Boca Bearings Workshop Weekly Update 8

This past week I have been trying to catch up on the schedule of the Power wheels car. I started off by attempting to finish the structural design of the steering column on the frame. I picked out 0.5inch round hollow tube metal and a steel pipe that I would fit bearings into for the steering shaft. I began to cut and weld the pieces into place. The process was going smoothly, until Andrew began to look for a bearing that would fit the steering shaft and the inside diameter of the steel pipe that I already welded on.

To our surprise we did not have a bearing on hand that would fit the 1.5 inch diameter steel pipe. This caused a very annoying problem for myself. This meant that all of the grinding, sanding, and welding I did was wasted. I resultantly had to start the deconstruction of what I had just finished.

Once I removed the faulty structure, Andrew and I immediately sourced a proper bearing that would fit our applications. I then went back to the local hardware store to buy a 2 inch inner diameter steel pipe. I had to restart the process of cutting, grinding, sanding, and welding the structure. I started this entire process and I really didn't finish until friday, which is a tad excessive just for a 4 bar structure. This entire process was a lesson well learned. I should always check to make sure that parts/materials are available for me to use before I begin anything. This type of problem falls into the category of design engineering, which as previously proven, is a very important part of an project/idea.

-Kurtis