Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The race's end

This is a hard post to write.  I am exhausted following the trials of the last few days (weeks, months, etc.) but I will try to keep clear.  Those of you who enjoy my digressions will be disappointed and those of you who want me to get to the point will rejoice.

I didn't compete in the race.  The 2012 MR 340 went on, and I was unable to join in.

The inevitable question will be, "Why?"
Oddly, it wasn't because I wasn't ready.  I was as prepared.  I had my supplies, a crew, a boat, and I wanted to be out there.  Mentally I can power through anything, and physically I can defy logic.  Also, the boat was operating as built.  All the parts worked and it was assembled in time- a little later than start, but well within the time I would need to keep in the race.  But there is a flip-side to that: the boat was built incorrectly.

In a strange turn of events, I overbuilt the hull.  It had too much displacement, which meant that it was unstable and that the prop and rudder were not riding in the water the way I wanted.  I said the boat was operating as built, but not as intended.  In a nutshell, I couldn't get it to propel fast enough, and even if I had moved, I couldn't steer.  After the last boats left the point, I tried to get it going, but I could do nothing to make it ride lower (though I theorized that if I had added ballast in the form of a big hunk of rock/concrete to the back and front, I could get it to ride lower... which is probably true but also insane).  I pronounced the test a failure and we disassembled and went home.


I'm disappointed in myself for this.  Many people were behind me on this project and dedicated their time and effort into making it happen.  I did not treat this self-sacrifice with the proper gravity, and I let them down.  Everyone has been polite about it and they may even be sincere in saying they don't mind, but I mind.  I must apologize and take full responsibility for all of this.

However, I have not given up on the goal. I am not sure I know exactly what the next steps are (aside from getting a good night of sleep and drinking some rum), but I can tell you that this is not the end.  What I have made is a boat.  It isn't a very good boat, but it is a boat.  And from this I have taken a great deal of knowledge.  It's been educational both in the sense of mechanics and hydrodynamics, but also into myself and where I fail.  This is the sort of moment which should be spent in self-reflection, in an honest assessment of what happened and how to overcome the problems.  The last nine hours, my mind has been grinding and processing the information.  There are solutions, and I will find them.  What has been done will inform the next steps, and the machine which follows will improve.

In the end, I haven't failed as much as helped to define a path.  And with the continued support of my friends, I will move forward.  This is one part of a larger story.

The target remains.

Monday, July 30, 2012

riverside

Sorry about that last digression, my mind gets weird when I get tired.  You won't get to see this unless you are on the river tomorrow.

Speaking of on the river, Fenrir sleeps at Kaw point.  It went together and there were difficulties and missing parts, but my cousin David and Rachael along with my mom helped me through.  You can't replace great people.  And that brings me to the tandem pedal division.

Across the lot where I was assembling Fenrir, the Hydro Junkies were assembling and fabricating their boat.  I have to send a big shout to a team that is as driven as me and shares my loose attitude toward planning.  We are not lazy, we are just very optimistic.
I don't mean that as an insult: these guys are top notch.  If I didn't have a crew, I would still be there helping them out.  They lent tools and advice and looked for supplies for me.  They complimented my blog (always a plus) and tried to steal my mom.  Camaraderie is the perfect word.

Well, it is after midnight and I will want to try and start on time tomorrow.  That means bed for me and a silence on this end of the blog.  To follow the progress, go here and get the full instructions.  Tomorrow is coming fast.

Let's have a race.

333

It's early or late and the boat is as far along as I can take it.  
By the clock we are only a day from race day.... in twenty four hours we will find out what I have been up to.  Let me be clear:

This is an attempt to build a boat which will outrun any paddler over long distance.  What will be put in the water is a prototype- more accurately a proof of concept model -of what I will build over time.  I am attempting to test my theories on hull, flywheel and variable pitch propellors.  My minimum standard is to set the record for a pedal powered boat which is a little over seventy-four hours. I will be attempting to beat the overall record (below thirty-six hours).  What transpires is the clear result of myself as an athlete and that of a watercraft which has been built to that purpose.

A lot of people have supported me in this effort, and I am afraid that I may let them down.  It is not the fear that I cannot perform, but rather that I have not prepared to the degree that I should have.  I can only let the race decide.  Knowing this, and knowing me, you can be sure that if I can keep going, I will.  There is not an obstacle made which I will not attack if I gave my word.  A lack of preparation does not validate failure.
We proceed onward, and failure- like success- informs the future.

