Any designers or good diy'ers
Any designers or good diy'ers
Hi,
I'm reaching out for some help here :)
basically, I'm building a stand for my sim rig and have attached the crude drawing I did on my iPad as a rough idea as to what I m trying to achieve.
This is a side on profile view of the item.
But basically, I'm wondering if anyone here actually does design type stuff as a living and would be ble to advise me on what the best way to work out these angles etc would be (on a scale drawing) and if you have any advice.
We already tried to made 1 but it was a bit wonky :-/
Im trying to get a reclining angle of apx 11-19 degrees within a height of apx 6-10 inches off the ground.
does anyone have any advice that might be helpful or anyone who is good at design or this type of stuff, fancy helping me out a bit :)
basically its a custom made (from roll cage pipe) base for my bucket seat to sit on :)
it will be two of these, one for the left side of the chair (front to back) and one for the right side (front to back) held in by bolts.
Hopefully some of the more technically minded folks here cn help give me pointers seems as I've already buggered up 1 attempt :)
Anyone help?
I know I cannot
Hey church,
Yea I'm not so great at this type of thing, the first attempt was not bad but didn't work.
The pipe i am using is apx 4-5mm thick and apx 2" in diameter.
Its being cut on a circular saw and welded together, however, because it's not easy to manipulate like wood or plastic, we need it to be as close as possible (accurate) from the beginning.
Using the angles on the saw is ok to cut, but is there a way to work out the most accurate angles based on these sizes etc.
I need the feet to be flush (completly flat) on the floor to avoid any rocking etc, however with the metal being difficult to work with in terms or re adjusting (and expensive) I'm just hoping someone here is a good designer or an awesome DIY'er who knows how to get these angles pinpointed correctly initally so we can then mark it more accurately for cutting.. Is there a mathematical equation I could use for example that may help?
Anything you guys can offer will help dramatically.
I'll post an image of the metal we are using and my tape measure :)
Im just trying to get it all ready for my wheel arriving, then I'm re-adding my gold subscription, pulling out my fanatec wheel/pedals/shifter and WSP, sitting on my bucket seat and custom made (tilted stand) joining the driving school ....and... Then maybe ... Just maybe... bash into oldskool a few times just for fun during a few races until he decides to design e a car :D
Have you considered adjustable base like on a washer? Would require a nut welded on the bottom and a bolt double nut for the adjustment, would compensate for uneven flooring OR uneven fabrication.
Having adjustable feet are going to be a must...especially if you aren't on carpet. You can have everything cut and fit up perfectly, but unless you have an extremely experienced welder doing the work...it won't stay square once you put the "heat" to it. Whenever you weld 2 pieces of metal together, they will "pull" together on the side of the weld as the metal cools.
Ohh, Sherb said I was right!
If the weld is welded on both sides and the weld takes short even passes, alternating, and he's experienced, you can get a flat square assembly, but the odds are long.
Also, a few holes placed consistently can be used for adjusting height/angle with pins/bolts depending on how sturdy it has to be? Especially if you have two diameters that can be used as a slipjoint/telescoping set up.
Otherwise, slots/bolt/flatwasher/locking washers/nylock nuts ease many a pain.
If I had a mig welder, I'd be fabricating these things and all over E-bay. ( Also, I'd have to buy a few wheels for R&D/design testing of new models for fitup...hmmm).
Oldschool was right!!!.gif "8")
ok
1. Ditch the tube/pipe and I assume by pipe you mean ROUND. Trying to achieve mitre type joints in round section tubes is not much fun, especially when you consider the distortion that happens in this high heat process. Its inevitable and thats why I admire good metal fabricators/welders. I'm a very middling MIG welder and restrict myself to light gauge mild steel, strictly an amateur. I am however a trained designer and I know enough not to try it and expect results.
2. I would approach it differently. Buy some mild steel square section tube. Its available in a wide range of sizes but I tend to work with mulitples of 25mm (sorry, me no speaky imperial). So 25 by 50mm box section might suit. 1.5mm wall section (16 swg approx).
