pic: New Chassis Concept

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by chris31

Just the 6 pieces of C channel totally 14.13 pounds whereas the same length of 1x2 with 1/6in walls is about 7.7 so I see what you are saying about weight.

Cory, whats so hard about machining C channel? Im not a machinist but the machinist didnt say anything when I drew a quick concept for him.

Both the cutter and the vice exert lots of force on the part. Square/rectangular tubing has walls that resist forces rather well in all directions square to a face. C channell is "missing" a side which often can make it hard to clamp in certain orientations (for example, vertically you'd only be holding the ends of the bottom leg), and hard to actually cut in certain orientations (the legs will deflect from the cutter probably, leaving poor finishes). There are ways to get around that of course, but ideally you'd make machining as easy as possible.

The 2x1 will also result in a much more rigid frame, it doesn't twist along it's own long axis as easily as the C channel will.