Dans's Chariot #4- Axle.

Took me long enough, but I finally got a belt for the lathe so I could run it in the higher RPM range and got the axle turned down. I'm using a Smithy CB1220-XL.  It's pretty beat- lotsa chatter but it works okay.  It's got a weird belt setup for changing the spindle speed- 2 short belts with an idler in the middle for the lower RPM's, or one long belt and remove the idler for higher RPM.  Long belt has been looong gone since before I started teaching here but I managed to find one that fits.  Took forever to get the idler loose enough that it came off the shaft too.  Got it all figured out and we're in business.

The axle started out as "sucker rod"... Not exactly sure what that is but I'm guessing it has something to do with well drilling.



After I hacked off the end and the goofy plastic piece, time to start spinning.




Haven't quite figured out how to change the crossfeed speed... It looks like there are a few gears that interchange but the other gears are missing.  With the spindle spinning about the correct RPM, the cross feed would fly down the metal.  Got a little warm, as you may be able to tell by the chips.



Finally got both sides turned down enough!





Looking good, although I think I may have to unbend a few of the curves to make the tongue higher of the ground. Right now, by my estimates the lowest point is 3-4 inches off the ground.



Picked up some castleated nuts, bushings, and washers so next week it should be a little more permanent.  Need to brush up on my welding and get the joints finished off too, then I can cut out the hitch end, make the seat brackets and mount the seat, and do some testing.  Long ways to go still and not enough time to do it!

Dans Chariot #3- Frame Construction.

Parts came in a few weeks ago for the chariot. 



Seat looks great, very light weight. I think the harness weighs more than the seat! Looks like the harness does NOT bolt to the seat (I figured it didn't), so I'm going to probably have to come up with some kind of frame for it to bolt to behind the seat. Tires are pretty small but seem very stout.

Still need to stop off at the metal place and find some axle material, but I already have the frame metal and borrowed the tubing bender so I can start on it once I decide for sure how the seat is going to mount.


Spent a few hours in the shop today. Did a few practice bends with the tubing roller.



Started doing some figuring. Had an idea about a week ago on how to mount the seat to the frame with a whole lot less headache (I hope) so let's see if it comes together.  Kinda hard to see but the seat is tipped back a bit.  2 reasons for that- move a tad more weight back and also make it a little more comfortable to sit in.  With the seat flat, your legs just go straight out.  Unpleasant.



A few bends in on the main piece.  In the back you can see the angle the seat will be on.





Bending. Almost need a taller ceiling!



Thinkin thats going to be close enough.  Looks awful strange like this, but bear with me for a minute.



Tacked the axle tube on.  Thinking the axle will be a solid shaft inside the square tubing all the way through, still haven't decided how to attach it yet though.



Doin' some more figurin'. The cross braces are going to double as the seat mount, so they need to be in the right spot to line up with the bolt holes on the bottom of the seat.



Paper seat template to get things aligned.




Need 2 pieces like this, one on each side.



Made up the braces and tacked them in. Managed to get one yucky burn through but I can fix that easy enough.



The days work. The seat is sitting roughly where it needs to be.  The wheels, obviously, are way higher than they are supposed to be- they will drop about 8 inches so they are lined up with the axle tube.  Feet will go near the bottom bend kind of where it drops off the table.





View from the chariot.



Not a bad start. Need to locate a shaft to use for the axle still, and it looks like I'm going to have to make up a "roll bar" behind the seat to mount the shoulder harnesses to. Once I get the seat holes drilled and the current frame welded and the hitch made on the end, I'll throw the wheels on there and do some testing.

Dan's Chariot #2- Materials Testing and Welding Practice.

