More Photos From Saturday

Damn we're missing a piece of steel. Looks like it got stolen off the trailer. Hey wait what's this rusty piece of trash out back. Wow - it's exactly the size we need...




Ooops. I guess sparks do melt man-made materials....


Yup - we all fit...

Simplify Simplify!!

It really pays to keep staring at the drawings. There's a bunch of sprockets & mechanical junk to give a 1:1 ratio between drive assembly shaft and encoder. By revising details at the upper bearing a bit I can mount the encoder directly on the end of the shaft, but have a removable end cap that allows a mechanical steering rudder to be inserted in the event of steering failure. That means 6 sprockets and assorted mechanical jewelry is no longer needed. Yay!

Also, will move braces further out to clear the steering motor. The upper 3" angle should be fine with the added bending moment.

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Work on staturday....

We got a big chunk of work done on Saturday under Kevin's expert guidance. For most of us this was new stuff....






Here's the size it will be when complete:


About 60 percent of the steel has now been cut, beveled and drilled. I learned the hard way that synthetic materials don't do well with flying sparks...

Dogdish progress

I finished off the work benches (thanks for the wood Geoff!) and launched into part fabrication. I'm tackling one item at a time from the "DRIVE FRAME - TOP VIEW" drawing. Until we have a welder we just keep making parts, label them and put them in a pile. So far I have 36 pieces finished c/w bevel cuts and holes drilled. We'll have the frame together in no time.

I might make it out to the shop around 9 on Thurs, otherwise Sat. 11am for sure.

Picking up steel

On Saturday, Kevin and Lars picked up the remaining steel for the DogDish, including the rolled portions.





Hopefully Lars will have some more time now that his start-up company (TeachTown) has gone live on their website. TeachTown is producing autism software for special needs children.