The target remains.






A digression:

In these hours before the race I find myself preoccupied with matters of the heart.  It's strange, I know, but I cannot help but feel that if she were here, I would be more calm.  It makes me realize how much the presence of another can affect us, and brings to mind the realities of life.  Before me lies the task and I am bound by my word, but the anxiety of such a feat would fade with the right words, the softest breath upon my tired form.  I would ride, bearing her colors, to win the day or fall in the glory of Valhalla.  There can be glory in defeat, but we must fight with a worthy purpose and know, in the end, that we had no more left to give.
A love for what we do as much as who we do it for.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Han and his wookie



My favorite quote from Han Solo is said to Luke, "She may not look like much, kid, but she's got it where it counts."  Ignoring how many times I have used this to describe a girlfriend, I have to apply it to Fenrir.

With a long day yesterday, Mom and I got the hull finished and fitted with all the components and everything in place.  Today I need only worry about controls and the outriggers (don't hold your breath on a test run).  I should be able to sit on it and make everything move by the time I sleep tonight... or tomorrow.  I don't know.  I figure ten hours to Kansas City, so I could stay up all night and sleep while Mom drives and we would get there in time.... Going to play it by ear.  Another good Han Solo quote (this one to C3PO), "Never tell me the odds."

So, here are some images of what we were doing yesterday.

checking the placement of the components


rough cut openings 

a rough set up with parts in place


about eleven thirty last night.  carbon on, time to clean up and get some sleep

Friday, July 27, 2012

Minus Three

It's been a while since my last post, or at least my last post of note.  Tonight is not a big difference.

I'm pretty exhausted from working and then working on this project.  But, the pieces are coming together, and I may be done tomorrow (aside from a few bits that need to dry and maybe the odd rework of a detail).  I have to give special thanks to Dave for taking over the flywheel part of this project.

The Iron Goat made a pretty nice thing, but it will not be heavy enough to drive the prop.  That left me in a spot and I was going to omit that part until Dave attacked it with his experience.  He has a particular gift for cutting through to the heart of a thing and solving the problem with what seems like no effort.  The flywheel now is a 25lb weight which has been fitted to the mid-shaft in the gear box.  The details of it are really something.  Today we balanced it with a method Dave devised and it seems to be rolling pretty true.

In addition to that I got the input shaft(s) put together and did some of the final prep to finish the whole thing.  It is going to be a monumental push, but it is going to get there.  I could test it Sunday, but I can't count on that until we get there.  For now, I am satisfied with progress.

Hope you are all well and getting ready to see what happens in three days.

The pressure builds, the target remains.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

monday looms

I need to sleep, but to keep everything rolling, I wanted to share a bit of thinking that was passed to me when I first started as an industrial design student:

Better done than perfect.

I would add a qualifier: Sometimes it's better to be done than perfect.

Something to muse on as I go forward.  Compromises are made as the ideal is made to fit the realities of life.  It reminds me of another saying by the same instructor: work expands to fill the time alloted.
I amend this to: Work expands and contracts to fill the time alloted.

Anyway, I have an early day, so goodnight.

The target remains...


Like sand through the hourglass....

Literally waiting for the glue to dry over here.  It's 100F and it will still take a while.
Good news?

When the glue is dry, some last minute shaping and then the skin of carbon.  Also, while I wait, I can work on the prop blades (now also drying) and the outriggers.... also drying.  Guess I will clean up since Mom will be here and the house has gone from hovel to hell-hole over the last two weeks of building.

Is the suspense killing you?  Am I going to make it?  Will it actually work?  Have I - the Great American Badass Bates- finally met with a challenge which I cannot complete?

Stay tuned.

(and, no, I don't call myself that... though, if you wanted to, I wouldn't stop you)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Crunch

Am working on the hull.  It's not going as fast as I want and I am feeling the crunch of what is to come.  I can't even focus enough to write clever lines and titles so I am going to get some sleep and give it a fresh go tomorrow.
Just to tie everything into a lesson or teaching on what I am learning or have learned: NEVER try to do a boat this way.  It's insane.  And never mind the outcome, it's still crazy to go this route.  More time would have made everything better.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

how do you eat an elephant?

