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Author: Subject: "BALL" joints - simplified round tubing connections
carcentric

posted on 9/1/06 at 12:37 AM Reply With Quote
"BALL" joints - simplified round tubing connections

I was playing with one of the grandkid's toys today and had a bright light bulb experience!

Rather than cutting complex fishmouths where round tubes join, why not weld square cut round tubing to steel balls the size of the tubing (or larger depending upon the angles and number of tubes coming together)?

If the idea's not clear with this brief explanation, I can either confuse the issue with a detailed exposition or sketch it out.





M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com

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Messenjah

posted on 9/1/06 at 12:52 AM Reply With Quote
ok a 4 second effort on paint but do you mean like this Rescued attachment like this.JPG
Rescued attachment like this.JPG

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carcentric

posted on 9/1/06 at 02:21 AM Reply With Quote
Yep - your drawing shows four tubes (one coming toward the viewer).





M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com

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trikerneil

posted on 9/1/06 at 06:30 AM Reply With Quote
There might be a bit of a problem welding relatively thin wall tube to a solid one inch steel ball. If I understand you correctly.





ACE Cafe - Just say No.

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Avoneer

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:23 AM Reply With Quote
And how much weight would a sack of 1" steel bals weigh???

Pat...





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Kissy

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:33 AM Reply With Quote
I assume the idea is to not cut the tubing other than square. That means to join some 25mm tubes at right-angles you'd need a ball about 35mm diamemeter, each ball would weigh 11.87ozs/336grams each
Sounds a basis for the new R*bin H**d.
Imagine panelling that with all those bumps!

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Messenjah

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:37 AM Reply With Quote
ok well your calculations are wrong somewhere because a once inch steel ball would weigh 64 grams
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Kissy

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:42 AM Reply With Quote
Messanjah, you're right I used the diameter^3, not rad. Too early for hard sums; 35mm diameter=132g/4.7ozs
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RazMan

posted on 9/1/06 at 09:02 AM Reply With Quote
I think you will find that this has already been done ..................




............ afew billion years ago





Cheers,
Raz

When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box

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rayward

posted on 9/1/06 at 10:08 AM Reply With Quote
And Here




Ray

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Messenjah

posted on 9/1/06 at 10:51 AM Reply With Quote
it is a bit early for sums but im ment to be in an a level physics lesson lol im just feeling REALLY REALLY ill
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ayoungman

posted on 9/1/06 at 12:24 PM Reply With Quote
So was God building a Locost then ! I missed that bit of the Bible

"And on the eighth day, God created His locost chassis"







"just like that !"

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smart51

posted on 9/1/06 at 12:27 PM Reply With Quote
v = 4/3 PI r^3

35mm diameter, 8 tonnes / m^3 = 180g for a solid steel ball.

It's a nice idea if you can find ball bearings to weld to but it might be a bit heavy.

perhaps you could take an angle grinder to the faces that are not being welded to make them more flat for paneling over.

perhaps you could just buy a chassis if you didn't want to go to the trouble.

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jestre

posted on 9/1/06 at 01:03 PM Reply With Quote
quote:

perhaps you could take an angle grinder to the faces that are not being welded to make them more flat for paneling over.



Good luck with that, hardened steel balls a very difficult to grind down.





-=too much horsepower is just enough=-

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smart51

posted on 9/1/06 at 01:19 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by jestre
Good luck with that, hardened steel balls a very difficult to grind down.


You can unharden hardened steel by heating and cooling it right?

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MikeRJ

posted on 9/1/06 at 02:32 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by ayoungman
"And on the eighth day, God created His locost chassis"



And on the nineth day, God created the Escort, the Sierra and the Transit, that he may use the steering and powertrain components.

On the tenth day, Ron Champion did feel the terrible wrath of the angry God, for making so many mistakes.

And on the 534th day, God advertised his part finished Locost, that he may free up some garage space.

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carcentric

posted on 9/1/06 at 06:23 PM Reply With Quote
Version 1.1

Taking all the wonderful input into account:
- the steel balls would be mild steel, not hardened, thanks to jester,
- the balls would be hollow, with wall thickness equal to wall thickness of tubes connected to them, thanks to kissy (et al), and
- sides would be ground down flat (and patched with sheet metal) for lumpless skin appearance, thanks to smart51.

Now, where would we find these mild steel hollow balls? I think I've seen some in Chinese shops, sold in pairs, for some reason, but I don't know the metal used.

[Edited on 9/1/06 by carcentric]





M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com

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flak monkey

posted on 9/1/06 at 06:27 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by carcentric
Taking all the wonderful input into account:
- the steel balls would be mild steel, not hardened, thanks to jester,
- the balls would be hollow, with wall thickness equal to wall thickness of tubes connected to them, thanks to kissy (et al), and
- sides would be ground down flat (and patched with sheet metal) for lumpless skin appearance, thanks to smart51.

Now, where would we find these mild steel hollow balls? I think I've seen some in Chinese shops, sold in pairs, for some reason, but I don't know the metal used.




After all that effort you might as well just cut the fishmouths....

You will not find small hollow metal balls anywhere, they are difficult and expensive to make for starters.

David





Sera

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britishtrident

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:46 PM Reply With Quote
You can't turn a steel that can be hardened into a mild steel by normalising or annealing ..... anymore than you can unstir the milk and sugar from a cup of tea.
Steel is an alloy --- any quench hardenable steel is a very different alloy from plain mild steel.


This idea is a total non-starter for lots of reasons mainly to do with basic metalurgy and welding technology.

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JohnN

posted on 9/1/06 at 07:52 PM Reply With Quote
You need big balls for small angles
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RazMan

posted on 9/1/06 at 08:57 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by carcentric
Now, where would we find these mild steel hollow balls? I think I've seen some in Chinese shops, sold in pairs, for some reason, but I don't know the metal used.



You are right - I've got a pair! They are designed to relieve stress and are for meditation. They have little chimes inside them which could make driving a new experience if we used them in the chassis.





Cheers,
Raz

When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box

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quattromike

posted on 9/1/06 at 09:22 PM Reply With Quote
Some of the older guys, might remember this method was and probly still is is some cases used on hand rails and the steel balls are avalible from some iron mongers.
Just to clear that up.

Mike

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Alan B

posted on 22/1/06 at 09:05 PM Reply With Quote
I always like a bit of lateral thinking....but, fishmouths aren't that difficult to do....for example they only involve one angle in the cut, no compound angles that square tubes need.
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Simon

posted on 22/1/06 at 09:35 PM Reply With Quote
Just get "Magnetix" to make the kit bigger and we can all have magnetic chassis. Stick 'em together in half an hour

ATB

Simon






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02GF74

posted on 23/1/06 at 01:52 PM Reply With Quote
you may need ball that are biggerf than 1 inch in diameter otherwise some of the square tubing will abut space.

not convinced this is a good idea

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