Steering 1

The frame is upside-down in this foto.

I've tacked on the steering headset

for the Under-seat steering.

Ugly ... but it sticks.

Had to jack up the amperage for this.

Decided to Progress

I measured in various directions ... stood it on the floor and looked at it ... and decided that I'd go with it. So welded it up, put the seat on, and sat down. Now I need tie-rods and steering. Maybe I'll get those done on Saturday or next week.

It is looking so much like it's "for real" that it makes me want to finish it to a functional point, and take a ride.

Still Thinking About This ...

At this point I have the steering arms tack-welded onto the main tube. It stands up all by itself. It isn't tack-welded good enough that I would dare sit on it yet. I'm still thinking and measuring to make sure that everything is aligned the way I want it to be. This is kind of a critical point in the project. The success of the handling and steering is dependent upon this one phase being properly assembled. It may take a few days before I go on from here.

Here's looking from the rear towards the front.

The opposite view - front to rear.

I stood on a box to shoot this downward diagonal foto.

STEERING -- Argh!

I've got one tack welded on ... but it just doesn't balance with the other one. Nice as it seems, I am going to have to take it off and try again. Drat!

Seat Issues

I built the wooden seat with the closed-cell foam cover as specified in the plans. It was just a little too hard for me (think -> Papa Bear's chair). So I made brackets and mounted a web seat onto the frame. I really like the feel and don't mind the slightly higher CG. (Center of Gravity)

Drive Wheel Clearance

This fork was made according to plans. But the plans didn't take into consideration putting a wheel in there with a drive-ring on it for a GEBE engine. I thought I had about 1/4" clearance, but it turns out that I only have 3/16" clearance between the drive-ring and the fork. So, it is workable ... provided nothing goes wrong. I think that next time I will make the front end of the fork about an inch wider than called for in the plans. That would give an extra 1/2" on each side.

Maybe that is too much. Perhaps only 1/2" wider at the front ... giving an extra 1/4" on each side. ( 1/4 + 3/16 = 7/16") That sounds better now that I think about it ... don't want to make it too wide if you are mounting a "V"-brake on the rear wheel (what with posts and all that).

Steer Arm

Here it is with all those things stuck together.

Wheel attached to steering arm. ...

The left end of that arm has to be attached to the main tube.

That will be a compound mitre thing to tear hair over.

After I make the seat ... or something like that.

:-p

The most Traumatic so far ...

You have to weld the headset part to the mounting tab ... and you're supposed to get the angle just right by visual, a straight-edge, and a prayer. Because you are gestimating that everything is lined up properly while you hold your thumb at arms length and go "uuhhh-yup!"

Anyway, after welding the hole closed and filling in any other gaps ... it looks somewhat like this ... in desperate need of the grinder. That poor grinder wheel is just about worn down to a tiny nub. I'm going to have to buy another one soon.

This is what it looks like after grinding.

I agree. Nothing that some bondo and covering it up with paint won't fix.

Whatever they are called ...

I was in the process of making up 2 of these ...

One for each front tire.

When my MIG welder ran out of flux core wire!

I've only been using that big roll for the last 2-1/2 years.

Why did it have to run out now ... in the middle of a project??

Decision Finally Made

My hubs have these protrusions that looked like it would keep the headtube unit well away from where the disk brakes needed to go. SO, I decided to trim down the hubs a bit. Which meant that the 160mm axle bolt would be too long. The next size I could acquire was 140mm.

So I had to hope that would work.

I cut sections like this off of both sides of the hubs.

Here's a top down view with the brake rotor mounted.

This is a side view ...

You'll jave to scroll down the page to find a previous side view to compare it to.

Another top angle view with the axle bolt and other parts.

Now I can start progressing again ...

Axle Mounting Tabs filed Out

This is what they look like now with the holes filed out.

Ok. It's on the axle ... Do you see a problem here?

What about how far away the disc brake rotor is going to be from where you attach everything to that tab?

Maybe I can remove 3/8" from this side and 1/4" from the other side ... then look for a die to thread the bolt more ... or just start looking for shorter bolts ... or different bolts ... or ...

I guess I have to sort that out before I start welding onto the tabs and creating that un-changeable angle running down to the center bottom of the wheel.

Filing out holes ...

Here you see two 5/8" holes ...

but I need 20mm holes ...

Having finally filed the top hole out large enough to fit the 20mm bolt ... I am pondering the effort required to file out the other one. I WILL do it ... eventually. But I think I'd rather go get a haircut right now ...

If the option was to go to the dentist ... I'd start filing again. It really takes time to do this, my T-shirt soaked in sweat, I come home all filthy and my wife wants to know what I've been doing ... just filing ...

