The other night the heat must have made me delirious when I said I was going to go inside and write a song about triangulation. That would be ridiculous. Instead I wrote a song a bout "The Rolling Chassis." The heat has a much greater affect on me than it used to when I was younger. I have found that the best way to stay hydrated is to drink as much water as I can before going out into the heat and then keep a jug of water near and keep on drinking every ten minutes or so. I never feel thirsty this way and it is almost a chore to keep drinking. But I have read that if you feel thirsty then you are already dehydrating.
I know this is getting boring but you have to keep finding the weak spots and bracing the frame so that every section supports itself as well as adding to the overall rigidity of the frame. We want it to flex as little as possible. We will be going shopping later for the fabric for the seat so meanwhile we will finish bracing the nose section of the frame. Can you guess what shape the bracing will form? Will it be circular? No. Will it be square? No. Will it be heart shaped? The girls would probably like that. No but close. It will be triangular. We will be using 3/4" x 1/16" square tube for the bracing. You will notice in the next picture that I have drawn arrows on the front cross piece to indicate the direction of this piece which in this case is the front of the cart. The reason I do this is because I will be grinding and test fitting these pieces until they fit properly. Since this project is a special one off frame instead of a jig welded production model there will be a small difference from side to side. It is easy to get a piece turned the wrong direction and then all of a sudden you are grinding the wrong end in the wrong way. The best way to start is by laying a piece of tube across the front down rights and get an idea of where and what direction to cut the connecting angles. I usually try to cut the piece a little long so that there will be room to grind it to fit. The magnets can help hold it in place.
Even though I have tried to get the nose section as symmetrical as possible I will still need to grind each joint separately. This is a matter of trial, error and practice. You will most likely not get it right the first time. Don't hesitate to scrap a piece and start over. That is what I have to do on a routine basis. The idea is to become more skilled as you go along. I just walk back and forth from the grinder to the cart to check the fit. Don't try to grind too much at a time because you would be surprised how much difference just a little grinding can make in the way it fits. This is a tedious process but it is what metal crafting is all about. The idea is to get the ends to fit as flush as possible in order to get a good weld. You deed to get it at least within 1/16" to flush. You can make up for a little offset in welding. If I can get most of the joint to fit flush with a 1/16" offset on the rest I consider it good enough for a go cart. (This would be totally unacceptable in automotive or aircraft quality welding.) As a hint, try to get one side to fit well first and then work on the other end. In the case of this project we end up with a compound angle.
Now that we have the front brace tacked into place we can place the other two legs of our rectangle.
You can get an idea of where to cut the angle in the tube by simply sighting from the top, making a small mark on the tube, going over to the vice and holding your mouth just right.
You can use the vice to hold the tube at approximately the correct angle and cutting straight down with the hack saw. The grinder can do the rest.
I know this is getting boring but you have to keep finding the weak spots and bracing the frame so that every section supports itself as well as adding to the overall rigidity of the frame. We want it to flex as little as possible. We will be going shopping later for the fabric for the seat so meanwhile we will finish bracing the nose section of the frame. Can you guess what shape the bracing will form? Will it be circular? No. Will it be square? No. Will it be heart shaped? The girls would probably like that. No but close. It will be triangular. We will be using 3/4" x 1/16" square tube for the bracing. You will notice in the next picture that I have drawn arrows on the front cross piece to indicate the direction of this piece which in this case is the front of the cart. The reason I do this is because I will be grinding and test fitting these pieces until they fit properly. Since this project is a special one off frame instead of a jig welded production model there will be a small difference from side to side. It is easy to get a piece turned the wrong direction and then all of a sudden you are grinding the wrong end in the wrong way. The best way to start is by laying a piece of tube across the front down rights and get an idea of where and what direction to cut the connecting angles. I usually try to cut the piece a little long so that there will be room to grind it to fit. The magnets can help hold it in place.
Even though I have tried to get the nose section as symmetrical as possible I will still need to grind each joint separately. This is a matter of trial, error and practice. You will most likely not get it right the first time. Don't hesitate to scrap a piece and start over. That is what I have to do on a routine basis. The idea is to become more skilled as you go along. I just walk back and forth from the grinder to the cart to check the fit. Don't try to grind too much at a time because you would be surprised how much difference just a little grinding can make in the way it fits. This is a tedious process but it is what metal crafting is all about. The idea is to get the ends to fit as flush as possible in order to get a good weld. You deed to get it at least within 1/16" to flush. You can make up for a little offset in welding. If I can get most of the joint to fit flush with a 1/16" offset on the rest I consider it good enough for a go cart. (This would be totally unacceptable in automotive or aircraft quality welding.) As a hint, try to get one side to fit well first and then work on the other end. In the case of this project we end up with a compound angle.
Now that we have the front brace tacked into place we can place the other two legs of our rectangle.
You can get an idea of where to cut the angle in the tube by simply sighting from the top, making a small mark on the tube, going over to the vice and holding your mouth just right.You can use the vice to hold the tube at approximately the correct angle and cutting straight down with the hack saw. The grinder can do the rest.
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