My life with Python trikes Mk1 , Mk1.5 , Mk2 ?

So a little more done ?
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The beauty of modular trike's and being at it a long time means useful stuff is just lurking in the bike sheds.
This frame will form the basis of the fairing mount.

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Strewth you would think it was made for it.

So I need to lathes front to back M6 and T nuts holding the lathes to the steel frame and 2 pieces of 3mm plywood on the fairing floor and lots of small screws should work.

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just dropped on the new mudguards for a look , obviously they need to be about 1" above the wheel still looking good.

I think the faring is a bit high at the moment , my shoulders are below it so may need trimming ?

Paul
 
Ok so nothing to see here yet !

However lots of research and thinking have achieve some results.
It seems in my mind I was confusing building a cardboard fairing and building a plywood fairing , on the face of it they look the same for the same result however they need different materials and use of them. I have made one Faux Pas however that is easily fixed [ in this case NOT ! I shall ignore it ;) ]

So cardboard needs the seams sealing and a water proof paint , research lead to this Cardboard canoe's then I bought his book and a good read it was to.
As I found out for myself , he uses mainly contact glue for cardboard to cardboard and paper plasterboard tape for the seems , I have just bought some of the tape and it's the dogs danglies very strong and already has a crease down the middle moulded in to aid fitting. I shall continue to use contact glue for doublers etc however I shall move to Titebond II attaching the tape over the joints that will allow drying by evaporation and more maneuver time so is less stressful !
If I was 10 years younger I may have contemplated building a canoe to his design then a very light trike trailer for the canoe and putting my camping gear in the canoe .....

So plywood needs the grain sealing and then the seams sealing , this is where poor mans fiberglass comes in , it is overkill on cardboard and actually turns a smooth surface ready for paint into a rough surface [ bed linen cotton ] into one that needs lots of primer and sanding down to get a good finish.I tried to use cotton on one of the mudguards it is VERY hard to use ! most things will not cut it especially if one part is already stuck down [ using water based varnish as suggested by Dale Rider [ works well ]] and it needs darts to get it around some of the corners also more than 2 layers and it get bulky very quickly. So I will finish this one off as cotton covered just to see which one fairs the best through a winter [ well it will be if I get my finger out and get it finished !]

So thinking ahead to the delta with some sort of fairing , front and back maybe I came across paper canoes !
PaperCanoe3335web-2000x1333.jpg


Another picture


A less fancy version - Easy mould method so looks to me like this method may work for fairing's that are light and strong.
I have a couple of advantages over these brave folks :-
a) does not need to carry my weight
b) does not have to be immersed in water
c) I am not building something that big.

More later Paul
 
Bonus is, you can read the paper canoe as you paddle along.
The stories may get jumbled up though.
So may seem more distorted than the original text!
But very inspirational ideas there.
May use paper method to make a cheap velo body mold (or is that mould?).

Martin
 
So first off we need to join cardboard to steel !

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2 bearers are mounted on the steel frame using pronged nuts and M6 bolts coming up from underneath.

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Before they were screwed in place a pair of matching light ply bearers were prepared for the inside , there were 2 register holes drilled through them all.
I squared the faring up and pushed nails through the register holes and the floor from below then wiggled the ply inside over the nails , 5 very small screws on each bearer were put in to try and spread the load.

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Now I need to look at the lid the vertical piece propped up is actually a copy of the rear floor profile I had kicking about however it looks good. The light bar will go and the sides will be cut down [ the hatched area will be removed ] and the 3" is the size of overlap I want the lid to have to stop water ingress [ much like a shoe box lid ] yes it would look much neater if the lid was flush with the sides however harder to make water tight [ in cardboard ] and only noticeable when it is standing still !

I have now reopened an old can of worms ?

rear-fairing-problem-1.jpg


The fairing currently goes in from the rear sliding over the wood bearers , I cannot do that with the mudguards attached as the wheel is in the way !

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Current plan is to make the mudguards detachable anyway in case they get damaged and need replacing so instead of 4 or 5 nylons bolts that will be hard to reach once the wheels are on I think I will have to have brackets for it to slot into inside the arch and maybe just one or 2 easily reached restraining bolts. This is still under review , any suggestions ?
[ the seat nor it's back support can be removed as a solution ! ]

So finish mudguards and build a lid next up.

Paul
 
On with the lid I say .....

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I chickened out and did not cut the whole of the 3" off shown in picture 3 of post #1325 only 2" in case I got it wrong , the front part of the top behind the lights is actually vertical and some low overlapping sides have been added as long as the square part of the bottom part + a bit for trimming.
I trimmed it's height as I want it to be just below my shoulders so little added drag ?

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So it now rests on the top and has a stretcher at the back to maintain it's shape/width next up if copy the forward bulkhead only this time glued to the corner pieces nearest the camera then I can do the easy[ish] bit and plate the parallel parts with a top and 2 sides. I made the top hollow so I can get my hands in to bond the parts with contact adhesive and angled corner parts as can be seen running down the sloping front on the inside.

