Dan's Chariot IN ACTION!!!

I finally have proof that the trailer I built works!  It's been used a bit and sounds like its working out well.


Dan, ready to go.



On the road.



They said they've put around 30 miles on it and love it. Glad its working out for them!


Some video of it in action:







Love watching him cruse. Hope they get a lot of use out of it!

Dan's Chariot #12: Powder coat!

Finally had a chance to drop the frame off at the powder coaters over Christmas break.  Yesterday was Martin Luther King day and we had it off this year, so I ran in to town and picked up the frame.

Fresh from the powder coater. Big kudos to Eastern Idaho Powder Coating for doing a great job!







Went with a slightly textured finish. I think it turned out great!

Ready for final assembly. Theoretically, these are the only tools I should need to get the job done.  Got some better hardware- allen button heads mainly- so a few of the bolts will be left over.  Added a dob of blue thread locker to the bolts without nylock nuts just to be safe.



Step 1. Install basket holder.  It's kinda hard to get to the screws when the seat is installed.  Not impossible, just hard.





Step 2. Install Seat.  Used some big 'ole allen bolts.  Still need two more slightly longer ones for the front.





Step 3. Attach seat belts.  The nut on the back is a nylock, and the brackets can move freely on the bushing.  Figured some allowed movement here would keep them from coming loose from repeated tightening / loosening of the belt.







Step 4. Attach leg pan.  Nice smooth button heads.







Step 6. Wheels and fenders.  A few spacers in between.  This is one piece I wish I had done a little differently-  the fender and the wheel have to come off together as a unit.  Makes it a bit awkward, but I couldn't see an easier way to do it without adding a bunch of junk to the frame.







Step 7. Put the caster on the stroller attachment.







Step 8. Drop the handlebars in.  I'm guessing they will want different handlebars / grips.  That's the reason I used a bicycle stem like this- pretty easy to order whatever set of handlebars you want and drop 'em in there.



Ta-DAAA!!!!



Just a few small things left to do. Need to put some reflective stickers here and there, have to pick up 2 longer seat bolts, and cut the excess strap off the seat belts when Dan tries it on. WOOT!

Think first...

I *love* this picture.  I remember finding it when I was maybe 15 in a book about airplanes.  The man had invented a helmet to help protect pilots in the event of a crash.  What better way to prove how it well it works than to run full tilt into the side of a BUILDING!?  LOVE the looks on the spectators face.

Some of my students finally found it again for me a year ago while working on their flight history research.

Made me stop and think.  Sometimes, you might have to do something stupid to prove your point.   Part of the design process, as I'm always telling my students, is EVALUATE.  You can't know if something works unless you test it.  Hopefully you can find a little safer way to do it though.

In other news, we are already halfway through the 2nd trimester.  Sheesh, time flies.  I dropped off Dan's Chariot at the powder coaters last week and they already have it ready!  Need to figure out how to go pick it up, our hours don't make for easy access.

Lots of new projects to bring in the new year.  Got "Dad's Fiero" to get on the road, planning a motorcycle sidecar build, hoping to finish a couple of my truck projects, do some (little more) serious gardening with the John Deere, and with some luck installing a CNC plasma cutter in the school shop.  Still hoping to figure out a way to do a Masters degree.  Thoughts have been percolating on that a fair bit lately- more to follow I'm sure.

Have a great 2014, y'all!

Dan's Chariot #11- 150 lbs of Beans, Sugar, Flower, and Powdered Milk.

Spent a little time today tying up a few final loose ends. Had an idea for the caster- put it on the tongue! The tongue can be flipped around, so when it was in "bike" mode, the caster would look something like this:



When it was in "stroller" mode, the tongue would be under the seat and the caster would be down.

Decided that would look too goofy so I just made up a new attachment.







Stroller mode.



I sat in it and wiggled all over trying to get it to tip over backwards- no dice. Suppose thats a good thing!

Made up a little bracket to help hold the basket straight. The basket has got to be the chinsiest thing I've ever seen.



Loaded it up and brought it back home for round 2 of testing. This time, I strapped 150 lbs of flour, beans, sugar, and powdered milk to it.



Back from another couple of miles.



I think it will work great for their intended use. It's a little more squirrel y when loaded if you are trying to do HARD stops or starts. I was worried about the tongue flexing too much or bending. It flexes, but I wasn't able to bend it with it loaded and being jerked around real hard so I figure it should be good. Still tracked great, only got up to about 30 mph a couple of times for several blocks.

Finally talked to the owners and we are going to powder coat it. Got to get a hold of the powder coaters around here and see what they are going to charge... Might end up spraying it if it's too expensive.

Getting close!

Dan's Chariot #10- Trailer in MOTION!

Time to get 'er done.

Fender mounts.





Spent some time polishing off all the nasty beads you get when using a flux core wire feed welder.





Frame "done", ready for assembly so testing can commence!



Install basket.





Install foot pan.



Install seat.



Install belts.



Make yet ANOTHER axle... and install it. The smaller rod above the axle is an interference fit, holds the axle in there nice and tight. It can be removed with a hammer and a punch sorta easily if I want to change the axle later.


Assembled!







Trailer hitch.





Ready to go.



Will definitely need a fender on the back wheel.



Turns pretty sharp before the tire rubs on the tongue!



And for your viewing enjoyment, some video. Please excuse my skinny butt...



Really close now!  Need to dig my bike out so I can hook it up to a bike that doesn't have parts falling off of it every 30 feet or so (this is a "school" bike - and has had dozens of 12 year olds working on it...).  Still need to make a caster attachment, but other than that, barring any failures during testing, I think the hard parts done!