I received my router bit I bought on eBay today. "What does that have to do with trike building?" you may ask. To fabricate the seat frame I have to do some somewhat complex bending of 1" aluminum tubing (LINK). I could buy a conduit bender but as Grant points out, I am too cheap ;) A bender (LINK) costs at least $33.00 and I would probably need 2 of them. I can make my own bender like this LINK or an alternate method is to build a bending jig out of wood. Here is a LINK to an example. I am probably going to build a jig but add the curved trough that the bender has to lower the possiblity of kinking the tubing. THAT is where the router bit comes in. I will assemble the jig, then cut a groove for the tube to sit in as it is being bent. Clear as mud??? I will post some pics when I start bending some tube.Cost = $2.10 for the bit, $5.09 for shipping from the UK for a total of $7.19 CAD ($45 at Lee Valley). Total project cost to date $37.32
2 comments:
I don't remember calling you cheap. I may have implied it, but I don't think I would come out and actually say it...would I?
hahaha, not in so many words, but you did make me realize that you can't always make something decent with just sticks and rocks... Sometimes you can spend a little money and save yourself a whole lot of work and worry!
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