Hammer Forming and Sandbagging.

Playing around with something new here.  I've been reading about metal forming processes, and this one has intrigued me.  Finally found an excuse to try it out, even though I don't have a stump with bowls cut in it to form with or a fancy sandbag.  I did, however, have a zip log bag full of brass shavings I'd been saving- just in case.  Yeah, I'm that bad.  Used it as a sandbag, found a scrap of aluminum, and went at it.

First attempt.




Blasted some old solder with the blowtorch, and dumped it in.



Only took a few seconds for it to cool.  Turned out okay.



Tried it again with a softer piece of aluminum and a custom built planishing hammer for the job and got much better results.




The final product after some polishing:




Its a custom cast weight for MY pinewood derby car.  Going to see if I can beat my boys- we have an "adult" pinewood derby coming up this weekend.  Pics to follow, of course!

Donors Choose.

So a week ago I posted this tool box one of my students made in a forum I frequent.  If you ever have a few hours to kill, you should check out the "Show us something you made" thread here:  http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=523072  Be prepared to see some cool stuff and spend some time- there are 256 pages worth of great stuff there.

This was made by one of my 8th grade students in my Metals & Engines 2 class. Turned out pretty darn good. At the beginning of the tri, I asked them what they wanted to make / do. Most of them wanted to do a sheet metal project and the majority of them settled on a tool box. We designed it on the fly as we went- they have had a little exposure to this in my Metals 1 class.

The main reason the box is this size / shape is due to my bench tools. Our max bend or cut is 24". Wish I could get a 36" shear and brake.









He made some modifications to the tray, and if you look close you might see a few of his mistakes but it all worked out pretty well in the end. Hoping to get about 10 more finished in the next couple of days.

Anyways, someone on the forum asked why we used rivets instead of spot welds.  I've got a decent spot welder, but the timer is toast.  It costs over $400 to replace, so we've been using it without.  That means lots of burnt holes and not pretty welds.  A few guys offered to put up some money, which led to Donors Choose.  Teachers can post projects they need money for, and donors can choose where they want the money to go.


Got a Donors Choose account set up. Unfortunately I have to get a few complete projects using their "vendors" first before I can set up a project to buy a spot weld timer so if anyone want's to help me fix THIS:



Then go to my donor page here: http://www.donorschoose.org/dorkpunch

and donate!

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!

Dans Chariot #9 - Tying up loose ends.

I've been chipping away here and there over the last couple of weeks, so here's an update.

Made the inner fender covers. They're a bit bigger so we can be sure that Dan can't get his fingers caught in the wheel.







Got it all fit up to the rest of the fender just to see how it was all going to work.





Getting the holes for the axle to align was a bit of a challenge...

Bought some thing plastic sheet off of ebay to extend the outside and top of the fenders. Cut it out and bent it up.



Removed the outer cover to punch a few more holes in the back,



and put it all together.







Back to some more framework- finishing up a few of the modifications. Cut a couple of chunks out of a lawnmower handlebar, welded them together, cut 'em down, and tacked them into place. This is the bar that their basket will mount to so they can carry misc. junk.



I've been going back and forth about how to do this next part for at least a month. It's go time. I decided to just use a standard bicycle head tube and handlebars for a couple of reasons- 1st, its pretty much built, and 2nd, it's very easy to adjust or change styles of handle bars. Simple is nice. Now the chariot can double as an ultra cool stroller!







Still have lots of cleanup to do, but you get the idea.

Even managed to start on the fender mounting brackets.





Once I get the axle in, I can match the holes I made in the fender, drill the brackets, bolt the fender on, and figure out where the upper bracket needs to go.

Getting closer... My list is getting shorter.