10-29-2019
Continuing the momentum from our first work day on Sunday, we exceeded our progress goal of cutting/mitering tubes and completely tack welded the other half of the frame triangle. Instead of remeasuring and scribing all of the tubes prior to cutting, we transferred all dimensions from the tubes cut on Sunday by tracing their outline onto the uncut stock. As you may see from photos, the first triangle half is now fully welded!
After cutting, we ground each tube down to have near-perfect fitment at the miter joints. This, combined with tack welding at the frame’s center line while in the jig, allowed for a nearly flat, planar frame that far surpassed the quality of its symmetrical half made a few days ago. This will be the method we use for making frames going forward.
Our next immediate goal is to fully weld the tacked frame half and afterwards, the whole frame triangle including crossmembers. This will probably be completed this upcoming weekend. In the longer term, we are beginning to source materials for the various sheetmetal parts used for suspension, braking, and steering. These will probably be cut on a bandsaw/mill and welded using custom jigs, although we are still exploring the possibility of water jet cutting.