Drive System, Hull, Race.
The hull and drive need to be built separately, but brought along together. Figuring out a fast hull is useless if I can't get the mechanical portions into it. Since I haven't started using any of the software options yet (and may not) I have no way of building either part independently.
But the real work isn't in the thinking, it's in the doing. So here's what I did.
This is the crank from a chain-less drive bicycle. I bought the bike off of Amazon for the purpose of getting this part. I hate to buy a whole bike just for a couple of parts, but my attempts to buy just the drive components proved useless (the manufacturer would
not sell me just the parts I wanted).
I wanted this for a couple of reasons.
First, in a situation where I will be in the water, a sealed component seemed better than the exposed components from a typical crank set-up.
Second, by changing to a shaft right away, I can reduce the overall number of components and simplify the mechanism. In fact, from here I could run the shaft back far enough to clear the hull, attach a prop, and be done. I have more in store, but that's a good example of how quickly I could get this thing done.
Next, I got some chalk and started getting a rough idea of how long everything would need to be. Also, the shaft from the bicycle is at a slight angle from center which will need to be corrected. I anticipated this and have a way to use this as an advantage (to be explained later).
It's a good start. I need a material list for components and I will need a tool or two for the workshop, so for now I am at a stand-still.
The bike frame is an interesting diversion. It has a shaft input and three-speed internal hub. As I was looking at it, contemplating how to make it useful, I got the feeling that it wanted to be made useful. Specifically, I get the impression it wants to be an electric motorbike. Oh good, another project.
It will have to wait, but won't that be fun?
No comments:
Post a Comment