The fingers
10 TW
Genius is as genius does. 8)
Factory Direct Worksman fourth wheel trike
- Thread starter Sancho's Horse
- Start date
Sancho's Horse
1 kW
Had some out of town friends over tonight. We were discussing Beijing and I showed them this video, and they were all saying, "Americans are so weird, and smart, and why would you do that, and so interesting,... but so weird," and then one of the kids chimed in "and so coooool." And momma finally conceded, "ok, and kinda cool."
That's right.
So...anyways. Stuffed with every kind of deliciousness, wobbling out to the garage and snapping some half-assed pics of nowhere near finished work...sounded pretty good for the evening. So...here goes.
I have been working on a removable mid-drive powertrain for my trike. Still have a lot of cutting, grinding, shaping, and brazing to go, but it has taken shape in all aspects except weight reduction and making it pretty.
It is going to be a tight squeeze with the Factory direct fourth wheel towing attachment, but it looks like it is going to work out...and direct the forces generated in ways which I am hoping will increase stability to boot.
Now, the bottom motor mount rod is stainless steel, 1" uh 25.4mm diameter, and is way overkill. But...it is what I had.
The upper motor mount rod is milled. I think I did a pretty good job of making use of this, with some accurate drilling. Drilling with accuracy, wipe the sweat off my brow,...I am spent.
My tools are mostly the Harbor Feight all-stars. Only thing I have left is to turn my wet saw into a milling machine and I will be rolling. Ok...not quite.
That's right.
So...anyways. Stuffed with every kind of deliciousness, wobbling out to the garage and snapping some half-assed pics of nowhere near finished work...sounded pretty good for the evening. So...here goes.
I have been working on a removable mid-drive powertrain for my trike. Still have a lot of cutting, grinding, shaping, and brazing to go, but it has taken shape in all aspects except weight reduction and making it pretty.
It is going to be a tight squeeze with the Factory direct fourth wheel towing attachment, but it looks like it is going to work out...and direct the forces generated in ways which I am hoping will increase stability to boot.
Now, the bottom motor mount rod is stainless steel, 1" uh 25.4mm diameter, and is way overkill. But...it is what I had.
The upper motor mount rod is milled. I think I did a pretty good job of making use of this, with some accurate drilling. Drilling with accuracy, wipe the sweat off my brow,...I am spent.
My tools are mostly the Harbor Feight all-stars. Only thing I have left is to turn my wet saw into a milling machine and I will be rolling. Ok...not quite.
Sancho's Horse
1 kW
I have spent nearly all of my time working on other non-ebike related pursuits. Parts have been arriving, but there is just too little time to make much forward progress on this without diluting other efforts. However, I began the work of literally hacking a motor mount out of iron. I see the beautiful machining which people are capable of on this and other forums and I love it. I am not there yet. I understand that precision is the basis of highly reliable performance. This is especially true of anything with gears. However, with the usage of chain the premium on precision relates primarily to longevity of chain/sprocket performance, and the levels of noise generated. I believe that I can achieve pretty good levels of precision with my drill press, dremels, grinder and especially my files. I enjoy spending the time on achieving precision file work. It will never be anywhere close to as precise as machined, but I know that I can create interesting shapes with a grinder and file that would be very difficult to achieve with most machining setups. So, here is a picture of the motor I will be using close to the position I intend to mount it in:
It will be shifted back an inch or two, and down an inch or two as soon as I resolve how the hitch will interact with the Peerless differential I have coming. Getting a solid motor mount for something as heavy and dynamic as this motor is a very tricky order. The approach which i am taking is to cut the seat tube below the rear support bracket. I am essentially carving a part out of a sizable chunk of steel, and the front of this part will have a hole precisely fitting over this tube.
I see all kinds of possibilities in the shape of this. Cutting it is certainly a slog. Quite a workout. There will necessarily be considerable work to lighten the load properly. However, I think I can make something beautiful out of it. I will place it on the seat tube lowering it below my cut mark/s. I will cut the seat tube receiver down all the way to just above the rear support bracket attachment point. This will allow the handlebar stem to insert deeply enough that it will straddle the cuts made for the motor mounting bracket, and I am going to braze it in. I will then move the motor bracket back up to straddle my braze, and braze it into place. Clear? Ah, a lot of reading when pictures are so much better.
Unfortunately, my grinder is suffering from an arc to a brush armature, so I need to find replacement brushes first. I am not sure of the make of this grinder, but it is a serious hoss. They don't make them like this now.
My grandfather gave it to me. He also gave me his trucker Jesus.
It will be shifted back an inch or two, and down an inch or two as soon as I resolve how the hitch will interact with the Peerless differential I have coming. Getting a solid motor mount for something as heavy and dynamic as this motor is a very tricky order. The approach which i am taking is to cut the seat tube below the rear support bracket. I am essentially carving a part out of a sizable chunk of steel, and the front of this part will have a hole precisely fitting over this tube.
I see all kinds of possibilities in the shape of this. Cutting it is certainly a slog. Quite a workout. There will necessarily be considerable work to lighten the load properly. However, I think I can make something beautiful out of it. I will place it on the seat tube lowering it below my cut mark/s. I will cut the seat tube receiver down all the way to just above the rear support bracket attachment point. This will allow the handlebar stem to insert deeply enough that it will straddle the cuts made for the motor mounting bracket, and I am going to braze it in. I will then move the motor bracket back up to straddle my braze, and braze it into place. Clear? Ah, a lot of reading when pictures are so much better.
Unfortunately, my grinder is suffering from an arc to a brush armature, so I need to find replacement brushes first. I am not sure of the make of this grinder, but it is a serious hoss. They don't make them like this now.
My grandfather gave it to me. He also gave me his trucker Jesus.
Sancho's Horse
1 kW
This trike has really come together. There are still things I am working out, but it feels so good. It is what I wanted from this whole experience. I am not going to post everything right now...just a teaser of the front motor mount:
You should see this thing now. My son didn't like it, because it has a bit of a skull look about it. Skulls are normally not my style. I even started to drop it, and use the other piece. But...after all the things I have been through with my life, marriage, this trike, I really felt it was appropriate. All the way down to the bone...and build again.
You should see this thing now. My son didn't like it, because it has a bit of a skull look about it. Skulls are normally not my style. I even started to drop it, and use the other piece. But...after all the things I have been through with my life, marriage, this trike, I really felt it was appropriate. All the way down to the bone...and build again.
