Impact armrest mod!!

I find the width of the impact and Racers to be too wide for me without strap use..gives them a rear end wobble as you swing ...you can use the strap to tighten it and its wide so its one size fits all..but I don't like straps as I'm constantly up and down chasing targets..

But all is not lost...

a simple fix and now swings tight!!

grab the heat gun



remove armrest stick in vice..and bend to desired width while applying a little heat...



you can see a stock one and reshaped one..




I even brought the sides up slightly higher for more on the sides stability..more of a U shape now instead of wide factory setup..


And here it is installed...I let my buddy swing it one day and he said "too wobbly in the rear" and then the next day after mod and he was even impressed said "now that's NICE"



I myself Love the controlled feel of it now without strap and see no need for one at any point even a sparse target long hours swing...Very stable!!


Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2017 03:53AM by Keith Southern.

Nice! i found the arm cuff way too big and im a big guy. necessary mod!

Great improvement Keith - I havent seen or used a IMPACT yet however I thought this was an area that may need to be improved upon -

Do you think Nokta may look at doing this on their factory models?

Be good if they would -

[www.earthscan.co.nz]

Looks good Keith!-----I wonder why metal detector engineers don't pay more attention to the ergonomics issue in detectors? (and it isn't just Nokta/Makro that is guilty of this)

Nice Keith. They should copy the f-75's..... as it's adjustable by easily bending.

So you bend it and heat it and then it cools off and stays that way???

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Wouldn't mind putting the arm-rest from a F75 on there, that's the best one I've experienced so far.

Keith,

Bet it fits your bionic arm better.


Rich -

------------------------------------------------------------------

Just one more good target before I go.

Good idea. I was glue it foam inside. Looks ugly but works too.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/2017 10:44AM by Shelton.

Do a bunch of wrist curls till it fits, lol

Nice mod, Keith!

I don't think that the poor engineers can win. One machine gets launched and everyone complains that the arm rest is too small, the sides don't come up high enough, etc. Then the next machine it's too big. Perhaps they need to come up with some sort of adjustable one. I'm a strap guy, so I've never had an issue except during winter with a coat on. Luckily, in AZ, we don't wear coats too much!

Dean

There's nothing wrong with it for design intent...

Engineers have to make a design work for a wide range of people...and that means in this case all sizes..

Yet I like things to be .ore custom for me and my style..

Yes a metal style like some use would be the ultimate.

And who knows there may be an aftermarket design like on the explorers or CTX..Or maybe one-day even from manufacturer..

I like to tinker and thought I would share..I actually really like like the outcome and couldn't be happier...

Yes lowboy heat slightly then bend and cools fast and stays holds new shape....still flexible ..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Ok Keith with your wings mode and with my foam inserts works very good.

To be honest, I really, really like everything about the Impact for the most part, except the ergonomics of the grip and the armrest (for me). I'll look over my F75 armrest and see if it's adaptable to the Impact, I'm sure I could order an armrest from FT if it would work.

Will be out with it this weekend, hopefully I can find a demo or such to detect

hh,
Brian

I am not sure if FT sell parts - I broke a toggle switch once and they would NOT sell/ship me the part.

I had to bundle up the unit to send back to the USA, pay for shipping both ways & part and labor - making the entire ordeal, uneconomic.

Ended up being given the part from a supplier in China and all I had to do was pay for shipping.

Please keep me posted if FT do sell parts - I would rather buy from the US

[www.earthscan.co.nz]

Hey Keith, my production Impact had the new armrest but, found it was still a bit too wide for my forum. At first I used cable ties thru the strap slots to hold a piece of foam on each side of the armrest.
Then saw your mod, removed the foam pieces. And proceeded with your mod.
To clarify the mod a bit, this is how I did it.
Peeled off the Notka foam pads, which is easy to do. Screwed back together the armrests. Grabbed a couple Stanley Quick Grip clamps, with them squeezed the grip rears and front of the armrest in to proper position. Using a smaller scrapbooking hobby heat gun, slowly heated up the plastic from the inside a bit higher than where the bend starts near the armrest bottoms. Let the armrest cool down, removed the clamps, test fitted. Night and day difference. When I was satisfied with the new shape, I re-applied the Notka foam pads. Then put the mod'd armrest back on the Impact.

Thanks for the mod.



Update:
Just took a couple pictures of it modified mounted on the Impact.



Another picture showing the clamps attached to give you an idea how I used them.
Please note the armrest was removed from the detector for modifying before the clamps were attached and heat applied to soften the plastic so it bends.
I used the front clamp to squeeze a bit more than the rear clamps. So that the armrest will have a natural taper like the forearm has.



DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/01/2017 02:31AM by Sven1.

[www.youtube.com]

Just added an update to my posting above. I see Keith's pictures are no longer posted

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

i modded mine today. went from 5 & 1/2" to about 4 & 1/4... added some more foam padding and finally found out how to properly attach the arm strap and now the Impact is an extension of my arm. thanks ya'll for giving the courage to try this.