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02-04-2010, 10:00 PM
| #41 |
| Quarry Creeper Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Tehachapi, Ca
Posts: 465
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looks great duuuude how much would you say that set you back on aluminum $$$?  |
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02-04-2010, 10:10 PM
| #42 | |
| Suck it up!   Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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But like I said in the beginning, I salvaged my aluminum plate and got nearly 2 sqft for $10. If you can find a surplus outlet or a scrap yard you might be able to find some on the cheap. My dad snagged me some nice scrap 6061 for $2 a pound! | |
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02-05-2010, 01:48 AM
| #43 |
| Shelf queen   Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Internet
Posts: 5,857
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You know, I think this is worth a sticky. IT's super informative, easy to follow, and can be utilized for near any concept. If not here, it's at least worth the sticky in the general crawling section. Good work  |
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02-05-2010, 07:33 AM
| #44 |
| Rock Stacker Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Denver
Posts: 71
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Duuuuuuuuude, that looks awesome !!! You have some seriouse fab skillz, keep it up !
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02-05-2010, 08:26 AM
| #45 | ||
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
| Quote:
 Actually, I've been backpedaling the details a little bit. I didnt' want to overload anybodies noodle with every minute tidbit of info. BUT, if there are any questions or maybe you want something explained a little further, post it up and let me know. I'll do my best to answer and go back and add it to the step of the build that it belongs in. Quote:
BTW: I won't be making any updates untill later this afternoon. I've got some domestic duties that are taking priority, and I need to run to town to grab some stuff. The good news is I mocked it up minus the skid and electronics and it looks killer. Stay tuned! Last edited by Duuuuuuuude; 02-05-2010 at 08:42 AM. | ||
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02-05-2010, 10:13 AM
| #46 |
| Quarry Creeper Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: siloam springs, home of the Mid West Challenge 2010
Posts: 415
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Ok fix me one. How much?
Last edited by dustin keeler; 02-05-2010 at 10:45 AM. Reason: Oops |
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02-05-2010, 10:52 AM
| #47 | |
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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02-05-2010, 04:05 PM
| #48 | |
| Shelf queen Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Internet
Posts: 5,857
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In all honesty though, I probably won't ever be making my own chassis as I'm far too impatient, visually impaired, and too fond of my fingers to do so. I do however think this is an excellent thread idea, and full of instight on helping other get creative on chassis design. I would like to know how ever, how you did you pirate clinger based of a picture and how you went about enlarging a picture to scale to get your dimensions. And again, great work | |
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02-05-2010, 05:19 PM
| #49 | |
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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The Clinger...well...I won't say in detail how I did it, but it was pretty easy. Once you know a certain dimension or lenth of a particular part you can figure out the rest. | |
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02-05-2010, 07:42 PM
| #50 |
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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Sorry for the delay on the update...got fairly busy running around today. Anywho...on we go... Time for a lesson on skid building. I'm going to be using poly for this one, which is commonly found in the form of cutting boards. There are different thicknesses and colors, so just pick out what you need. Beware that there are some really thin and brittle ones...avoid these. You want the ones that are translucent, that is, you can see light through them. We start with a peice cut to width and lenth. It is critical that you cut it square. If you don't, nothing will line up.  We need to drill some holes for the chassis, so grab your handy dandy *template*, and clamp the skid in the vice. Lay the stock chassis plate on the skid oriented so that the screw holes are where you want them. Then using the 1/8" bit, drill into the skid just a hair. You don't want a hole, you want a mark. Chuck up the 3/32" bit and drill down about 1.5". Tap it with the 3mm, then bolt the chassis plate on to hold it in position.  Use the 1/8 bit to locate the remaining holes, then drill them out with the 3/32, then tap them. It helps to thread another bolt in as soon as you get the second hole done. It'll keep things aligned.  So now we've got on side done, but we need to get the holes located properly on the other side. If they are off, one side of the chassis will sit further foreward than the other. Bad juju. First thing you want to do is mark the direction the skid will be facing. It doesn't matter if its the top or bottom, as long as you remember what it is. Here I've marked an arrow on the top side.  If you don't do this, you run the risk of locating the holes in the wrong place, which will also make the chassis sit all wonky. Grab the marker and color in the edge of the skid. Now take the calipers and make two measurements. Pick a hole, either front or back, and measure from the leading edge of the skid to the center of the hole. Again, this is the same marking method that we did with the chassis holes and support rods. Take that measurement to the other side and scratch it into the portion you colored in. Then measure from the bottom of the skid to the center of the hole. Scratch that in the entire lenth of the skid side. It should look like this when you are done...  X marks the spot, so that is where we will drill and tap the first hole. Once that is done, repeat the process you used for the other side. Bolt the template on and get to work. Once you are done, and you managed to drill your holes straight, it should look similar to this.  The nice thing about the colorless poly is that you can usually see if you are drilling at an angle, and if you catch it soon enough you can correct it before you get too far. Hey look, my finger grew back! Sweet! Last edited by Duuuuuuuude; 02-05-2010 at 07:44 PM. |
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02-05-2010, 08:15 PM
| #51 | |
