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I decided to go with a side-by-side tandem bicycle concept for this year’s Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby. To start we acquired 2 gently used bicycles at exceptional discounts from the Trenton Bike Exchange and two trailer bicycles as well. To attach the bicycles together we purchased 1” square tube stock from Finkles Hardware Store in Lambertville, NJ.

The primary design constraint was to be able to fit everything in the back of my minivan for transportation so the cross members were spaced at 22” apart. This eventually turned out to be just sufficient room for my son and I to pedal shoulder to shoulder side by side. The side by side tandem bike was accomplished with two cross members welded between the bikes. The first steel member was placed directly between the fixed portion of the front steering joint and the second member was placed immediately below the seat. The rear cross member had to be carefully placed or it could potentially interfere with the pedaling motion.

For steering I welded one flange off of the front outer fork on each bike and then attached with 2 threaded Rod end joint bearings. The connecting steering member for the side by side tandem bike was fabricated from steel tube and two corresponding nuts welded onto each end. To finish off the quad bike setup we mounted the two rear trailer bikes onto the seat posts (as designed) of the two front bikes. Test drive revealed the bike was easy to steer and the whole concept worked. Success! I later experimented with a removable cross member for rear trailer bikes for better stability of the rear riders but it significantly negatively impacted the ability of the turn radius, so I scrapped that idea. The biggest lesson learned for the side by side tandem bike is you really have to get the alignment correct such that both bikes are perfect parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground. The flex in the base can create some unnerving leaning or tilting while riding side by side and any mistake in welding up the two together will further amplify this challenge.

Kinetic Derby Theme: Queen of Hearts

We chose the theme of Queen of Hearts for our kinetic derby bike. We used the vinyl cutter to cut a massive Queen of Hearts vinyl decal and then mounted it to a thin plywood base with XL playing cards glued down around it. This piece was conveniently cantilever mounted to the front welded cross member of the side by side tandem bike. We fabricated a heart out of leftover pink insulation foam (from the old rhombus body) and spray painted it red and then cantilever mounted it to the rear cross member. The whole thing amazingly was able to be broken down and shoe-horned into the back of my mini van as intended (just barely).

Derby Day

We got soaked! It rained off and on most of the day. I was dismayed to see a few floats break down after the first corner. Thankfully our bike assembly held up except for a blown tire in my rear bike about mid-race. Somehow we were able to finish the race on one flat tire and make it to the mud pit.

At the award ceremony we won the Media Choice Award which was a thrilling end to the day. Thank you Kensington!

https://youtube.com/shorts/RCnkyZtbkPY?feature=share

The crew at Ideal Farms in Lafayette, NJ always shows some of the finest hospitality at the annual Sussex County MakerFaire. This year’s event was great fun!

I let my son do most of the driving at the Power Racing Series races this year.

My neighbor donated his child’s abandoned “Dodge Ram” power wheel toy to me. We used it as the outer shell for this year’s PRS build. The split plastic body of the Dodge Ram posed benefits and challenges to the design.

• Turn off power to ESC
• Connect the learning wires
• Turn on the power to the ESC – the motor should spin
• If motor spins in correct direction turn off power and disconnect learning wires. All set!
• If motor spins in wrong direction tap the throttle for a few seconds and wait for motor to pause and turn the other direction. Turn off the power and disconnect the learning wire. All set.

At the end of last season I noticed I was getting a measurable taper on some of my Grizzly G4003 lathe turnings. I put an Edge Technology tailstock alignment bar on my Christmas wish list and Santa was good to me! Now that the weather is nicer and there is actually some free space to work in the garage I decided to inspect my lathe tailstock with the edge technology tailstock alignment bar.

Edge Technology Tailstock Alignment Bar Review

The thing works like a charm and paired extremely well with my 3d printer dial indicator for my quick change tool post (QCTP). It’s almost too easy.

I zeroed the dial indicator at the left hand side and then moved it to the right to find the distance out of tolerance if any. Surenough

Sure enough the measurements revealed the tailstock was .004” out of alignment.

After a few more mods to the tailstock I was able to get it within .001” alignment in short order.

Verdict

The edge technology tailstock alignment bar is easy to set up, sturdy, and makes an accurate tailstock measurement quick and easy. I would recommend it.

I came across this tarnished bell at a local flea market. It was the perfect candidate to test out my new Grizzly Buffing Polisher! The final results greatly exceeded my expectations.

Polished Bell