3. Make a welding jig. A cheap sheet of chipboard or mdf with blocks screwed and glued onto it to retain your two uprights in parallel, at the correct distance apart. Cut your uprights slighlty longer than you want, to roughly the angle you want. Then lay the longer cross section over the top of the two uprights and tack it in place at the desired angle. By this I do not mean in line with the uprights, I mean lying on top of its flats. Once your happy weld it up properly with a series of tack welds, alternating where you are putting these helps avoid the worst of distortion issues but there is no getting away from it at our level. Note that the beauty of using this thin gauge is that a universal persuader can be used to "adjust" things. You can then take your measurements and angles for the second one from the first using a tape measure on the two uprights (and a bevel edged square or adjustable square if you have it to double check the angle).
4. Take that wonderful tool, the angle grinder and get rid of any excess length. Be careful with it. Its one of the most common tools to cause grievious groin injuries - and we would not want that.
5. The whole adjustable idea that sherb and oldschool mentioned. Thats a must. Such thin wall stuff as I suggest wont take a reliable tap, so tack on a nut as suggested.
6. Coat of smootherite and jobs a goodun.
It may not be as pretty as you might wish, but it will be much more functional.
I knocked up a rig for my elite and csp set up last year. Its not especially elegant, but it works and I cant be arsed to spend time on the rig I would like at the expense of the little seat time I get.
Oh, and I just secured a quality TIG welder for my department, so next on my list is Aluminium welding. I actually dread how bad I'm likely to be at this. Seriously, I predict months of leperous looking abominations.
Cheers Poidsly I might make myself one now
Thanks guys,
this is all very useful info. I may look at approaching this in a slightly different manner if this next attempt doesn't work, as i still have this rollcage pipe (4m worth) I may as well have a blast on it.
Adjustable feet are a Great idea, but trying to find feet that fit into this pipe is a nightmare, I've searched all over but it's not an off the shelf item, it seems I have to custom make them, a d again I'm not too good at this kind of stuff (DIY etc)
My friend is doing the welding and cutting and the first attempt was pretty level, however, it has proven to be hard to find feet for the 45degree angled ovals we cut rather than leaving the pipe verticle and having to only deal with the normal 2" circular holes of the pipe.
i will attemp it 1 more time (as we have it all anyway) then I will move to the ideas posted above. It's basically 2 legs for a chair ... How hard can it be... :D
How hard can it be... :D
Famous last words !!
Ahahahahahaaaaahaharararharahahaaaa!
POIDSLY exits laughing manically at great flailing pace, stage left, pursued by the ghosts of failed GCSE Design and Technology welding projects. ;)
Hairy, weld a piece of flat steel across the bottom of the pipe, cut flush to the edges of the pipeI'd assume, and then drill a hole in the center of it, then weld a nut over the hole so you can pass a bolt through it. Probably better to do this with a bolt alreay in it if I recall. Then weld the plate to t he bottom of the pipe leg (parallel to the floor hopefully). Noe you can use the bolt as an adjustable leg, rinse and repeat elsewhere as needed. ( option B would be a three legged design, two points forward, one to the rear, works on most any surface and doesn't need adjustable legs.)
I see my Jeremy Clarkson impression got more of a response than my actual question ;) and just like a typical Clarkson experiment, I am expecting this to end up just like many of his projects, hence my nod to his legendary "how hard can it be" statement :)
@oldskool that actually makes sense, I will do that and therefore can indeed ad the feet directly to the bottom! Good call :)
loads of useful info here and any more ideas are welcome. Basically, this is going to be 2 chair legs connected to the seat by bolts. Allowing for a tilt on the chair to get a f1 style seating position. Any other advice or ideas or ways to attempt this are more than welcome.
Thanks again,
Pictures of WIP are immensely helpful...
Yeah would be good to see how you get on fella
Cool,
Ill post some images of the first one (the one we are not using) and I'll also post some images of the new design when we start it :) I received the new monitor this week! It's all coming together guys, it should all be done as soon as I receive my wheel. Really looking forward to this :)