AZ inspired trike build starts!

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I have considered buying a third cheap angle grinder just for the purpose!
I've destroyed many a cheap grinder. The quickest was a 240V 9" unit that lasted less than a weekend! I only use the decent stuff these days. As well as better it's also cheaper in the medium run.
 
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I buy the second step up one from Harbor Freight. They have a $15 4.5" angle grinder, but also a $20. I choose the $20 version. Much better. The best one I have is the DeWalt that I got at a garage sale for a couple bucks! I am always on the lookout for tools :)

And just to quell any rumours... I have ONE screwdriver! :p
 
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Okay, I have to come clean.

I've had multiple screwdrivers. I mean, I HAVE multiple drivescrewers. I mean ^hic^ scrivedrawers, er... uh... ^hic^

ahem

I had an hour tonight to get some work done. I'm on the steering stuff now, and that would be a lot less work if my parts weren't mostly rust! The NEXT Victim donated more parts, as did a couple of other nondescript bikes. The Polishing Wheel Of Death (PWOD) saw a lot of use this evening:



It was pretty icky!

I also cleaned up a pair of straight bars that were even worse, the stem, and then cut and shaped the stem as needed:



You might notice the stem has some cuts in it. There's a reason for that. The stem tube itself was oval, but of course the bar is round. Some cuts with a zip disk, some pounding with a hammer on the anvil of my vise, and this is the result. On the left, the original shape. On the right, the adjusted shape. I have to admit that I was pretty pleased with the outcome. It's my first time doing such a thing.



Of course there's still the other half of the stem to take care of, and I need to do some welding, but it's shaping up nicely. I'm in no hurry, I have time for the rod ends to get here still, plus there's a few other things I haven't worked out yet.
 
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By the way I realized that I mentioned the Polishing Wheel Of Death but didn't mention WHY I call it the Polishing Wheel of Death. Two main reasons:

  1. Vibration. After using it for several minutes my hands are numb and I feel like I want to die :p
  2. That thing is terrifying! Every so often a piece of wire breaks off at full speed. Last night I got pelted in the lip by a piece of flying wire, and this morning I found another piece in my hair. I'm thinking I need to upgrade my body armor before continuing to use it!
 
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  1. That thing is terrifying! Every so often a piece of wire breaks off at full speed. Last night I got pelted in the lip by a piece of flying wire, and this morning I found another piece in my hair. I'm thinking I need to upgrade my body armor before continuing to use it
You really need one off these :-



Not perfect however it does keep most of the flying stuff out of the pink squidgy parts !

In the UK :- Full face visor

regards Paul
 
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If you can, never stand in the firing line if something was to break. What flies off usually hits you before you notice that it has broken and, as you get older, your reaction time slows as well. It is all design to get you to stop such tomfoolery.
 
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If you can, never stand in the firing line if something was to break. What flies off usually hits you before you notice that it has broken and, as you get older, your reaction time slows as well. It is all design to get you to stop such tomfoolery.
I have a variable speed grinder that I use when wire wheeling. The wheel works just as well and loses far less wires!
 
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I have a variable speed grinder that I use when wire wheeling. The wheel works just as well and loses far less wires!
That's a nifty idea! I full face mask is cheaper. however :p

Today was "try to finish the steering" day. I didn't get as far as I'd hoped. The stem I cut up wasn't too bad, but welding it to the handlebar was a nightmare. I won't say how long it took because I want to someday forget. I probably could have saved time by simply starting over. But I'm as stubborn as they come and so I managed to get it figured out. It's more weld than original metal at this point. But it's affixed and it's strong, and it looks half normal so all's well that ends well!

Then the headset wouldn't come together. I couldn't get the bearing cup in on the side that I cut down, so I did my best to file the inside lip and remove enough material. There's still work to do.

I determined to get the whole steering setup at least marked for installation, and I went about doing that. I installed the headset as best as I could and got it assembled into the head tube and downtube. I made marks on the downtube. You can see it here:



I also marked the frame, but I did it after the fact and from straddling it- far less accurate but really, it doesn't matter. I just need unique marks for a reference point:



I got on the trike and started experimenting with positions that seemed comfortable. When I found something that worked, I had my assistant (my awesome daughter) take a picture for me:



It looks like the 6's line up pretty well. I'll cut it at that angle and get it tack welded to the frame once the headset issues are resolved.

More fun later!
 

Radical Brad

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Lookin' great!

Oh yeah, the PWOD! I agree with that and don't often use them anymore.
While I do admit to using a larger diameter PWOD than the grinder calls for, they are scary nonetheless!

I had one snag on a corner and it took the grinder from my hands.
Being looked on the on position, it hit the bench and then swung around on the power cord right at me.
My Jedi reflexes allowed my to duck, avoiding a head strike, but it then proceeded to wind up in my shirt, still locked in the on position!
I will not forget the humming of that stuck motor as my shirt was slowly eaten while the wheel tore at my chest.
Ripped the plug from the outlet, and took a deep breath before checking the damage... not too bad, looked like road rash.

Anyhow, I don't use the trigger lock with the PWOD, and hold on like my life depends on it now!

Full face masks... good idea!

Brad
 
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Today I pulled another piece of PWOD from my ear. I didn't even realize it was in there. :eek:

Two packages from China arrived today. Those prompted a run to the local hardware store which just happened to have a full Bell cable cit for 2/3 the price of Amazon!



The rod ends are 12mm, which is about twice the size I need them to be! I didn't think too much about size when ordering. I'm not metric enough. That's almost half inch! And that's 3/4" conduit there. It'll be a tie rod fit for a small car :p
 
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Spent about an hour tonight just fiddling and trying to mock things up for final fitment of the remote steering. In the manual, Brad recommends having your padding in place. Okay. Also, I think I identified where all that rust juice came from:



Last summer I picked up a garage sale freebie (or was it this year... I can't remember), a memory foam mattress cover. I'm not sure how it'll do as a seat cushion, but I mocked it up anyway just to verify that the added padding didn't mess with my placement.



This is about as complete as it's looked yet. Steering is getting dangerously close to being done! Once steering is complete, it'll be time to finally assemble the frame for good, weld it up, and add bracing in a couple of strategic spots.

So I'm curious if any of you guys have had experience with memory foam material for seat cushion. Yeah? Nay? Thanks :)
 
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No experience for seats but they can come in both open and closed cell forms. Unless you want a wet backside you'll need a closed version. Easy enough to test which yours is.
 
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