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When I am happy with the top I need to close in the back with 3 plates below the lid and on the lid itself , if I was making the top from wood I would add hatches accessed from underneath and use it for keeping my tools in , not sure cardboard is strong enough for that.

Now strangely for me there are still lot's of unknowns:-
a) how to fasten mudguards
b) how to fasten down the top
c) how to finish the whole lot.

However still so way to go so plenty of thinking time left yet :)

Paul
 
So lot done and not much to show for it !

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I have added 4 spacers underneath between the steel frame and the wood bearers , then I cut and fastened in the rear three panels.
They are internally tabbed to each other and the seams hot glued on the outside , I ran out of time to clean the seams up outside and hot glue the inside.

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it's big inside ! without having to use the lid space so I may cut that down completely ?
The raw edges need filling , I have some Wilco ready mixed exterior filler to try and then either capping with some plastic trim [ if B&Q have something suitable ] or at least a couple of layers of brown

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The beginnings of the top the 3" vertical piece needs wrapping around the back and the top needs 5 or 6 panels cutting to seal it off ?

have a solution for the mudguards , I will hinge the front portion [ the 2 bends + 3" of the horizontal part ] to the main horizontal piece and retain the hinged bit with a single bolt

Paul
 
Last edited:
DannyC said:
I may have my hands/mind full with the "Driven Drum-Hub" conundrum. :)
Click to expand...

I doubt it , the job you have taken on is 90% thinking and 10% doing [ IF you ever find a solution ]
This fairing is 10% thinking and 90% doing [ and I have done lot's of the thinking for you ! ]

Paul
 
Popshot said:
Perhaps a small bag or two you can velcro to the inside wall or remove if and whenever necessary to get one big space.
Click to expand...
Yes I was wondering about those stiffer shopping bags that can hold their shape and I have some awful camping mats I can sacrifice to the cause.

Paul
 
Emiel said:
You can make boxes that fit in it. It gives you options as you want space for something bigger.
Click to expand...

I certainly planned on a shallow 1/2 floor sized tool box front to back , not really a great idea to have them on the floor however it is so big with a partition I suspect one side will be for shopping etc and the other side can be cloths sitting on the tools as and when.
I had hoped to house the tools in the lid however tools soon become heavy [ and rarely used ], probably not a good idea for the cardboard version many be if we progress to wood ?

Paul
 
Hi all
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i think there are more pieces in this than the whole of the rest of it ! including a failed attempt at a top [ the bit with the odd shaped cut out's now encased under the real top [ the one I should have done in the first place instead of looking for a short cut !:(]]

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the front almost finished , the top needs the lip trimming off and all the seams need paper taping after filing with exterior filled Yep it's going to look worse before it looks better !

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These are the challenging parts [ 2 off ] before I was joining 1 part/seam to another then 2 parts/seam together it all became mindbogglingly hard when I had 4 seams to get right in one hit.

I think I will use cereal packet for the outer shape then I can back it with some 1/4" 2 core board like the rest is made from [ as can be seen in the picture at the front edge ]
Reunited with the box I am revealed to see it still fits and looks the bee's knees. maybe good enough to splash out on some pucker gloss paint although I will use up some gloss white on the underside. May I should write on that ' If you can read this I have rolled my trike ? '

Paul
 
stormbird said:
Hi all
DSCF6228-sm.jpg


i think there are more pieces in this than the whole of the rest of it ! including a failed attempt at a top [ the bit with the odd shaped cut out's now encased under the real top [ the one I should have done in the first place instead of looking for a short cut !:(]]

DSCF6232-sm.jpg


the front almost finished , the top needs the lip trimming off and all the seams need paper taping after filing with exterior filled Yep it's going to look worse before it looks better !

DSCF6235-sm.jpg


These are the challenging parts [ 2 off ] before I was joining 1 part/seam to another then 2 parts/seam together it all became mindbogglingly hard when I had 4 seams to get right in one hit.

I think I will use cereal packet for the outer shape then I can back it with some 1/4" 2 core board like the rest is made from [ as can be seen in the picture at the front edge ]
Reunited with the box I am revealed to see it still fits and looks the bee's knees. maybe good enough to splash out on some pucker gloss paint although I will use up some gloss white on the underside. May I should write on that ' If you can read this I have rolled my trike ? '

Paul
Click to expand...
I think you will definitely get the "Cardboard Engineer" badge from Akela this year. :D
 
DannyC said:
I think you will definitely get the "Cardboard Engineer" badge from Akela this year. :D
Click to expand...

Seems that's me :D

I need to weigh it as well , then if I cut up a piece of card to match the shape of some cr*p plywood I have I can estimate the weight difference should I want to build it out off something more [ maybe ] durable ?

Paul
 
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