Did some "testing" today on the square tubing I plan on using for Dan's Chariot. Met with Dan's parents last week and they gave me the go-ahead and also got me some money so I ordered parts!  The tubing I have is 1" square, fairly thin walled pipe.  I knew it was strong, but when I dug it out of the pile it was a lot thinner than I remembered.  Even though it seemed pretty stout, I decided a few tests were in order.  Turns out I can stand on a 4' span of the square tubing and jump up and down with no bending. There is a little bit of flex but it's very minimal.  The axle part is only going to be 3' wide, so it should be more than strong enough to support all of Dan's weight and withstand the occasional pothole.  The tongue will be quite a bit longer, but I'm planning on balancing Dan over the axle as much as possible so their shouldn't be much tongue wieght.

I also zapped a couple of quick, yucky, crappy welds. Then I proceeded to bash them to pieces with a hammer. Great fun after a day chasing students.

First attempt.  Still playing with the welder trying to get the best settings.  Just using my 110v Wire Feed welder (flux core wire) for now, but may do a couple of tests with the TIG welder later...





Second attempt.  Liking my settings a lot more, but I still have to move pretty fast or it'll burn through.





Managed to finally get one weld to break which you can see in the first pic on the second attempt. It was just plain a bad weld- and it only went half way across. If I can get them to all look like the last pic, I'll be happy. The tubing I have is a lot thinner than I thought it was, but I feel confident it is more than strong enough for my purposes, and my bash tests seem to imply that the (crappy) welds are MUCH stronger than the base metal.

Got some tracking notices today, so the seat and wheel parts should be here early next week. Once I have the seat, I will start working on a mount for it and figure out exactly how the frame needs to be to attach it.  For now, here's the latest plan with relatively to-scale wheels and seat.



Current thought is to weld the axles to the frame cross bar, like this:



But I'm not sure I like that. Will probably do a few test and try and break one or two just to see how strong that is. I'm a little worried about welding a solid chunk of steel to a much thinner piece. Have a few other ideas, we'll just have to see what works!

Future Project, help wanted!

Alright, so some friends of mine approached me and asked me to build the a bicycle trailer that they can carry their son, Dan in.  Dan is about 35 years old and mentally handicapped.  The trailer is going to have to be strong enough to carry him, light enough to be towed, and safe.

I've been kicking several ideas around for the last week and playing around on Sketchup.  Here's what I've come up with.  Remember, these are JUST ideas at this point, I really don't know much about bicycle trailers but I'm learning a lot along the way, and would love to hear it if anyone has any suggestions.

First sketches:













Real rough.  As you can see from the next few sketches, a lot has changed.  Kicked around a few more ideas, and discarded a few others.

Small tires, with a stroller version. Will be using bike tires, so this is moot.



Seat suspension. Probably won't be doing this.



Extended frame for adding a basket or carrying stuff.



Rollbar / pushbar for stroller.



Stroller, with detachable tongue / attachable caster wheel. Tongue stows under trailer.



Other pics.





Keep in mind these are just design ideas... The trailer will likely be skinnier (this model has a 3' wide frame, will probably cut that down to 2') and change a bunch while building. Sounds like they really want me to build it, so I will, but there are a few other projects on the table and a few other things to iron out here first. May start on it over spring break, we'll just have to wait and see. 


Current things we have decided on: 

Bicycle wheels for sure.  Probably 16", as I've read the smaller tires handle cornering forces better?

Low side mount tongue.

Some type of platform off the back to mount a basket or case of some sorts.

Fenders for the pull bicycles- Store bought.

Fenders for the trailer- going to try hand making them out of aluminum sheet, but no cover on the outside.

Rotomolded racing seat from JEGS, with a 5 pt harness.

Leg board most likely also hand made by me out of aluminum sheet.


Things they seem to maybe want:

Seat suspension

Stroller castor / removable tongue

Powedercoated frame.



There you have it.  I want to try and keep very little weight on the tongue, so the seat position will likely move back.  The axles will be 5/8" rod welded to the top of the frame crossbar to lower the center of gravity more.  I will probably have to build some type of bracket behind the seat to mount the safety harness too as well.

Anything I'm missing?  Or, I know I'm missing about thirteen hundred things, wanna enlighten me on a few?!