RVBottomly
PATRON
Asotin County Washington (KLWS)
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I'm starting to regroup and engaged in a few sub-projects.
The Wag design for the pedal assembly calls for a torque tube within a torque tube. Because it is side-by-side, you have to make both right and both left pedals work as a unit.
My Commonwealth Skyranger simply has two sets of rudder torque tubes next to each other. It works fine and I still might go that route in this project.
But, I decided to try to do it as designed (mainly because I saw pictures of jimboflying's pedals and they looked nice.)
Layout:
I didn't take a picture, but after this I nested the tubes in some 1/4" angle iron and clamped them in two axes to keep them straight. I also kept the thick-walled 3/4 tube inside the 7/8 tubes to maintain alignment.
Initial welding:
The inner tube has been removed, but there was a story behind that. I knew that things would be tight after welding and the resulting distortion, etc. But this was TIGHT.
I put the triangle in a large vice, found an 11/16 round stock bar and ended up using 5 pound hammer to drive it out. The inner tube is supposed to rotate. Not yet, obviously.
So the next idea was to ream it out somehow. I ended up making a barnyard reamer out of thick-walled 3/4 4130. I cut some notches in the end, heated the tip up to cherry red, and quenched it in water.
I know, pretty sketchy.
I loaded the tube with cutting oil, and put the "tool" into the assembly until I hit a blockage, tapped the end with a hammer to go another 3/16" or so, and turned the vice grips. When it loosened up, another tap. Continue.
After about 10 minutes the entire assembly allowed rotation. It's still stiff--I might try some lapping compound or maybe rig up a red-neck cylinder hone, but even just turning the tube with lubrication shows improvement over time.
In the heat of the moment, I didn't get more pictures or take videos, but I was pleased with how it turned out.
I'm also working on the stick torque-tube assembly. The problem I'm having though is committing to an approach. After laying out the pedals, I'm starting to think this project ought to be a wide-bodied tandem. I'll have to sleep on it a few nights.
The Wag design for the pedal assembly calls for a torque tube within a torque tube. Because it is side-by-side, you have to make both right and both left pedals work as a unit.
My Commonwealth Skyranger simply has two sets of rudder torque tubes next to each other. It works fine and I still might go that route in this project.
But, I decided to try to do it as designed (mainly because I saw pictures of jimboflying's pedals and they looked nice.)
Layout:
I didn't take a picture, but after this I nested the tubes in some 1/4" angle iron and clamped them in two axes to keep them straight. I also kept the thick-walled 3/4 tube inside the 7/8 tubes to maintain alignment.
Initial welding:
The inner tube has been removed, but there was a story behind that. I knew that things would be tight after welding and the resulting distortion, etc. But this was TIGHT.
I put the triangle in a large vice, found an 11/16 round stock bar and ended up using 5 pound hammer to drive it out. The inner tube is supposed to rotate. Not yet, obviously.
So the next idea was to ream it out somehow. I ended up making a barnyard reamer out of thick-walled 3/4 4130. I cut some notches in the end, heated the tip up to cherry red, and quenched it in water.
I know, pretty sketchy.
I loaded the tube with cutting oil, and put the "tool" into the assembly until I hit a blockage, tapped the end with a hammer to go another 3/16" or so, and turned the vice grips. When it loosened up, another tap. Continue.
After about 10 minutes the entire assembly allowed rotation. It's still stiff--I might try some lapping compound or maybe rig up a red-neck cylinder hone, but even just turning the tube with lubrication shows improvement over time.
In the heat of the moment, I didn't get more pictures or take videos, but I was pleased with how it turned out.
I'm also working on the stick torque-tube assembly. The problem I'm having though is committing to an approach. After laying out the pedals, I'm starting to think this project ought to be a wide-bodied tandem. I'll have to sleep on it a few nights.