Axle Mounting Tabs

12" x 2" x 0.5" steel plate

Cost me $3 at the local scrap yard.

You don't see both at the moment ...

but I drilled two 5/8" dia. holes ...

after I laid out the two mounting tabs across the steel.

BEFORE I cut the tabs off ... because my little fingers wouldn't be able to hold that little tab when it wanted to start spinning ... and I am allergic to messy blood and missing finger parts.

(Been there ... Done that!)

Why 5/8" (15.875mm) and not 20mm?

I don't have a drill bit that big.

The large rattail file and I will have to enlarge the hole slightly to accommodate the 20mm axle bolt. (sigh) Jack tried to teach me better than to do all that manual labor ... but sometimes you just don't have the appropriate tool ... :-)

The Wheels Came!

This is a 20mm diameter bolt that will be the axle.

IT IS HUGE!!

That is a 1/4" diameter bolt below it.

I purchased it at my local Industrial Fastener store.

Big-Box and TSC don't carry something like this.

I'm thinking of getting the center turned down a little bit.

The Mickey Mouse ears just arrived today.

The top one has the 20mm axle bolt in it.

The ring on the rear drive wheel is for my GEBE engine.

I've got it leaning up against the tree so you can see the 20mm axle bolt in place. I'm sure the two of them will handle A LOT MORE than 300 lbs. (which is more than I weigh) ... just a little engineering overkill. Next time I'll use 15mm axle bolts and hubs.

Still Waiting.

I'm waiting for the wheels to show up ...

they were shipped ... so, any day now.

In the meantime I need to scrounge up some thick scrap metal to make the axle mounting tabs.

FINALLY -- The Bottom Bracket!!

Here are the headsets dismantled so that you can see the welds ... after I cut out chunks in the middle to shorten them.

Finally ... at long last ... I gave up procrastinating

and worked on finishing the adjustable bottom bracket unit.

This is what a mess it looks like after I finish welding it.

spatter, lumps, and everything.

Here it is after I've sanded off the paint

and smoothed it down with the flap disk.

Yes, I smoothed both front and back.

It looks like I even managed to center

the front derailleur tube on the BB.

In Between Shifts

Here's what you wanted to see ...

Okay, so this is where I was starting from today.

in between my work shifts ...

I was able to work on the trike.

I didn't have 2 identical headset thingies ...

But I do have 2 black ones ...

And since they aren't going to be right next to each other ... maybe it won't be so obvious.

Still haven't finished the adjustable Bottom Bracket.

However, the two headsets have been cut-down, resized, welded, and are ready to use on the two front wheels on the tadpole Warrior trike. The wheels are in the mail ... a friend of mine had them made up. Now I just need some scrap 1/2" plate ... to make two small parts.

In Between Work

Ok.  So I haven't finished the bottom bracket unit ... yet.

But I did get started on the two headsets for the front wheels.

You can see the two little tubes at the top left ...

The two headset tubes still need to be cut down to size

after I put the cups in the little tubes and measure ...

so they both turn out the same.

One of the head tubes was sitting around ... 

the other I cut out of a small front fork that was laying around.

I'm a little thrashed after 14 hrs of work that finished at 1:30 a.m. this morning ... the trashed part came because I got up at 6:30 a.m. yesterday morning ... and drove 516 miles last night.  I'm just not recovered even after 5 hrs of sleep.  So, I'll get back to this later.

Under-Seat Steering (USS)

For my own information as well as yours ...

I took some fotos of the steering on a trike made by S&B Recumbents. This steering has also been modified for the use of a tiller-stick over-seat steering.

This is an overhead view of the steering mechanism.

It uses a round tube at 90 degrees to the main tube.

I believe it has 15mm axle Phil Wood hubs. It is definitely NOT very massive ... quite petite almost, but designed to carry a 250 lb. person.

Here's a view of a hub with the arm and both linkage rods.

This shows the connection between the steering and the linkage arms. There are additional tubes that are actually frame support members and not related to the steering. Pay attention to how the 90 degree arm is connected with the steering headset.

Note the chain routing ...

As wells as the linkage.

Here's a close-up view of the axle connecting with the headset. Notice the grease fitting.

With everything straightened up ...

This is a view of the bottom of the linkage.

A Little Progress

Looks pretty straight down the length.

The hammer is NOT part of the frame ...

just a weight to hold the frame in place.

Looking from the rear wheel end.

The next step is to make the adjustable bottom bracket.

I clamped a hacksaw blade on each side to allow a little space for paint. See, even dull dead blades are good for something.

It's been welded up ...

only on the outside edges.

I need to "fish-mouth" this tube and weld it on.