I have a power miter saw, I went with the tablesaw because I was more or less copying what you had in your build (sounds like a quote in an incident report, I know...). Tonite after I cut two more roadwheels I'll be doing track #1 while the second set of roadwheel blanks glue up. Anything to watch for on the suspension and tracks if I'm more or less doing exactly what you did with T005? (1/8" aluminum angle and all...)
On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 6:00 AM, Steve Tyng <[email protected]> wrote: > Clark, > > Glad to see your getting back to work. On the wheels, I mainly use a > power miter saw when doing them nowadays. I find it a bit safer. > > Steve Tyng > > > > On Jul 4, 8:48 pm, Clark Ward Jr <[email protected]> wrote: >> I've been lurking for a while, and built a few tank hulls, but have >> stalled at that stage. Mike Mangus (SV-015, with a Merkava building) >> knows this well, as he's visited my shop for model warship build >> sessions and seen them. And, given me encouragement to get a freaking >> tank done. And so it went on for quite a while. >> >> This morning, I was meditating in the shop, and looking at the two >> sets of tank motors (a pair of EV Warriors and a pair of 450W >> Kollmorgens), and I began to ruminate on exactly why... WHY... have I >> stalled on my attempts thus far? Are there not an M60, M4A3E8, and an >> M113 hull sitting in the shop? What's the holdup, I asked myself. And >> while it shames me to admit it, I found that my honest answer was: >> I've been afraid of build the drivetrain. Silly and embarrassing, but >> there it is. So, with the answer, I meditated on sources of this fear >> for a while, and decided that it was a stupid thing to get stalled on. >> Sitting at work and doodling different suspensions and wondering how >> all of it would fit together does not get me on the field of battle. >> I came in and went to where I was certain that the muse would strike: >> Steve Tyng's T005 build. After an hour of studying it and checking my >> M113 plans, I went back out to the shop and commenced to cutting a lot >> of wood, and glueing a lot of wood. I built a variation on Steve's >> wheel-trueing jig for the tablesaw (I had tried to do wheels on the >> scrollsaw... not so good). While the wheel blanks were glueing up >> under clamps, I cut a crap-ton of treads for the track (not sure how >> well poplar will wear, but it'll do better than NO track), and got the >> first piece of treadmill belt in the track jig. At the end of the >> day, I am tired, but invigorated, and more importantly, I am done >> being stalled by suspension and track and wheels. My suspension is >> going to be identical to T005's, which seems to have done well enough >> on the T-34. I have two halves of a roadwheel, freshly cut on my jig, >> and a number of treads with guide horns (and more without). Below are >> a pic of the wheel jig, and of the wheels themselves. Steve, thanks >> for the inspiration and well-documented build! >> >> Note: Using a variant of the wheel-trueing jig to cut wheels from 7/8" >> thick x 4.5"square block makes MUCH sawdust, but is not to hard once >> you have the radius set right. Also, I cut the holes in the pre-wheel >> blocks to fit the sleeve bearings that they will rotate on in action, >> and used an axle bolt to rotate the wheel on as it formed. >> >> ps: My tracks are 2.5" wide, with a 1/2" guide tab in the middle, and >> the two halves of the roadwheel are 7/8" each, leaving enough width to >> have up to 1/8" of space between each inside edge of the roadwheels >> and the guide tab. Is 1/8" too much, or should I take it down to >> 1/16"? I don't want the tracks to slip off easily, but I don't want >> it so tight that they jam. Any advice from the cognoscenti is >> appreciated. >> >> pps: With 1.25" tread length, 1/4" thick, is 1/4" enough space between >> treads, or should I go to 5/16" or 3/8" spacing? My drive wheel is >> going to be around 3.5" diameter, and the idler is a little bigger at >> 3.75" >> >> -- >> Clark in Georgia >> >> DSC00966.JPG >> 144KViewDownload >> >> DSC00970.JPG >> 143KViewDownload > > -- > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat > -- Clark in Georgia -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
