pic: Chassis Idea

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Turning down the ends of shafts on a lathe takes one tool.

Drilling and tapping the ends takes three: a center drill, the drill bit, then the tap.

On a manual lathe, it's faster to turn the ends down.

# of tools is kind of an unfair comparison here. Drilling the ends of a piece of stock is probably the simplest operation you can do on a manual lathe. No zeroing (assuming your going to just do a rough estimate of depth because your tapping the hole anyway) and no measuring of the piece to ensure correct diameter.

My guess is that the lathe operations would take close to the same amount of time for both kinds of axle, including the tool change for the drill. The tapping will cause the dead axle to take a longer amount of time, but we're talking about a matter of minutes which I do not feel is enough to justify changing a design from dead to live. There are a ton of other considerations obviously, but I just wanted to point that out.

-Brando

[IndySam]

Nice looking CAD.

We have done similar box chassis in the past and depending on the game we will more than likely do one again this year.. They are strong, simple and very reliable but heavy.

You can replace the shaft supports with simple aluminum blocks and make chain tensioning and changing wheel drop easier.

You can also loose the entire upper structure or wait and make one that is more game appropriate out of lighter stock.

We don't use welding anymore. Instead we glue everything together. Never had a failure.

[IKE]

Originally Posted by IndySam

We don't use welding anymore. Instead we glue everything together. Never had a failure.

I would love to hear more about this.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by IKE

I would love to hear more about this.

We machine connectors (like 8020 quick frame) that slip inside the 1" square tube and then use Loctite Hysol to bond them together.

You can hit it with a sledge hammer and the aluminum will give way before the Hysol does.

[Creator Mat]

for dead axles we just use 1/2" bolts. We find them to be easy to take on and off because all they need to be attached is nut. Yes you do give up some weight and room with the added material but we feel that the simplicity makes up for it.

[gburlison]

Originally Posted by IndySam

We machine connectors (like 8020 quick frame) that slip inside the 1" square tube and then use Loctite Hysol to bond them together.

You can hit it with a sledge hammer and the aluminum will give way before the Hysol does.

Which Hysol formulation do you use? Epoxy, Urethane, or Polyurethane? Any other information about how you bond the aluminum frame together would be appreciated.

[Trent B]

IndySam I am with gburlison in that I would love to hear more about this. I never thought of gluing a frame together but that may be a good alternative to welding as we have a sponsor who could get us the 8020 parts easily enough (if we can't make our own) Do you have any examples of possibly a 2x1 tube connector? If you don't I would still love to see what your 1x1's look like.

Thanks,

Trent B

About the CAD Model, interesting choice of live axles but I suppose the wheel was the deciding factor.

I found too when I did some of my own CAD models, for things like batteries, cims and gearboxes its usually easiest just to set the weight and be done with it (no messing around with materials, but always use them on stuff you plan to build yourself (aluminum frame)).

I have yet to design a frame like this, might try to CAD one quick before the kickoff.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Trent B

IndySam I am with gburlison in that I would love to hear more about this. I never thought of gluing a frame together but that may be a good alternative to welding as we have a sponsor who could get us the 8020 parts easily enough (if we can't make our own) Do you have any examples of possibly a 2x1 tube connector? If you don't I would still love to see what your 1x1's look like.

Someone should really just start a new thread about this. I'm interested as well.

-RC

[Trent B]

Sorry Rion for somewhat taking over your thread.

Future discussion on frame gluing

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...176#post892176

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by IndySam

We machine connectors (like 8020 quick frame) that slip inside the 1" square tube and then use Loctite Hysol to bond them together.

You can hit it with a sledge hammer and the aluminum will give way before the Hysol does.

This isn't that uncommon of a practice guys, and its fairly easy to do even with 1x1 and 1x2 square tubing. We've done it for the past 3 years or so; however, we machine out nylon and UHMW (and even solid aluminum) blocks to insert into the ends of the tubing. Then simply rivet, screw, or bolt the block into place. The ends of the blocks (or wherever you need) are drilled and tapped. The screw or large rivets are easily replaceable with hard epoxy, loctite, or even gorilla glue (in some areas). And there you have a snug fitting frame connector!

[R.C.]

Here's a thread discussing live vs. dead axles.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=47117

-RC