Sabertooth 2x24

Bought a Sabertooth 2x24 for foot motor control from local builder Mike Gruhala as he had an extra one.  Been reading the product docs today.

Shoulder Hubs complete

So the shoulder hubs are completely done and ready to mount the the frame ( once the frame is actually done ).  There is a lot of filing to just get all the glue surfaces smooth and ready for the weld-on #3.  

The plans call for bolts that are 2 1/4" but those aren't available locally.  Frank's assembly instructions do provide a link to an online provider, I just was to impatient so I have 2 1/2" bolts.  Frank says you can grind off the extra 1/4" but for now I'm just planning to put a second nut on top.  I think it won't be in the way and should help lock the nuts so they don't loosen over time easily.

(The bolts shown here are actually 2" bolts I mistakenly bought first.  I forgot that the bolt had to go through another styrene plate.  Silly me.)

Once I got the frame bits smoothed and glued with the 2 1/2" bolts inserted I added the styrene skin.  I had planned to use metallic duct tape to cover the styrene skin as recommended by a Frank but local builder Mike Ghrula suggested I use duct flashing instead and WOW do I love it.  I did still use the tape to cover the flashing seam.  The sea will be facing down once attached to the frame so it will not be seen unless someone goes looking for it.

I used a small MDF piece with holes drilled through so I could easily flush the skin edge on one edge and also make wpsure it went on straight.

You can see on the hub in the back that I used some hose clamps to hold the skins while the glue dries.  I learned shortly after this picture was taken that while the clamps work wonders appling pressure all the way around, the clamp screw assembly scratches up the Alu underneath it.  I started using a piece of scrap Alu under the screw assembly afterwards which did the job of keeping the clamp from scratching up the Alu skin.

R2 blue

So I have my own take on the R2 blue and I painted all the dome panels.  Here are a couple in different light.  It's just Dupli-Color MS400 Metal Specks Ocean Blue I found at an automotive parts store.  In the in person In the sun the metal flecks real look nice.

Rocker and MDF ring

So first attempt at the dome MDF ring didn't work out.  In trying to get the out dimensions uniform I made it too small but just a hair.  With the new router table I was able to knock out a new ring in a matter of minutes.  Yay!

The router table let me do a uniform outer dimension and also chamfer (?) the top edge so it fits inside the dome better.  I also cut in grooves to avoid a couple things inside the dome like the PSI holder bracket ( groove shown ) and one HP.

( yup, there in the background is my rocker bearing.)

So I was able to center the holes for rocker bolts to pass through the bottom Rong and MDF by using the little rubber tile placement crosses.  I cut them in half to make little L's and then placed them around between the inside of the  bottom ring and the MDF ring.  This centered the MDF ring nicely so I was just able to drill through them both together.

Getting ready for KC Maker's Faire

Ok so I've been busy and not updating the build log.  Shame on me.  Got the rocker, frame, skirt, arm box, and shoulder hubs in.  Got some work on each of them but the hubs are actually done.  I'll put up individual posts for each so there isn't just one huge post.

I also picked up a router table on the way back from St. Louis a couple months ago.  Very handy for my MDF ring though I wasn't able to get the bottom of my dome inner skin to a uniform height and wound up over doing it so there won't be any gap between the two bottom rings.  Going to really figure out how to use this thing.