Cut Pipes for Droid Lift

I had precious little time to work on the droid lift today. The mission: Measure and cut as much of the pipe as possible.

Join me now as I take you on a wondrous adventure as we cut iron and steel with a hacksaw.

First, I measured and marked the 1"-inner diameter steel pipe that holds the mast. I want to cut it down so that the top is 12" from the floor.



Cut #1.



Next, I positioned the 45-degree elbows in place, so I could measure how long to cut the 1"-diameter pipe that will go inside. 1" of pipe can fit inside each elbow, so I need to cut 2" longer than the gap between the elbows.



The longer pipe will be cut to 8.0".



The shorter pipe will be cut to 2.5".



I get to make an additional cut to remove the threads on the pipe. I don't want the set screw resting on the threads.

Cut #2.



Next, I cut the 8.0" segment.

Cut #3.



This segment fits in place well.



I cut the 2.5" segment next.

Cut #4.



This segment also fits into place correctly. Similar picture as the one above, but now both diagonal support pipes are in place.



The next cut is the most fun of all, sawing through 1"-diameter solid steel. The worst part is that I will have to do this again later. This cut is just so the mast and boom will clear the car's ceiling. I will need to further cut it down once I can measure the boom against the droid that is in the car.

Cut #5.



Luckily I don't have to cut the 2' long diagonal pipe that supports the boom. At least, I hope I won't need to cut it.

Now I can finally swing the boom into the car, and measure how much clearance I need between the ceiling, and how low I can go and still drop the droid in.



It looks like I'll need to cut between 1.5" and 2" from the solid steel mast. I also need to cut the boom down a bit, as the droid would bump into the car's frame at the current length, as it swings into place.

I also have some drilling to do, for the pulleys that go on the boom, and the anchor bolts that will go on one of the floor crossbeam pipes. Plus I have to mount the winch to the mast, which will require some drilling. Still lots of work to do.