the GC2 fit inside snugly with no wiggle room? I know the skytrak case for example locks the feet in so it can't move around once inside. Since the GC2 doesn't have feet I'm not sure how this would be done.

[andygg1986]

My idea is to get some weather stripping adhesive backed foam and apply it to the sides so that it holds tight. I haven’t tried that yet though.

[fortysixandtwo]

Looks great! And there’s room for the hmt attachment?

[andygg1986]

Yes there is a slot for it.

[frodaddy00]

andygg1986 Have you tested this out using HMT? I had the wooden case that looks similar to this but the front left corner blocked the lower HMT camera.. I couldn't get it to work so now I am using their flimsy plastic protector (which offers little to no protection except in my mind).

[andygg1986]

The slot for the HMT is about a millimeter too low so I can’t use it with the bottom of the enclosure. I just set the enclosure directly on the ground and hit a few shots and the HMT picked up all of them. I will file down the HMT slot though and hit a wider variety of clubs to make sure it is working.

[wbond]

andygg1986 does your hmt cable have 90 right angle bends at both ends? How does the cable route with your enclosure? Case looks fantastic BTW

[andygg1986]

Yes my cable has the 90 bends on both ends. The end that plugs into the gc2 can fit inside the case. The cable goes under the GC2 or between the the screen and the base, then comes out the same slot where the HMT arm goes.