I found the 1/8" aluminum angle could bend a bit when the front road wheel hit something at speed. A tap of a hammer on the axle would straighten it out. When I designed Rob's T-47 I went a different route and used thicker flat bar stock to thread the axle bolts into.
http://rctankcombat.com/tanks/T047/09photo-large.jpg I don't recall offhand if it was 1/4" or 5/16" thick. Steve On Jul 6, 6:56 am, Clark Ward Jr <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 athttp://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
