Oh man, you shoulda seen the look on my face when i first saw my coach walk in the door with this thing! ridiculous!
It is incredibly strong; made from red oak and with some neat joinery. I actually took a sick of the scrap left over, approx 1" square, and did a little stress test with a hammer, comparing it to some 1" box alum. this stuff is strong! it withstood 3 smashes with the sledge before snapping, while the aluminum didn't even survive the first blow!. I'm a believer
another feature is that it is incredibly lightweight, somewhere around 8 lbs for the base frame itself (not including wheels axles etc.)
i think this thing will qualify as an antique in 50 years, assuming it lasts that long.
ps: don't tell my team, but i want to put a steam engine on this thing and turn it into the worlds first Steampunk FIRST bot...
