A new toy for the grandkids

[ssooty]

Hi everyone,

Just a short one for those of you that are currently building or thinking of building a toy for either kids/grandkids or your self. I started this project during the Easter hols this year and having some help from the apprentices at college finally managed to get it rolling this last weekend.

My message to you is this. All the hard work, blood sweat and tears  while you are struggling, swearing and cursing is finally worth it when you see the massive smile on the kids face when they finally get their hands on the wheel  . Start with the plans, read items on the forum and don't be affraid of making mistakes and finally you will have a toy to be proud of and kids/grandkids that will be proud of you for building it for them.

My problem now is I don't have a garden big enough, I need to make and extension for my trailer and am now considering building a miniature garage to store it in. 

I hope this link work from my fb account

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/video/video.php?v=2183649556940


Steve

[Anthony]

The link would probably work Steve but you need to be a member of facebook to view it. Other members upload to youtube although I have never tried it.

Anthony

[ssooty]

Thanks Anthony,

I did once load a video on youtube but will have to refresh my memory later tonight.

Steve

[ssooty]

Hi all sorry for the delay I hope this will work. It's based on a Shoprider mobility scooter that I had to trim down a little on the width, the main accelarator is the potentiometer off the tiller of the scooter and the gear change forward/reverse is a 2 pole 3 position switch that is operated through a linkage like an autobox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp6r0-ysGv8

On the subject of the steering mechanisms, I was at college on friday and whilst playing with a hand drill in the workshop suddenly realised that it may be possible to use it as a steering mechanism. it's one of those hand drills with a large round gear which drives 2 bevel gears. Buy shortening the main body and removing the chuck to attach the steering rod you should be able to convert 2 full revolutions to a full 180° rotation of the main crank which would give maximum throw of the steering linkage.

I know the existing mechanism is great but think it coulld be improved and make it easier to turn especially for little ones at slow speeds or stop.

Would be interested to know if anyone has tried this or anything similar. One other thing, many thanks to you all for putting excellent comments, reviews and suggestion on the site and to Richard for his assistance and encouragement via Bradford College and Brian.

Keep building

Steve

[electric4fun]

Hi Steve,

indeed this are called sattelite gears, (and it are 3 bevel gears :-)

altough standard no reduction is needed , the default design should work on the recommended wheels, some customers (like me) added this type of reductions to the steering but mainly because of deviations from the standard, for me i used very wide tires causing steering to become almost impossible, even with a larger steer .

I used those from a salvaged mobility scooter, dismantling revealed some usefull gears, i made new holding plates an squeezed the outer gear flush. benefit is that all is 'inline' (principal is the same)



best regards,
Luc

[ssooty]

Hi Luc,

Thanks for your reply, looks very complicated, I like to try to keep things simple. I tried to upload photos last night but had problems, probably because the file size so I'll try again.

Hopefully the photos will display below. Basically if you remove the chuck and secure this end to the steering bar and then remove the winding handle and attach the steering linkage to the front wheels this should give the required action. The amount of movement can then be controlled by adjusting the position of the linkage on the handle, more movement move further out, less movement move towards the centre.

Steve

[electric4fun]

Hi Steve,

ok got it now :-) , i was confused , tought you talked about an electrical power drill ..

good thinking .. let us know how it turns out ..

best regards,
Luc

[ssooty]

Hi Luc,

Were also building a geepster at college so not sure whether to try the steering mod out on that, or do I build another model to try it myself ,. . . . .hmmmmmm . . . what a dilema  .

Steve

[electric4fun]

if you are not sure , stick to the default design , its a proven concept for many years

 later when you are more confident you can start gradually upgrading elements.

best regards,

Luc

[luvbus]

A nice solution. 

You might want to check how much 'backlash' there is in the drill gears it may make the steering vague if there is too much play in the system.

It could be possible to add shims to tighten things up if there is too much play.

[ssooty]

That's a good point luvbus and a sensible suggestion from Luc.

I have made and modified most of the build so far and feel very lucky being an engineer and working at college I have most of the equipment I need, if not I can do it at home.

I have just had a quick look and it appears quite a good fit. The drill I have has 2 bevel gears which would make it better, there is some end play (0.3mm) in the main shaft (chuck drive) and about 0.1mm in the main crank which only gives about 1°-2° of play in the main shaft. As a mod I could bore out the main crank and insert a bearing giving additional strength to the pivot. I reckon it would be no worse than the feeling between a badly drilled and bolted hole in the existing design, just thought it would give a more natural feel with 2 full turns of the steering wheel from lock to lock.

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions, just wondered if anyone had tried it before, don't like re-inventing the wheel or trying something that may have unseen problems. Also thought it might be easier and stronger than using a window winder mechanism.

Steve

[brian]

Hello Steve,

Was it you who visited my house with your wife to view my grandsons red T2?

Regards,

Brian.

[luvbus]

I like the idea of the hand drill.

I have been looking at steering quadrants from garden tractors and kick start quadrants from mopeds/motor bikes but the drill would take much less fabricating/engineering along with the added bonus of being cheaper!

[ssooty]

Hi Brian,
I work with Brian who came over with Julie to see your toylander back in march I think, I attach a photo of him taken today outside college. Since it was the last day of teaching today I decided to take mine in to show the lads, let them have a play and generate some interest for next year. It did all that and much more, I think the teachers got more of a buzz out of it than the kids.
Brian is still building the Geepster but hopes to have it running by the end of next week, he will be getting a little help from a student who has agreed to come in and help even though we have finished teaching. We are now thinking of how we can incorporate making a new one next year and inclue students making parts and doing research on materials, processes, design and manufacture etc.
How are you doing with your toylander, I undertand from Brian that you had done a lot of development and it was a quality and well built piece of kit.

Hi Luc,
It certainly is cheaper and I would think quite robust, although probably in need of either a stronger bearing, secure method of holding the body to avoid unecessary play and some adjustment to get the correct throw (possibly by putting in adjustable track rods & rose bearings).

Regards

Steve

[brian]

Hello Steve, I have a terrible memory with names ::)and there  are too many "Brians" on here .

Give Brian my best wishes, and apologies to you for my memory.

Regards,

Brian.