Assembly Guide

Before You Begin

Before assembling a Dipstick, make sure you have all the parts necessary. For the bill of materials, see BOM.

Assembly Instructions

Overall this should take under an hour.

Notes:

Parts Required

Capstone
Capstone collar
Capstone knob
Threaded collar
PVC tube
Endoscope
Dyneema cord
Flexible spine (tentacle)
Tentacle cap bottom
Tentacle cap top
Phone mount
M4 short screw x 6
M4 long screw x 1
Thumb screw x 2
Big screw x 1

Instructions

Slide the end of PVC tube without the tab inside into the capstone collar, and hold it in place using the thumb screw.
Take the Dyneema cord and feed the two ends through the flexible spine, from the bottom to the top. Keep around 5 inches of extra string coming out at each end.
Insert the endoscope into the flexible spine, from bottom to top.
Drop the loop end of the Dyneema cord and the USB end of the endoscope down the naked end of the PVC tube with the tab inside. Align the flexible spine to the tab and slide it in, making sure the extra ends of the string and endoscope head stay sticking out of the spine.
Twist the threaded collar onto the end of the flexible spine and continue rotating until it reaches the end of the PVC tube. Hold in place using a thumb screw.
Take the loop of the Dyneema cord and wrap it around the capstone. Twist the loop 3 times so that there are 4 loops around the capstone.
Hold the capstone in place using the big screw through the center.
Using 4 short M4 screws, attach the capstone knob to the capstone.
Rotate the threaded collar until half of the flexible spine sticks out of the PVC tube.
Tie two overhand knots on each free end of the Dyneema cord to hold it in place.
Place the bottom of the tentacle cap on the top of the tentacle, hold in place using a short and long M4 screw.
Connect the endoscope to a phone, ensure that the orientation of the camera matches the direction the tentacle bends. Twist to adjust.
Holding the endoscope head flush to the tentacle cap, secure the tentacle cap top using a short M4 screw.
Rotate the threaded collar until the flexible spine is fully extended, or is sufficiently tensioned.
Ensure that the knob can rotate 180º and corresponds to a 180º range of motion of the tentacle.
Screw in the phone mount to the capstone collar.