carcentric
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posted on 9/1/06 at 12:37 AM |
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"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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 12:52 AM |
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ok a 4 second effort on paint but do you mean like this
Rescued attachment like this.JPG
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carcentric
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posted on 9/1/06 at 02:21 AM |
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Yep - your drawing shows four tubes (one coming toward the viewer).
M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com
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trikerneil
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posted on 9/1/06 at 06:30 AM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:23 AM |
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And how much weight would a sack of 1" steel bals weigh???
Pat...
No trees were killed in the sending of this message.
However a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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Kissy
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:33 AM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:37 AM |
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ok well your calculations are wrong somewhere because a once inch steel ball would weigh 64 grams
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Kissy
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:42 AM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 09:02 AM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 10:08 AM |
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And Here
Ray
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Messenjah
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posted on 9/1/06 at 10:51 AM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 12:24 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 12:27 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 01:03 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 01:19 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 02:32 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 06:23 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 06:27 PM |
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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
http://www.motosera.com
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britishtrident
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:46 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 07:52 PM |
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You need big balls for small angles
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RazMan
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posted on 9/1/06 at 08:57 PM |
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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
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posted on 9/1/06 at 09:22 PM |
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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
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posted on 22/1/06 at 09:05 PM |
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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
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posted on 22/1/06 at 09:35 PM |
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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
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posted on 23/1/06 at 01:52 PM |
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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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