There is an old joke that asks, "How do the natives eat an elephant?"

"One bite at a time."

That is how I feel at the moment.  Before me is an unbelievable task, but it progresses because I take one step at a time.  It's also a metaphor for my half marathon this morning.  Four hours of sleep and no desire to compete, I have taken more than ten minutes off my time.  And while I was out there, I considered how much I didn't want to be there (I felt heavy and never really found a comfortable pace) and I kept putting my feet forward.  Eventually, the race was run.  And, such is life.

On the boat front, I have a rough cut of all of the hull pieces.  Tomorrow I will assemble them and shape them.  If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to get carbon on the bottom of the hull.  That would put me a little ahead of what I wanted done, but it is best to keep my eye on the prize and expect nothing less than meeting my goals.  If I do that- if I meet my goals on time- I will have a chance at getting it in the water before race day.  It won't be training, but it will give me a chance to know what I made before I am expected to let it perform.

For now, it is late.  I am tired and there is much to do.  But I have met my goal and can sleep.

Five days to go, starting tomorrow.  

Saturday, July 21, 2012

One More Day

Drove 400 miles today to get everything buttoned up.  It took a long time, but it had to be done.  Thanks to the Iron Goat, the flywheel is here and I only need to fit it correctly and balance it out.  Meers-cat is a hell of a taxi.

Half marathon tomorrow morning and then I get down on the hull.  It's going to be tight, but I can still pull through.


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Well, that didn't work

I meant to rest and get home early and eat a meal and sleep..... I got the meal.

Right after I wrote the last post, I let my mind wander a bit and after a couple turns through a few gardens of thought, I ended up on my prop blades.  So, I thought I would just do a little research on diameters and pitch and so on- nothing physical, just food for thought- and a few minutes later I was working on my prop blades.  When I left a couple hours later, I had a test blade and a couple of experiments going to test adhesives and the strength of my foam.
I'm bad about that... then it got worse.
I did make myself some food, but I ate it while making section views of my hull so I would be able to cut the pieces more accurately while maximizing my yield.  Another hour or so, and I decided to get a rest.... by designing the control lever and a different seat.

This may be a sign of a problem, but it might also be that I am motivated to make this thing work.  I should blame my procrastinating nature (I keep procrastinating on taking a break) but I am going to blame a picture I saw of a pedal powered boat pulling a water skier.  I'm not joking.

oddly, he seems to be a Canadian
I find this pretty inspiring, but I don't know what he's got in that thing.  The hull is certainly wider and shorter than mine will be, but his prop mechanism is much different.  I am closer to the surface, so my prop will be much smaller in diameter, but will grab more water.  Not sure how it will work, but I am not trying to ski, I just want to go fast.

Anyway, this is a long way of telling you what I am up to and that I am still working.  Keep the faith, stay the course, and the finish line will come.


Frustrated

Stop me if you've hear this one.....

You can have it
Fast
Good
Cheap

Pick two.

Despite all my planning and figuring and the sacrifice of my time and money, I am forced to wait fot things to align.  I have the hull designed and the plan and most of the material, but I still need something and I can't get it right now.  I am going to have to give up two days of working on this until I get all the parts to align.  The foam board (closed cell polystyrene) I need is available.  Unfortunately, I can't transport it without a set of wheels (as set of four, actually, so no bikes) and I won't be able to get those until Thursday at the earliest.  That is a pretty big delay since Saturday will be spent mostly driving, and I have a race on Sunday (half marathon here in the city).  It's tough, but I will try to use this time to refine what I have and rest.  My body pays a heavy price at the will of my mind, so I will let these days pass with mental work and ty to get some sleep and a good meal (can't remember the last one I had...).

Anyway, I am proceeding and I will be participating.  I will have to compromise aesthetically, but functionally it should be fine.  I gotta put some blades on a prop so I will let you all resume your daily lives.

I will keep you posted.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

mech

The Mechanics are done.
The rum is gone, switched to beer.

The target remains.

Musing on my muse

This was a pretty rough day.

So, I got almost everything built and/or rebuilt that was on my list.  I was a working machine today.  It was inspiring: I became a machine that produced exactly what I wanted when I wanted.  Everything was precise, and everything went together.  And then it didn't work the way I wanted.

Crap.

