Skyway 4WD Help

[Mark Pettit]

Be careful what advice you're giving people. Those kit sprockets have been custom bored. If you buy standard sprockets from a source other than IFI, then you will need to have them pressed onto the shaft.
See THIS.

[sirbleedsalot]

You can use a bolt if you are putting it together like the kit does, at least that is what the instructions said if I read them correctly. We will be using bolts for our wheels as soon as we get them.

[LBK Rules]

I'm so sorry, but I have found the section in the rules about the axles.

We still need help with the sprocket issue, thought.

[Nick R.]

a 4 sprocket set (2 big ones for the skyway wheels provided[28 tooth], and two smaller ones for the gearbox output shaft[20 tooth]) ARE available at IFI robotics they come as a PACKAGE and are ~80$ ($@#$@#$@#$@#....)

btw what was it about the shafts that you found in the rules?

[LBK Rules]

In the Tips and Guidlines, they said that a ceartian type of bolt makes a good axle.

[Nick R.]

wich bolt is that? we cant find that part and we gotta order our...
Thanks

[Cory]

Originally Posted by Nick R.

wich bolt is that? we cant find that part and we gotta order our...
Thanks

Any 3/8" diameter shoulder bolt with a shoulder the width of the wheel well should work fine.

[Jeff K.]

Originally Posted by Cory

Any 3/8" diameter shoulder bolt with a shoulder the width of the wheel well should work fine.

Ya, but get it 5 in. long The chasis was made to fit that size bolt just right.

[haverfordfords]

Originally Posted by Stonefan5271138

Ya, but get it 5 in. long The chasis was made to fit that size bolt just right.

what about putting the axle onto the chassis? Do they sell a piece like the one diagramed (attached - sorry im not a good drawler)? Have you seen something like that before that we could buy instead of having to machine ourselves - we have limited resources?

Sorry if this was asked before.

Thanks.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by haverfordfords

what about putting the axle onto the chassis? Do they sell a piece like the one diagramed (attached - sorry im not a good drawler)? Have you seen something like that before that we could buy instead of having to machine ourselves - we have limited resources?

Sorry if this was asked before.

Thanks.

That's called a pillow block. Search on MSC, McMaster, sdp-si, etc for them. They're easy to find, the trick is getting some that don't weigh 10 lbs.

[sanddrag]

Go to page 1027 on http://www.mcmaster.com (just type the page in the search box). Scroll down a bit and you will see stamped base mount ball bearings. The are lighter than their cast iron coutnerparts. Also, pillow blocks are sometimes referred to as "mounted bearings"

[haverfordfords]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Go to page 1027 on http://www.mcmaster.com (just type the page in the search box). Scroll down a bit and you will see stamped base mount ball bearings. The are lighter than their cast iron coutnerparts. Also, pillow blocks are sometimes referred to as "mounted bearings"

AWESOME!!! Thanks for your help!!!

Is there any difference between the shaft sizes, because the 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" shaft sizes each say they support the 3/8" axles (bolts) we bought.

In addition, can we use the polyester (with delrin raceway) base-mount bearings instead of the steel ones? I would think it would be lighter, however under the circumstances, is the increased price X3 worth the added benefit?

ALSO - if we were to use 1/2" axles/bolts (our two front wheels are andymark omnidirectional wheels) would the same "pillow block" work for it? Should we get a different size? I ask this because the steel section doesn't say it supports a bolt hole size of 1/2", only stainless steel has a 1/2" bolt hole size option at 5x price though.

One other thing - say you needed 8 of these (2 for each wheel, right) are we talking a lot of weight here? If they were 10 pounds each that would be 80 pounds!!!

Any help answering these rookie questions would be greatly appreciated.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by Nick R.

wich bolt is that? we cant find that part and we gotta order our...
Thanks

Any 3/8" dia bolt will work.

I recommend: Part No. 91236A644
From www.mcmaster.com
But any equivalent part will work.

JV

[elknise]

Originally Posted by Nick R.

a 4 sprocket set (2 big ones for the skyway wheels provided[28 tooth], and two smaller ones for the gearbox output shaft[20 tooth]) ARE available at IFI robotics they come as a PACKAGE and are ~80$ ($@#$@#$@#$@#....)

btw what was it about the shafts that you found in the rules?

The only bad thing about those sets are that you can't just get the sprockets for the wheels. Our team needs to buy 8 more to get our 6WD working and we are going to need to buy 4 sets at 80 bucks, that is not fun. We are currently trying to trade for them, otherwise, we are going to get them made. We hope to be able to get them for less than 40 bucks a piece

[JVN]

Originally Posted by elknise

The only bad thing about those sets are that you can't just get the sprockets for the wheels...

You may now buy individual sprockets from IFI.
http://www.ifirobotics.com/kitbot.shtml