Monday, June 21, 2010

Here is some more of my award winning sketching. Sketching is supposed to be a way to aid in the design process of a part or mechanical movement. Computers have allowed for magnificent improvements in design and modeling. My problem is knowing how to utilize this technology to its' fullest fullness. For instance, I know there is a way to rotate the following photos but I just don't know how. I suppose you could just turn your monitor sideways. That would be kind of like using a sand blaster to clean the dirt off of your car. It works but there is a better way. Here is a publication that I really enjoy. It is Lyndsay's Technical Books and it is a collection of mostly early 20th century cutting edge technology. If you happen to have a steam engine you need to repair or need to build a small metal forge in your back yard to melt and pour iron ore, this is your source. Dave Gingery basically stands alone as the mad scientist of tinkering often on the edge of bizarrely dangerous. The following is given as a disclaimer in the catalog:

If you're an idiot, Go AWAY! Much of the information contained in these books is potentially dangerous. If you're too lazy to think ahead and exercise caution in your work ( my definition of an idiot ), then I don't want you on my customer list. These books are for fun. Getting hurt or hurting others is not fun. Dangerous dipsticks are not welcome here. I cannot vouch for the accuracy or the safety of the methods in these publications. This is a bookstore, not a school. Be very careful. Use good judgement in your work. Work safely.


I have a number of these publications. So far I have not destroyed anything ( of any value).

I think my next selection will be " Perspective Made Easy". I am generally dubious of any title that touts the simplicity of anything. But I can use some kind of help in graphic design regardless of the veracity of the source.


Now we can begin constructing a bench seat. It is a matter of using dimensions that fit to the frame we just built. At this point you could use any kind of seat you prefer. You can buy individual seats from Go Cart supply companies but they are fairly expensive. I have chosen a bench seat because it is easy and inexpensive to build yet very sturdy. Also I plan to install three sets of seat belts knowing how kids like to pile everyone possible on for the ride. The main materials needed are a piece of 3/4" thick plywood, 1/8" x 1 1/2" angle iron, 1/4" x 1 1/2" carriage bolts 1/4" x 1 1/2" hex head bolts, some foam seat cushion and fabric cover.
We start out with a plywood base that will fit in the space left for the seat. There are many ways to go about doing this and hopefully you can find a better way than I will show. Since this is a "one off" project as opposed to a production model, all of the holes that I am drilling are just random and will only fit in the place where they are initially placed. In other words I am too lazy to try to make everything uniform so that any bracket will fit at any spot. But it should not matter as this item should seldom if ever be completely disassembled. However I am building it so that the seat can be easily removed by use of bolts and everything will line up for reassembly. We start with cutting 2 pieces of angle iron 2 1/2" long. Since we are using 1/4" bolts we will need to use a 5/16" drill for the holes. A word of warning: You will notice that I drilled the holes in the legs of the angle iron right across from each other. This was not smart. Instead you need to offset the holes so they do not interfere with each other when bolting it to the frame. I am setting the front angle irons in 1" from the outside so that the lip of the seat can rest securely on the front rail. I have also chosen to bolt the angle iron directly to the front seat
rail. Once the holes are drilled in the angle iron, ( remember to offset them) the mounts can be clamped in place for drilling the holes in the plywood seat. We will use 1/4" carriage bolts because they have a flat head that can be pulled down flat so they will hold the wood seat securely in place as well as keep the bolt head from protruding up into the seat cushion.


It is a good idea to use a flat washer and lock washer to secure the seat to the mounts. With the mounts securely bolted in place the seat can be placed on the front rail and the holes can be drilled in the front rail. Go ahead and bolt the front mounts to the front rail using 1/4" x 1 1/2" carriage bolts. This will secure the front of the seat so you can work on the rear mounts.


Now we can move to the rear seat mounts. They consist of a piece of angle iron plus a piece of 1/8" x 2" flat plate. The rear cross rail is lower than the front cross rail so I will need to build some mounts that will raise the level of the rear of the seat. I have drilled the holes in the angle iron first and then the two pieces can be clamped together in the vice and then drill the holes in the flat piece to match.

Now the pieces can be bolted together in sets.

Now that the sets are bolted together they can be aligned in the proper spot for welding to the rear rail.


The idea here is to evenly space the mounts across the rear rail. Start out with the outside mounts first in order to get the seat level then you can put the center two mounts in place.Be sure that the mounts are pushed flat against the wood seat when you clamp them in place.


Now the clamps can be welded into place. Did I say clamps?? I meant mounts. Whatever you do don't weld those clamps to the frame. Have I ever done anything like that? I don't want to talk about it. At this point we need to mark the holes on the seat so they can be drilled to match the mounts. I used a pencil to mark the holes. You have to kind of stand on your head to mark the holes from the bottom. It was about 95 degrees in the garage with the fan blowing last night at 9:45 when I was doing this. I was sweating like a hog.

We will be using Tee nuts so that the plywood can be easily bolted to the mounts. A tee nut has an inside thread with perpendicular barbs on the outside that secures it into the wood like a tack. Once it is in place it fits flush with the surface of the seat. Insert the tee nuts into the holes that are drilled into the wood. You can simply drive them flat with a hammer but I like to pull them flat by screwing the bolt into them. I think it lines up better this way. The following photos illustrate the Tee nut being drawn down flat with the 1/4" bolt.



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