Project 4: Part Three

We began our fabricating on the Wednesday of the fabrication week. We had to readjust the measurements of the original sketch that we handed in as it was over 20 meters of tubular steel. Not only would that have been to heavy but it was 8 times the amount we have been given. After making some sketches and working out some calculations we were able to cut it down to just under 8 meters by shrinking it to under half the size as well as removing some of the less important support pieces. This was still twice the amount but we were fortunate enough to trade with another group for our flat steel.

Redesigning the cart

We wanted to start welding as soon as possible in case their was another group wanting to use it, so we spent all of Wednesday and Thursday welding. By then we had a complete frame for our trolley that was stable and light enough to move around. With the welding we practiced on a few scrap pieces of tubular steel and to see who was the better welder out of me and Lee. Since Lee could spot weld better than I could he did all the first welds to fit the steel into place while I held it in place. This was useful because if we had made a mistake with a weld it would not be hard to remove the steel and redo it. Once the trolley was formed we were able to quickly go over all welds to finish them off and make them stronger.

Lee spot welding

The wood for the exterior of the trolley has had more problems. We had measured all sides of the frame of the trolley after it was put together and with these measurements we were able to conceive proportional sizes for the wood, unfortunately when the tutor we were with set up saw he set the leveler on an angle causing for 3 of our cuts to be off by at least 10mm. This was not a big issue because we planned for an overlap of the thickness of the wood which meant the pieces could still fit, they just would not be edge to edge cover. We have then chosen the best use to getting the wood reshaped, painted and drilled on is from Lee's house outside of 3D lab hours for the weekend. This will allow for it to be ready for next week where we can begin testing the equipment.

Using magnets to square the steel