Nice!
I'd move the standoffs that form the stops a little further apart and use plastic sleeves on them to bring the range of motion back to what you intend, that would avoid the metallic clank as you hit the stops.
Not sure how the vertical flanges are attached to the base, but you could skip the base plate altogether by making those out of 1x3 or 1x4 aluminum angle of desired thickness.
I've made a bunch of friction joints and experimented with what greases work best, and by a longshot Nyogel 767a is the undisputed champion. Very thick stuff that doesn't req high mechanical pressure to generate firm high quality damping, and despite the grease being so thick it moves just as easily from a cold standstill as it does throughout the range of motion.
I use .014" thick mylar sheet cut to shape as a rub greased with that stuff between sliding metal components and it feels as good as actual hydraulic damping, or close enough to it that using hydraulics are in the zone of diminishing returns and tension adjustment very easy with a screw mechanism.
This makes me want to cobble together a collective and start flying helicopters in VR, especially after I watched this video of a Gazelle doing a flameout auto-rotation landing yesterday.
THANK YOU for your feedback!
My CV1 is on its way. Already tried one from my collegue with DCS. A BLAST! Its practically the reason why i fly nothing else but DCS right now. And in the end also the reason for this DIY project.
I already planned on covering the 2 front stops with plastic. I could move the upper one a little upwards. Right now i have 31 degrees of movement. I think i could increase that to 35°. MAybe i make the upper stop adjustable via longhole.
Right now the brake is planned to utilize a PTFE dagged hose (20 outer, 15 inner diameter) and a 15mm metal spindle.
I hope this works as well. Friend of mine is CNC guy. We plan on creating a prototype of this "heartpiece" of the design first and test it out. If it works we go on with the remaining parts.
Prototype is a big word. In the end we plan on making like 2 or so of them:) Maybe some more if some friends hop on and want one too. The more we make the less it costs everyone. Will be kind of a get the parts and put it together yourself thing.
The cables and screwing will be quite some work. But if someone doiesnt have 2 left hands it should be manageable in an evening of work. Biggest thing is to get it working they way we want while NOT wasting the money on 10 prototypes first:)
So again Your feedback is VERY apprechiated!
Btw. Have a source for the aluminum angles you were talking about?
edit. Here is like the finished thing could look like if we decide to add a simple aluminium sheet as a dustcover. I also moved the upper stop and now have 40° of collective lever movement.