nisseven wrote:
. . . <snip> . . . You seem to obsessed with getting a perfect and while I admire your need for perfection it is not the end of the world if you have a little gap.
. . . <snip> . . . In regard to welding around the round tube, it is not easy. One tip that professionals get taught is to start in the most uncomfortable position and weld through the comfortable to finish uncomfortable and in this way you may get around half the tube. To maintain the correct angle you have to move quite fast as your weld may only be 25-30mm but you hand has to move 200-300mm, for a half circle on 3/4 tube.
. . . <snip> . . .
I like your trianglation except the tube that runs to the middle of the top tube is unnecessary, unless of course you have something in mind that we don't know about. The reason I say this is that it does not intersect at a node as it should.
Bruce
Hi Bruce,
Thanks for responding. The idea of going from the most uncomfortable position to the most comfortable makes sense. I've been doing just the opposite and when you get to that last part where your wrist is really twisted and I know I'm thinking, "Aw sugar, this is where I lay the booger weld."
Switching it around and going from "worst to best" could be useful. I'll just have to learn to make a good start from a bad position.
I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with making a perfect weld. However, when I see work that is really excellent, I genuinely do admire it and I'd like to get as close to that as possible. Most who produce welds and fabrication at a very high level have been doing it for years. I realize I won't get to that level, and if I took the time to do so, I'd never get my Locost done! So, it's a matter of trying to achieve a balance between "good enough" and truly professional.
Check this out (Obviously
NOT my work {I probably did not need to say that
}, but what I'd like to do):
Attachment:
Fab-Example.jpg
The logic (more intuition really) with respect to the vertical piece is two-fold. First, the main diagonal is long and thin, so the vertical is an attempt to reinforce it and reduce flexing although the two other diagonals will obviously contribute there too. The second part is more aesthetic. It just looked funny and unbalanced without the vertical piece and for the few ounces of weight, it added, it is worth it visually. Plus, I know structurally it will give some degree of additional stiffness side to side because if things move they have to bend, compress or stretch the tube too, although clearly not a critical contribution.
The end locations of the diagonals are where I expect the major loads from the suspension mounts to be fed from the outboard sides.
Cheers,
Lonnie