Ol'fogasaurus black buggy

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Make it happen Lee!

Thanks leather. I got the front temp pads now made and the rears are marked up for trimming so, if I get time tomorrow, the 2' uprights to the front and rear pads should be tacked in place. The wife was out snipping about things so I explained things and showed her some of how it will happen and what it takes to do it. She then backed off so I will see just how long that lasts. In way it is almost like being back on the "board" (drafting table) doing layouts.

The real thing is the top pieces that connect the two rear "hoop" parts together and the front two hoop parts together as well as each front to rear tubes together, the welding and connecting each of the 4 top mounts together, that is what is bothering me now.

I also have an brain fart on how I can check the fitment of the mounts from the cage to the cross-piece for the truss/Kaffer bar as well as the steering mount cross-piece. I did find that I have a couple of 1" dia. hole saws for their use.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Got working on the cage again today and spent a lot of time talking to people as I didn't think a whole saw would work that good. I also looked things up on the web and started looking for way to mill the tube for a join. After running into $$$, sizes of mills I couldn't use and $$$ I decided to try to see if and how I could do it.

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I tried working with this setup and even trying to drill a pilot hole the drill bit wanted to slide down the slope of the tube and holding the tube in place was a problem.

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I then switched over to one of these I have built a while back and ...

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centered it using a centering device. The end of the device is in perfect place if the round piece the pointed end is attached to is smooth to the rest of the device. I then removed it and set in a small dia. drill bit that I planned on using for a pilot hole and made sure that the ends of it matched the angles of the tool.

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Once the pilot hole was in place on both sides of the tube (the circumference of the tube leaves a small open area so you don't drill into the tool) then I put the circle cutter in and started drilling a hole. You have to go about half way through then the cutter doesn't seem to like the return of the circle so I pulled the tube out, turned it over, checked the pilot hole alignment from the new uppersurface to the hole in the bottom the started drilling again.

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I had to do some deburring of the hole and some cleanup on the sides but this is what I got. Got three of five more to do before the upper 4 get started.

Lee

[ninelives17]

Looks like it works well, good idea.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Looks like it works well, good idea.

Thanks.

It is one thing to draw up plans for something like this, it is another to make the part. I learned a whole lot on making things yesterday so I thought I might share the less objectional parts (dialogue) of it. Three or five more of these to make before going on to the top pieces and the bent pieces.

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

This is from today but similar to yesterday's post but with a bit more information (I think) so if you are in a rush... rush off.

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This is the piece of scrap from one side of the tube I cut yesterday. It was buried somewhere (I forget now just where) in the drill press area when I was changing the centering tools.

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As I said, several years ago I made two centering tools for the drill press but this one has two angles for clamping material that the other one doesn't. One of the problems I had to fight yesterday was the 2' long 1" tube wanting to fall out of the locating piece as I was aligning and doing other things other than having several more hands to hold the tube in place , hence I got this one out.

After I aligned this one, as you can see it worked OK for drilling the pilot holes but the tube also was shorter but it still, like all animate objects wanted to do things it's own way but it did help some. Drilling the pilot hole worked great.

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This shows the pilot holes through each side with only leaving a small mark in the tool for future alignmenting.

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Ah... the weapon of frustration! The reason I wanted to get a mill is that is is designed for things like this but a price of over $100 didn't fit my budget so back to the hole saw. When you get the alignment drill in the pilot hole you have to be light on the crank on the drill press as the teeth want to dig in and cause the tube to spin (even when using a normal drill press clamp had this problem) so I had to hold onto it the best I could.

Again, go lightly as the teeth will dig in and lock themselves to the tube and not just once. You will also feel a rocking motion as the teeth dig in. I also, for several reasons have the seam in the first cutting area. That is the area has been re-tempered somewhat and the light seem waste hangs down so if it is on the side they interfere with the fit and you have to remove them at that time.

Once you are over half way through the tube the teeth will want to dig in on the reverse slope so you pull the tube and start over from the other side.

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Don't forget to clean out the scrap and remember... it is going to be hot!

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The other side finished and it is ready for inside and outside deburring and some reshaping.

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Tada!

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Update!

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I got three more done today which means four welding jobs tomorrow as well as welding the uprights to their new smaller based hopefully tomorrow.

It was funny as I was using the first upright as a source for what you see in the upper pix (the long one is one of the new uprights I use to fit check the notches) and I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough stock. When it was all done I had a ~half-inch piece piece of 1" stock left. Now that is what you call luck!

Lee

[Tom in PA]

Making progress. Too bad you're not closer. Could have chucked those up in the notcher and been done in a few minutes. Nice accurate job getting those cut, should make welding them up a pleasure.

Tom

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Thanks Tom. A continent apart is a long way to go .

Us'n really old guys have to do it the hard way I guess. Like I said, I went to talk to several people I know and "push came to shove" and it pretty much came down to cost so I went with what I had and learned how to do it then finish fit it afterwards.

