Making a Cart – Part Three:Behold! The FrankenCart!

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I planned to attend 2 seminars and 2 rally trials within 4 weeks. Add in the fact that Sean was away for  a week of that time, and the fact that I was planning one of those seminars and POOF! There went the time.

Lack of time made for a furious week of cart completion which went right up to and including the Saturday evening before Our Weekend with Sue Ailsby. The complications seemed endless:

• I did not have the proper saw for cutting the very expensive aluminum angle but eventually realised that I needed a hacksaw. Once I found the right saw, I purchased a Mitre stand when I really needed a Mitre Box. and now I know more about mitre-ing than anyone should know.
• Once I had the aluminum angle cut for some reason, it did not fit the boards (bottom and sides) I had prepared. Since wood is relatively inexpensive, and easier to cut I decided to cut the boards down so that they would fit the angle.

By this point I gave up all pretence of following the instructions – since I had clearly not followed them to begin with.

• Since I wasted so much time cutting aluminum, I thought I would get ahead of the game and drill holes in the angle before I assembled everything and, of course, I drilled holes in the wrong places the result is aluminum angle that looks somewhat swiss cheesy.
• Where the wheels and shaft were concerned, things went relatively well. The threaded steel rod that Sean procured for me was a bit long but using my newly acquired hacksaw skills I was able to cut it down. Once the wheels were mounted on the shaft, I could tell that the turning of the wheel was going to wear on the sides of the cart but I have a plan to fix this. I will also have to find a way to secure the wheel to the cart from the outside.
• The cart shafts were probably the most stressful part to complete – I had no clue where to find a tube bender and no desire to purchase one (I’d never need one ever again). Luckily Sean and a coworker of his suggested cutting and welding the tubing into a 90 degree angle creating the same basic shape that was called for in the plans. They did this after work, on their own time and I shall be eternally thankful because the shafts are the best looking part of the cart!
• If all of the above was not enough, the eye bolts I purchased to serve as the brakes on the shafts were too short and the end caps that I purchased for the shafts keep falling off.
• and Finally, I never did find the ½ u channel to ‘finish the top edge of the cart but it’s a relatively minor issue compared to anything else.

*SIGH*

With a few weeks hindsight I have decided that the cart is not all that bad. I have lots of ideas for how to improve it which are as follows:

• Cut boards and the aluminum angle to make the cart a more manageable size – I have experience with this now!
• Purchase washers for both bolts that attach the shafts to the cart to prevent the shafts from wiggling so much.
• Purchase washers and possibly lock nuts for mounting the wheels.
• Find some appropriately sized bolts to use as brakes.
• Use plumbers tape to help seal the end caps onto the shafts.
• Look (again) for ½ U channel to finish the top edge of the cart.
• I am also going to install some more eye bolts onto the cart to provide anchors for bungee cords and tie-down. Apparently the load n a draft test can be anything and if you lose it – you automatically fail!

Stay tuned for photos after FrankenCart’s makeover!