Well, I decided just before one a.m. this morning to head home and get some sleep.  I could have worked, but I was stumped and I needed to hear from my muse.  No such luck.  It makes me think of how these things work.
The muse is a character bringing inspiration to mortals.  But she is not to be controlled.  Instead, she has her own whims and designs on which she works, and because of that she is both alluring and frustrating (it's not a wonder that the muse is portrayed as feminine).   But, while I will use this word to describe inspiration as much as in reference to someone in particular, I should point out that solutions can be had more reliably: work and clear thought.

I'm still awake because I had to let my mind mull over the problem.  I am writing right now because I have reasoned through the problem and have a solution.  That makes me happy, but it also makes me go to bed.  And not a moment too soon.


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Edison, don't fail me now...


Today I got the notice that my friend Patterson has finished casting the flywheel in his Iron Goat Works.  Looking good.



I don't know what they weigh or how big they are exactly, but they have to be better than what I am using right now.  Let's hear it for the Iron Goat!

My tasks today are to make a task list/project board (I had one, if you remember, but it's on an old mirror back at the Armadillo Werks) and then get to the refinement.  If I work hard, stay focused, and don't get too distracted or try to go too fast, I should have this thing done today and start the hull tomorrow.  

Pitter-patter, let's get at 'er.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Epoxy Boogie

Got my epoxy delivered today from U.S. Composites.  I had heard I may have trouble with the shipping, but this seems not to be the case.  I am a few sheets of foam board away from the entire hull.....  I know I'm pretty pumped.


Freshness

Bear with me.... 

Today is a new day.  We should rise to meet the day with optimism for the future, concern for our troubles, and a nostalgia for the past.  Whatever has come before is merely the setting for the greatness we are poised to achieve.  
That being said, there is a part missing: Get to work.

I have been noodling the parts left and last night I was graced with good conversation which clarified my mind.  As I said, everyone needs a muse, and mine has left me with clarity.  I need to work faster. 

Yesterday, also, I received my carbon fiber.



So, after my thinking and so on, I have what I need to finish the mechanics.  Also, I am going to get the foam and begin sculpting my hull.  I did some math last night (I can literally hear people the world over cringe, and Mr. Garst- my friend and high school math teacher and a pretty good golfer-  just sat up with a feeling of dread) and I should be prepared for what I am about to make as far as materials.  I want to shout out to Soller Composites for the great prices and timely delivery.  I will throw more business their way.

As always, I will keep you informed of my progress.  
Let's go.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Primary Run



So there is the final gear-box assembly with the prop.  I haven't got the crank assembly done quite yet (I did, but it failed on me in the test), but a bit of welding will have it done shortly.  Also, that is a stand-in flywheel pinned to the center shaft.  The real flywheel will be bigger and heavier.

What do you think of that?

on and on

So last night I worked into the dark hours, and I got stuff done.  Mostly I made up for what went wrong  over the weekend.  The parts I couldn't get to braze became pressed parts.  The broken universal is repaired.  Now, I will do a little clean-up on some of the details and assemble with the intent to run.

I can't really work past ten due to work schedule, so I will have to work quickly.  And this brings up a lesson I keep relearning: you can go faster if you slow down.

We have all heard the old adage: haste makes waste.  Well, that is true.  Last night my friend and former teacher in design told me his take (he couldn't remember where he heard it): We are in a hurry, we must go slow.  And today, Dave, my friend and mentor related what a boss of his once told him when he was younger: you can go a lot faster if you would slow down.

Truth, all of it.

When I get frustrated I rush.  When I rush I risk poor quality.  And that can ruin a job.  I am fortunate that the parts broke here.  But had I gotten away with it and finished building without the knowledge of what I had done, I would have been screwed when I ran the boat.  So, I got the parts made properly because I had to go back.  It's a good lesson.

A NOTE ON COMMENTS

I will no longer allow anonymous comments on the blog.  It's easy enough to sign in and comment, but even if you don't want to do that, you could sign what you say.  I love hearing from people who are following the story, but it carries no meaning if there is no identity.  So, that is the new policy.



“What you are to do without me I cannot imagine.” 
― George Bernard ShawPygmalion

Monday, July 9, 2012

Falling flat

Well, as you can see there is no video of everything working.  If you are asking why, I will simply answer that I faced some serious problems, and had some fairly awesome destruction of parts.  It would be easier if I just listed all the problems, but they are not important.  The reality is more vague and amounts to what we face when we 'make'.  Not everything works as planned.