The other pieces I have to make are going to be another learn as you go thing. Like I said before: at work we followed the strict rules we had to adhere to and drew up with we needed; it was the guys who made things that got what we wanted/needed done. Now I have to learn how to get things done.

I didn't learn to weld until after I retired in 2000. Don't do it much lately so we will see how far from perfection I get.

Lee

[Tom in PA]

All of my early fittings were done with or on a grinder. I still do a lot of them that way. I wore down one grinding wheel to a round profile by doing it. That actually really helps, esp on smaller tubing. I'm just a tool junkie and the notcher was another reason to buy a new tool...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Good conversation. I would have liked to have a tubing notcher but (for example) ... https://www.eastwood.com/professional-t ... c3329d1bd3 I just don't do this a lot to justify and the wife doesn't do it enough to understand . This is one of the cheaper units that I came up with when doing a search on notcher's.

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One of several reasons I don't like to grind a lot (in this case it would be a deeper cut than I feel I would have control of) and while I have some rotary files of a smaller radius (I ad forgotten about these because they were in plain sight). So far the neighbors have been tolerant of my noise and little has been said (I do work on noisy stuff when people are usually working and kids are not sleeping). I do do some things I shouldn't but then who doesn't .

Since what I am making this for is a temp mockup to see the minimum access into the buggy limits needed to adhere to (I'm 77 and don't bend as well/tight as I used to) in order for access to the seating but to make sure the design will protect myself and others who may end up with this (if I ever get it done anyway) sand buggy.

Lee

[Tom in PA]

That looks like a nice notcher but, yeah, kind of spendy if you're not going to use it regularly. Along with being noisy, the grinder method takes some practice. Most of us would be hard pressed to get a fit as good as you did with your jig. It does pay to be nice to your neighbors.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

.... It does pay to be nice to your neighbors.

It does!

Lee

[Ol'fogasaurus]

I spent several hours out in the garage today. The weather was nice so except for when I was welding the door could be open.

) The first thing was to weld the 4 1" dia. uprights to their mounts making sure that they were square to the mount. The front ones sit in the pan great but the rear ones, even after adding the radius don't want to stand like they should mainly because of the shape of the floor in the spherical radius area.

2) Then I welded up the Tees. Not perfect looking but good enough to get the job done. made sure that the 90° tubes were 90° to their adjoining tubes.

Then came the fun! Both front and aft the 2' height was wrong and in the way. It is looking like 1 1/2' is going to be the proper length.

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3) This is the mount for the cross piece that the seat belt harnesses attach to. There should be a ~12° angle from the back of the access in the seat to the mount. As it sits it is almost level. Even cutting the bottom off the Tee things would still be too high.

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4) This shows the cross-piece for the steering mount. Right now it is level with the top of the cowl and is kind of iffy. The 2' tall tube are in the way to get more movement to check the mount. Yes, the uprights are at an angle for one reason, I did a cut but had no way to lock the tube in the mount so... the clamps do work well for some limitations but not for locking things were gravity isn't in play.

5) I have to add jam bolts which means nuts on the outside with a bolt access. Not hard to do just time consuming. The should affect all the tube things I made and will have to make. Having everything (tubes) being locked in place will help in keeping the mockup upright.

Tired!

Oh, I did get in the buggy to check things out and everything tipped over. Even with all the beading and other forms of stiffening the pan's floor... it does still flex!

Lee

Update: I went out and put a straight edge on the top of the cross tube (~1") and then a tape at the lowest part of the dash and the distance is 6" which was a guess on how much I would have to shorten the 1" upright tubes.

The steering column would not be that low but where the mount the down bracket off the cross shaft would be able to be a lot shorter (remember the mockup is using ~1" tube while the cage would be 2" tube (I think) so it is hard to keep remembering this at times. Are we having fun yet .

Lee

[Leatherneck]

Lee, do you have a bender? Nice job notching those tubes, that should work nicely.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

Lee, do you have a bender? Nice job notching those tubes, that should work nicely.

Thanks for the compliment!

No bender, no room for it, too limited use after the cage is done, the wife would have a fit if I did.

I am going to add jam nuts to the tubes (one for each leg for a total of 3 per unit) and, after deep "constipation" (yes, the proper word in this case) I am going to go with thumb screws as it is hard to tighten bolts when you already have your hands busy holding things in place.

I have done larger jam nuts in heavy load work places several times before but it is the welding that is the iffy part as it is too easy to get too much heat in there and cause the nut to swell and jam the backing nut (a temporary thing used to keep things together and straight) bolt in place.

Since I did not go to the rear posts I did not move the driver's seat all the way back so I could cut the rear cross-piece. The rear cross-piece is going to have to be a deep "U" as by the one pix of the seat vs. the "Tee" shaped pieces they are way too close to the seat to get the proper angle for the harness.

Its one thing to think things out and another to make sure the "things" are correct.

Lee