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Save all your scrap materials unless it is just totally obvious they are no longer useful!

You may be tempted to throw away wood, metal or plastic scrap, especially small pieces, but DON'T DO IT. Over time you will need to make many small jigs or tools to help you measure things, hold things in position, make a mock-up or make a special tool that you only use once, but for a critical task. Don't find yourself stuck looking for materials and having to waste half an afternoon going to a local hardware store, lumber yard or steel supplier to buy big pieces when you only need small ones. Make a place or places where you can squirrel such material away. It will pay off over time.

Wood can really be your friend. It's easy to work with, spans long distances cheaply (keep big pieces too, obviously) and can be used to make pretty accurate jigs while building components for your Locost. Also, it can be cut square with now commonly available, and pretty cheap, electric saws. If you look for sales, you can get one brand new for about $90 USD. Over the course of your project that's not much to spend and the tool is useful for many other household jobs as well.

Here's my four year accumulation of wood and plastic:


Keep every scrap of plywood too. It is highly useful. I even keep the stuff they use to mount my inexpensive Chinese tools on when they ship it. Some is junk, but there is some high quality ply as well:


And, all the little cut-offs and block - save those too:


Here's some stuff you can do with this saw and wood scraps and a decent saw:


Ride height gauge. No need to eyeball or measure. Just slip it under a chassis rail and adjust by feel


Need an El Cheapo wheel chock for your low profile tire? Here they are. Like for 50 cents!


I needed a nice straight edge to measure to from the rear axle brake flange to the chassis. A nice straight piece of dried wood did the trick in a minute.



I'm always fining a use for scraps as backing, or to position pieces, for drilling on the drill press. I keep a pile of scrap at the base of my drill press for just that purpose.


You can make some "serious" jigs too. Here's one built from scrap wood and pieces of aluminum angle that position the rear axle quite precisely (within 1 mm?) in the chassis while I design the rear suspension pieces.


Do the same with metal. These small pieces will get used somewhere eventually. Shown are two simple, scrap tools that allow me to position the height of my live rear axle using scissors jacks. They were made from cut-offs sitting around.


Happy fabricating!

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

When our son came home after being discharged from the Marines, he brought with him a very well made wooden box made for transporting artillery shells I would assume. It is approximately 36"x 18"x 12". I immediately gave it a home in my garage, and designated it our scrap steel receptacle.

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Mike - Read my story at http://twinlakesseven.blogspot.com/

Scrap wood is great! I was having a problem reassembling the transverse spring on my Cushman. It was about 1-1/2" short of where it needed to be. I needed to compress the spring to lengthen the distance between the eyes. Scrap wood to the rescue! I always have a few pieces around the drill press when drilling too.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766