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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Now we need to figure out where to put the transmission, so bolt the chassis on.  Remember when I said I was going to get bit in the ass? No? Let me refresh your memory... Quote:
So that left me with two choices....try to rebend the chassis (bad idea) or fatten this beeotch up. I can always make new supports, but if the chassis were to break (as aluminum will if you mess with it too much) I'd be pissed and this thread would be over. I chose to make it wider. Once you get the trans sitting where you want it, make a little mark to refer to, then grab the next template. Look familiar?  I cut that out of my old stock skid. Comes in pretty handy. Basically what you do is put it where you want it, drill one hole, drop a bolt in it, drill another in the opposite corner, drop a bolt in that, then do the other two. Always drill from the side that the actual part is going to be mounted to. That way, if your bit goes askew on the way through, the bolt will still hit home, though it may be a little cockeyed. Since we don't want bolt heads getting caught on rocks and junk, we need to countersink them. Since I'm all out of flatheads, I'm going to use regular socket head screws. I use a drill bit that is pretty close or just a bit smaller than the head, and slowly start drilling down a little at a time. Stick the screw in to see if its flush, if not drill it out just a bit more. When you're done, this is what you'll have...  Now we need to cut notches for our links. Using the marker, color in the area where your links are going to go. With the caliper, measure the width of the ball ends on the links you will be using. Scratch that into colored areas, keeping one blade on the edge of the skid. Here is this one all marked out.  I like to keep my front links as far out as possible so that the chassis is less prone to get hung up on stuff. The rears are inboarded. Be careful not to go nuts inboarding your links. If you cut them out deeper than you can drill or tap, you just wasted your skid. :-( Here I've gotten everything cut out, and trimmed the front and rear of the skid to match the angle on the chassis. Be very careful notching for your links, and cut INSIDE the lines, not on them. Test fit a link, and if its too tight, use the babbet file to open it up a bit. If they are too loose, they'll bang around and be sloppy. Too tight, and you'll have a hell of a time getting them installed.  And there is your basic skid. Clean the ink off of it, bolt it in and go to town! However, there is more you can do... Last edited by Duuuuuuuude; 02-05-2010 at 08:31 PM. | |
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02-05-2010, 08:28 PM
| #52 |
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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Since my Dremel came with a router collar, I figured I'd put it to use. You've probably seen the skids with the channels cut into them, and that is what we are going to do. I use a Dremel router bit for this, though you can use the high speed cutter. One thing to note is that you have to move quick with your cuts. If you go slow and steady the poly will melt and you'll have a bunch of little super hot balls of plastic flying everywhere, not to mention a boogered up looking channel. Since its hard to be fast and follow a straight line, I made a guide out of some scrap aluminum and wood. This gives me something to hold the Dremel tight against while I cut, and won't allow it to wobble around. Basically you loosen the screws, slip the skid into place, tighten the screws, fire up the Dremel and buzz it across. Easy! You don't need to hog out halfway through the material. All you need is a few 16th's deep cuts to help keep your rig from sliding sideways when it gets high centered.  Here we've got the channels cut, now were going to smooth out the bottom side of the skid with the babbet file.  I like to shape the front and rear edges so that they are rounded, and I also smooth the face to get rid of the bumpy stuff. Its also a good idea to hit all the edges to flatten out your saw marks.  Once that is all done, clean up all the fuzzies with a razor knife and you are ready to rock.  |
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02-05-2010, 10:17 PM
| #53 |
| Rock Crawler Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Maple Ridge, BC, CANADA
Posts: 592
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here an  you should make the chassis skinnier! let motor hang out the side a little.
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02-05-2010, 10:23 PM
| #54 |
| Rock Crawler Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: maple ridge
Posts: 627
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ya skinny up the chassis. you got at least 1/4 of room on the tranny side
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02-05-2010, 10:52 PM
| #55 |
| Quarry Creeper Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Tehachapi, Ca
Posts: 465
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it turned out nice. good job |
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02-05-2010, 10:54 PM
| #56 |
| Pebble Pounder Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Raleigh NC
Posts: 187
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looks great giving me a lot of ideas for a next project.. one question though, where did you get the cutting board? I have no hobby shops around me and fastenal can order delrin but its like a 4'x8' sheet. Any place I can get that cutting board that is not going to break the bank?Zack |
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02-05-2010, 11:15 PM
| #57 | |||
| Suck it up! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 11,652
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Quote:
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Delrin sheet can be bought by the square foot and rod by the foot from http://www.mcmaster.com/##. | |||
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02-05-2010, 11:57 PM
| #58 | |
| Rock Crawler Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Maple Ridge, BC, CANADA
Posts: 592
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02-06-2010, 12:08 AM
| #59 |
| I joined the Band! Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Sacramento
Posts: 1,303
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first class bench work !... now my question is after all of that work how cheap does 59 dollar chassis seem  plated and packaged..
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02-06-2010, 03:36 AM
| #60 |
| Try to Bend it   Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Perth Australia
Posts: 3,163
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Awesome build and write up duuuuuuuuuude. tom@vp: $59 is cheap but with this you get the sense of personal achievement and a one off chassis. Plus he has provided an awesome lesson for those with tool experience. thanks Dude. |
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