Monday, August 31, 2009

Installed Center Rail T-Nuts in Frame

I finally got my grubby hands on the Bad Dog drill bits that my friend Kelvin owns. I wanted to use these to slightly countersink the t-nuts that go into the underside of the frame; the reason being, I don't want the t-nuts to interfere with the skirt. These t-nuts are used for the bolts that secure the center leg rails to the bottom of the inside of the frame.



With the centerpoint already drilled out, it was difficult to keep the bit centered, but that wasn't a priority. I drilled just deep enough to allow the t-nut to clear the bottom of the frame.



A little torquing with the socket wrench, and all four t-nuts are in place. I will either use washers on the rails to shim the bolts higher, or I will cut the bolts down so they don't protrude beyond the bottom of the frame. Or I'll find shorter bolts. Or something.

4 comments:

Calvin Thomas said...

Hey Victor,
I'm getting ready to build the frame you use in your droids and I was wondering if I may ask you some questions here/there.

I have the plans from the group and I'll depend heavy on your blog for help.
This frame is for a friend of mine as his plywood frame broke.
I'll be using birch and hope it turns out nice.
Thanks
Calvin

Victor Franco said...

Hi Calvin,

I'll be happy to help, let me know as the questions arise.

-Victor

Calvin Thomas said...

Thanks Victor :o)
The frame is for Keith/Carolyn in Orlando.
You may know them from Cel 4.
I was reading the beginning of your blog about the frame build.
Is there anything different or changed on the prints since you built your 1st frame?
Calvin

Victor Franco said...

Calvin,

Yes, I do indeed remember Keith and Carolyn from CIV.

My first frame predates Matthew Henricks' blueprints for the wooden frame, but the design and layout are pretty much identical.

Having said that, for droid #2, using Matthew's CNC'd frame, I did widen some of the areas in the base plate for the pocket vents, front power coupler, and octagon ports, and I trimmed the surrounding ribs a bit to provide more room. I also routed down some of the area on the bottom side of the top plate behind the LDP. See:

http://vfranco.blogspot.com/2008/02/frame-hacking.html

Let me know if you have any other questions or if anything isn't clear.

-Victor