Worked on Right Foot

Today I repeated several steps from yesterday, this time on the right foot.

I had another opportunity to drill and tap, this time on the right foot's motor mount bracket. I drilled a 0.201" hole, followed by a 1/4"-20 tap. Like yesterday, this was done to move the motor mount that hangs from the main bar closer to the wheels, so that the motor will reside mostly within the foot shell.




Next, I opened up the base of another shaft adapter so that it could fit closer to the base of the motor shaft when it screws on. I used a 13/32" drill bit and the Dremel with a grinding attachment for this modification.




I had to trim some of the wheel housing out to allow the 22-tooth gear some room, just like yesterday.



Things are so tight in the right foot drivetrain that I even had to file down some hex cap screws.



I wasn't kidding. You can barely see daylight between the gear and the hex cap screws on one side, and the gear and the wheel on the other. Making matters worse, I think my shaft adapter has problems, the gear has a slight wobble as the motor turns. It still clears everything, but just barely. That likely portends of problems to come, I'll probably have to make a new shaft adapter.

Lots of Work on Left Foot

Today was a long but fairly productive day. I mainly concentrated on the remaining things to be done for the left foot.

First, I had to hack off one of the fasteners on each motor, so that they will fit inside the foot shells and battery boxes.



I found that if I followed the H&A drivetrain blueprints exactly, then the motor would collide with the inner part of the edge of the foot shell. I needed to move the motor inside the foot shell, by sliding the motor mount toward the wheels by 5/16", recycling previous motor mount screw holes. That necessitated a couple of changes.

First, I had to hack into the front wheel housing, to allow the large, 22 tooth gear some room.



Second, I needed to drill a new hole in the main bar and the motor mount.



While I was working with the motors, I decided to modify one of the shaft adapters, to get it to fit snugly near the base of the motor shaft. With this modification, the shaft adapter screws on very close to the motor, and later I can drill a 1/8" hole through the middle of the shaft, and pin the whole thing with a 1/8" steel pin.



Next, I cut the side of Craig's battery box that faces the foot shell, to allow the motor to enter into it from the foot shell. It feels like I'm vandalizing a piece of art here, but it has to be done.



I needed to trim some material off of the motor mount to get it to fit into the battery box.



With some iterative fitting and sanding, I was able to get the battery box to mount perfectly on the foot shell, and get the overhang of the drivetrain to fit perfectly within the whole thing (foot shell and battery box).



The modifications to the drive train mean that I will have very little room to tension the chain, but hopefully what I have will be enough. Of course, I still need to build up the chain first...



Despite all the cutting I did on the foot shells and the battery box, none of that is visible to the outside world, which is a relief!

Recut Center Foot Again, Started Cutting Foot Shells for Drive Train

More help from my friends today.

First, Matthew Henricks came through again for me with some more high-quality plywood for the rebuild of the center foot. Thank you again Matthew!

Mike helped for the three millionth time, this time with the rebuild of the center foot, and the start of the cuts on the foot shell for the drivetrain. Fortunately, my unintentional buffoonery usually makes Mike laugh, so he's somewhat entertained.

Stop me if you've heard this story before... I cut the basic pieces for the center foot on the table saw and miter saw.



Then Mike did the dado cuts that hold the channel pieces.



Meanwhile, Mike had all of about five minutes to work on his own building activities. He ordered some incomplete battery boxes from Craig, and is finishing them himself.



While we were waiting for the glue to dry on my center foot, we started cutting into one of the outer foot shells, since the drivetrain will not fit within them. The drivetrain will continue into the battery box. Mike and I both worked on cutting the foot shell.



If I look like I'm going to puke, it's because the thought of accidentally destroying months of work with a bad cut on the Dremel makes me nauseous.



Next, Mike attached the casters. It is a really tight fit inside the foot shell, so the casters have to be mounted very precisely.



It's so snug in the foot shell, Mike had to grind off some of the overhang of the caster mount plate. More cool sparks!



As we wrapped up, we started checking to see if we could drill the ankle bolt hole. Unfortunately, we ran into some trouble. The blueprints call for the ankle bolt hole to be 0.625" from the tip of the ankle, but it really needs to be closer to the tip (say, 0.500") for my 1/8" thick foot shells. So I'm going to have to figure out how to get a bolt into the foot shell without hacking too much of the shell, and verify that the foot will tilt at the 18 degree angle. If it doesn't, then some minor hacking is in store for the center leg. I really hope it doesn't come to that, though.

Cut Frame for Dome Drive

One last cut on the frame (or so I think).

This time it was for the axle to the wheel that will spin the Rockler bearing, on top of which the dome sits. The frame does not quite allow the axle to get close enough to the Rockler bearing for the scooter wheel to touch it, so I placed the wheel on top of the frame where it touches the Rockler bearing, and traced the hole.



