Sunday, April 28, 2013

Dome motor mount - finally!

Although it was a good building experience, I did not use the dome motor assembly I created. I had the motor mounted on a swing arm that was attached to the body frame and then held against the inside of the lazy susan by a spring. Unfortunately, the spring torqued the assembly, causing the wheel to wobble and subsequently "walk" it's way up and off the lazy susan. Very frustrating.

I finally went backed to the source and reviewed Dave Everett's styrene plans to see what he did. And lo and behold, right on the original plans were schematics for where to mount the dome motor! Doh!

I printed out the template, got things mapped out and after a few passes with the old Dremel tool I got things ready. I reinforced the spot on the frame where it mounts with another layer of Sintra.  I have seen the area on other builds reinforced with a thin piece of metal, but I need to scrounge something up to use for that.

I mounted the motor with two screws for the moment since I have to remove the lazy susan to get at the third hole spot, but for now it seems very secure with just two.






Body Parts

I have been painting and assembling the legs and other body parts such as the front vents and the octagon ports. The really dismal spring weather here in Wisconsin really put a damper on any painting activities. In the mean time, I fashioned some shoulder buttons out of old soda bottle caps and some assorted washers I had laying around the workshop.

I picked up some 4-1/2" bolts and I intend to fabricate some of the shoulder bolt details next that go in the large pockets of the shoulder as well.