> > So now I have the flywheel from a Nordic trac, three 8.8 pound free
> > weights, a weight bar and two of those set screw hold down thingies, a
> > couple of 1/2" diameter rods, some 1/2" ID washers, cotter pins, some >
> Alrighty, for all who are following this with bated breath, I will detail my
> exploits day by day. :) You've already seen Day 1, so let's see how it's > going. >
> Day 2:
>
> I did more research, and determined that the arm is supposed to be tapered.
> That rules out the metal pipe idea. So I used a bit of dunnage I had on
> hand. Short scrap of fairly clear 2x4, wood unknown; possibly fir.
> Distance from fulcrum to the end of the arm is right about 36.5" >
> I don't have a bandsaw, and don't have a good way to clamp such a thing to
> cut with a jigsaw, so I marked the cuts and then verrrrry carefully cut the
> tapers freehand on my table saw. (That might have been really stupid.
> Feel free to chastize me if that was really stupid.) Then I finished the
> job with a sur-form plane and then with my belt sander.
>
> That 5/8" axle I scrounged from the Nordic Trac will be my fulcrum. It
> comes with some nifty bearings that only turn in one direction, which I
> can't think of a way to use, and some smaller roller bearings. I happened
> to have a Forstner bit exactly the right size for the small bearings, so I
> carefully bored a recess into either side of the arm to accept them. To
> avoid wood drag, I bored the remainder of the thickness of the board out to
> 3/4", then I made up some quickie bearing retainers out of 1/4" plywood,
> with 3/4" axle holes, and tacked them on with short roofing nails so
> they'll be fairly easy to remove. (I didn't have any short screws.) >
> I ditched the angle iron I made up yesterday in favor of a couple pieces of
> bar stock bolted to the end of this. Drilled 1/2" holes in those and filed
> them out until they were just large enough to accept my axle. Bolted them
> on, fitted the weight holder with washers and cotter pins (which I
> bought... So I cheated a little...) and tightened everything together. >
> So now I have a sturdy axle and an arm that runs on roller bearings. I
> tried dry firing it at (inside) Dad's house (showing off) by holding the
> axle in one hand and letting the weight go. I proceded to bash a hole in
> Dad's drywall. Ooops. Damn kids. :)
>
> So tomorrow I start building the frame to hold this, right after I spackle
> Dad's wall ;)
>
> I think this is going to be an awesome little machine. The big punkin
> chunkers have much larger axles and whatnot than this, but I think for a
> baseball chunker, this should really do the job exceedingly well. I don't
> imagine a lot of these things are built with roller bearings. The action
> of this arm is just sooooooo smooth. I can't wait to get it into a frame! >
> Gotta play with angles and stuff. It has to be tapered to make room for the
> weights, so I need to think about how to bore consistently angled holes.
> Might be as simple as clamping a block to my DP table but I suppose I need
> to get out a protractor and really think about this.
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
> Confirmed post number: 16556 Approximate word count: 496680
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