I used the jigsaw to rough-cut the hole, followed by the Dremel drum sander to smooth it out. Roy Powers dropped by and gave me a hand with this, while afterward we discussed center foot issues.




Now, when the Saturn windshield wiper motor hangs from underneath the frame, the axle will be able to pass through the hole, and allow the wheel to spin the dome.

Started Marking Foot Shells for Drivetrain Cuts

I barely got anything done today. All I did was start the process of marking the inboard side of the foot shells for the cuts that need to be made to accommodate the drivetrain, and I didn't even get very far with that. :/

Finished Battery Box Door Holders, Hacked on Chain

Ah, sweet pity, where would I be without you?

Matthew Henricks and Mike Senna have kindly offered to help with the center foot; Matthew can help with the plywood, and Mike will help make sure that attempt #3 is correct.

In the meantime, I finished the battery box door holders. First, I reattached the battery box doors, and drilled four holes in the corners of each, using a drill bit just slightly smaller than a #4 screw. The hole goes through both the door and the holder underneath the door.



Then I re-drilled the door only, with a 0.113" drill bit, just slightly larger than a #4 screw. After that, I countersunk the four holes in each door.



Then I inserted the #4 screw. The screw self-taps into the PVC holder. Things are looking good, the doors hold right in place.



I tried working on the chain again with my chain unlinking tool, but all I managed to do was pop the pin half way out, and otherwise mangle the link. I'll tell you one thing, I have no fear of the chain breaking when R2 is driving around. I guess I'll try the Dremel next.

Center Foot Setback, Installed Battery Box Door Holders

I had been waiting for today for quite a while, but it ended in sadness.

Today was the day I planned to install my center foot. I drilled the remaining holes for the outer caster bolts.



Then I drilled the ankle bolt hole.



And then I tried fitting the center foot on the leg.



There are at least two problems with the center foot. First, it is too tall, as I feared it might be. Second, apparently I drilled my ankle hole too low, because the front wheel is barely touching the ground. The rounded part of the bottom of the center leg is forcing the foot to do a wheelie.

I will probably have to rebuild the whole thing from scratch, for the third time. That is why I am sad.

I did manage to get something right, I installed the door holders on the battery boxes. Once the PVC glue dries, I'll place the doors back on and drill holes through the door corners and the holders, and then install the screws that will hold the doors on.

Two Years Ago Today...

Today is the two-year anniversary of my meeting Mike's R2 for the first time ever at Walmart in Anaheim. I was hoping to have my R2 done by this date, but it's not quite there yet.

Just seeing that grungy Quicksilver shirt on the hanger brings back good memories. :)

Primer for Foot Shell Doors, Finished Cutting Battery Box Doors, Continued Center Foot Assembly

The march forward continues.

This morning I applied primer to the foot shell doors, and glued together the wooden channel for the center foot.




In the evening I finished cutting the access doors on the battery boxes that Mike started a couple of weeks ago. I will place small pieces of PVC on the inside behind each corner, and then screw the doors back on.



Once the glue had dried sufficiently, in the evening I drilled eight holes along the sides of the center foot channel and sunk 2" screws into the foot assembly to hold it all together.




Then I flipped the assembly over and drilled the straight holes for the casters. The outside holes will need to be drilled at an angle.



I bolted down the inside corners of the casters. Again, I hope those wheels aren't sticking too far out. I think they are okay.

Finished Cutting Center Foot, Primer for Half Moons, Filed Shafts, Attached Foot Strips

Unlike last year, I didn't have an April Fools joke for this year.

It was a busy day, but still not enough hours to do all that needs doing.

I started off by finishing the wood cuts on the center foot. I found that I needed another 1/2" of plywood to make everything work. I also have the casters sticking out further than half way from the bottom of the foot. I'm not sure if that may present any problems, but I don't think so.

I had to glue up that last 1/2" of plywood, so I hope to screw and bolt everything together once the glue dries.



Next, I turned to the enjoyable task of filing steel. Four axles and three shaft adapters need two flat spots each, to accommodate the set screws for the gears and wheels.



I applied primer to the half moons today. I was also going to prime the foot shell doors, but I didn't get around to it. All I did for those was rough them up with sand paper.



I wrapped up by installing the foot strips on all the feet.

For the front strips on the outer feet, I taped each foot strip in place and traced the circles for the knurled cable fittings with a pencil, to indicate where to drill.



I used a 5/8" Forstner bit to cut out the circles.



For the foot strips on the backs of the outer feet, and for both foot strips on the center foot, I drilled and tapped holes for #4-40, 3/8" machine screws. Those foot strips are screwed in from the inside.



I likewise drilled the foot shells, but I let the screw itself do the tapping into the PVC.



One step closer.