Some of my problems were due to my own exhaustion.  I sometimes get tired and forget a step or try to skip some prep work, but there are no real short cuts in the build.  It will come out, and often it ends up taking more time than it would have going at it in the proper order.  I know this, but ten hours of building and figuring and struggling will tend to make for bad work.

The importance is in my response: I proceed wiser and as determined as before.

"We can fight without ever winning,
but never really win without a fight."
- Rush


Saturday, July 7, 2012

On we go

I took two days off for the holiday.
Wait.
My brother came down from Canada and I travelled back to the Armadillo Works to see him and the family for the fourth.  So I lost two days.  But then, I got back to work.  I spent a night working over the drawings of the gear box after a few hours on the phone with an angel.  And while that may not seem important or productive, I will say this: everyone needs a muse.  And it is always important to clarify what you are going to make before you pick up your tools.

I got some more assistance from Ryan Slebos.  That is invaluable.  He was able to listen to my ideas and evaluate what I would need to get it done.

Not to go too far into design philosophy, but when we build, we are asking materials to do something.  Sometimes it wants to.  Sometimes, it won't cooperate. The thing you really need is an understanding of the material so you can understand what it wants to do.  A brick, for example, will not cantilever.  It wants to arch, but it's not going to cantilever.  In this case, I am asking foam and carbon to be a boat, and while I know they will, I needed to understand how much I would need and what I would be facing.  Ryan was the guy to ask.  In addition, he was able to get me a better supplier and that will save me some money.

I think I owe him a beer... after the race of course.




Today, I laid out the gear box and got to check all of my parts.  The cool thing about that: they worked.



On the left you can see the input side.  The lower gear is the drive gear that I will be powering.  The upper gear is a free-wheel that will drive the flywheel.  The shaft is a precision stainless shaft, and I have yet to cut it down because I wanted the length to help with the alignment of the bearings.

On the right, you can see the output.  The top gear is driven by the flywheel and drops to the final drive shaft.  With a few small alterations, all of the parts will line up and I anticipate being able to post a video of it all working tomorrow.  The flywheel is not done, but it doesn't require alignment and I can work without it.

If this all wraps up as expected, the hull construction will begin next week.

Monday, July 2, 2012

The home stretch

I'm down to it now.
Only 29 days remain between me and the race.
There is no boat, but it's coming.

This is one of the collars which will link the gears- donated from a crappy Huffy that someone found in the alley- to the the various shafts.  This one is for the main input gear that I am using to drive the flywheel.
















This is the final drive gear fitted to the drive shaft.  Note the prop in the background.

















This was taken this morning after a weekend of failure to make the huffy frame work.

The ID of this pipe is too small, so I turned it into a clamp and then used another section of the same pipe to create the vertical support.

This is me on the mill cutting a notch so that I can miter the two pipes together.
Here you can see the clamp I made and the vertical pipe which has been brazed on with silver.  I haven't cleaned them, so they are looking pretty rough, but they should work.











So, here is the schedule as I see it.

I need to buy the material to make the hull.  This means foam board, kevlar or glass (let's see what I can afford), and some epoxy resin.

I need to build the gear box, but I have a really good plan for that and anticipate it going pretty easy.

I need prop blades, but again I have the material and should be able to bang that out in a night.

My friend The Iron Goat will be building the flywheel (he can cast metal and turn things on his lathe) so I will need to collect that and then balance and install it.

I need a seat and some controls.  I have some ideas on the seat, but the controls are still a mystery until I have the hull.

Same for the out-riggers, though I know what they are and what they are made of.

I need to build the hull, which will take three days, maybe less if I can get the Meers-Cat to lend a hand.  So, all of this considered, I think I am more than a week away.  I could easily take 14 days.   That gives me a little less than two weeks to learn how to drive this thing.

That is a lot.

I will try to keep this blog updated.  Don't take this personally, but I will be keeping it posted to keep myself going.  I find that at the end of a day- after I have worked and then worked again on Fenrir- it is helpful to crystalize my thoughts in print.  I am, of course, glad that people are watching the progress, but I am doing it for me.  The story itself drives much of my action, so if I want this to be a story of triumph, I will need to keep on it.

Stick with me, friends, and I will make you all proud.

The target remains, the challenge is issued, and forward I go.