they actually add it in certain amounts along w/ alot of other stuff. Most all furnaces now are electric arc furnaces.

Check out my "first buggy project", I put a list of materials, lots of pics, and descriptions

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=10035

It's on the buggy section on the second page. Also check out popeyes web site. There is tons and tons of good info there

Everything to build the buggy is pretty cheap like $100 for the metal, $75 for wheels, except the bearings and the biggest problem I had was getting the rear axle bosses ( where the rear wheels screw in ) fabricated. Oh yeah then there is sewing the seat. that cost as much as the metal. Maybe you could find a used one. It would have been cheaper for me to buy a new pl or libre seat than what I spent on just materials to sew it myself. But it was tons of fun to DIY.

Do you mean induction furnaces or actual "arc" furnaces, I ask this because we are just installing an induction furnace to smelt bronze - 300 #'s at a time. Sorry for the high jack - hey power when you decide which way you want to go with this jot down some drawings and post them on here so we can pick em apart, just kidding - but a picture is worth a thousand words and will help focus assistance.

@Big Earl- Nice buggy man. Love the colors and the design. What do you mean by sewing the seat? That may seem like a dumb question, but isn't it just a piece of fabric for your back, one for your butt and two for the hips stitched together? I'm sure there's some sewing involved but it doesn't seem like much, or at least not $100 worth but I'm sure I've got something wrong. Also, what do you mean by screwing in the wheels? Don't you put the bearings inside the wheel and then slide it over the end of the axle?
@Flexiblade- I'll definitely post some pics once I get my ideas sorted out on paper, that may take a while though. There just seem to be so many different dimensions to consider- length of the buggy, length of rear axle, width of seat, distance from the back of the seat to the foot pegs, distance between back of the seat and the rear axle, height of the seat off the ground, etc... I'm sure many different dimensions would work fine but I don't want it to be a good buggy, it needs to be great! Also, I think I'll go with powder coated on mild steel, but I'm not sure whether I should use round or square tubing and I'm also not sure what wall thickness and ID of the metal will be strong enough but not excessive.

... I was joking about the PVC by the way

Quote:

Originally posted by power @Big Earl- Nice buggy man. Love the colors and the design. What do you mean by sewing the seat? That may seem like a dumb question, but isn't it just a piece of fabric for your back, one for your butt and two for the hips stitched together?

Bit more involved than that. It's gotta' be strong, yet comfortable and able to stand the test of time. My seat was $30-40 worth of webbing and buckles, $20 material and internal padding, and $20 worth of UV resistant thread. I don't really want to fall a$$ first on to the ground. :shocked2: 40 mph sand enema :shocked2:

True. I think I'll just get a PL seat, its definitely cheaper.

" Sand enema" Now that would make for a bad day. I guess I will wear my pants while buggying after all!! :singing:

Quote:

Originally posted by flexiblade Do you mean induction furnaces or actual "arc" furnaces, I ask this because we are just installing an induction furnace to smelt bronze

Yeah, I forgot about the induction furnaces. But my point was that we have gotten away from coal fired furnaces now. I think you can remelt about any metal, but I 'm almost positive to produce from ore and raw materials, you need an electric arc furnacew/ an actual arc, like 10kv kind of arc!

I could be wrong ,as I'm just a sorry a$$ shipyard welder.
but I can get r done.

Yeah an "arc" furnace would probably be necessary for refining from ore.

Something to think about power - transportability - do you have a truck or large vehicle or trailer to get your future bug around? If not than you may want to include in your design work compartmentalizing your bug - Here's an example of how my bug, which is comparable to the size of a Race Buggy, fits in the trunk and backseat of my Honda Accord.

I've been thinking about that a bit. My dad has a truck but I usually go kiting with friends who have small cars. I think it'd be a lot easier to build it and not worry about being able to disassemble it for transport, but I'll probably make the front wheel setup disconnect from the rest of the buggy, and then maybe make the rear axle removable as well? Your buggy is just about the only one that I've seen that is held together primarily with bolts, not welding. That certainly must be nice for transport!

I wouldn't say that its primarily held together with bolts - just key components, the swan neck is clamped to the frame with 4 bolts - the axle I'm using now (the pictures above are with an older design with shocks - I have since eliminated that axle due to bending) splits in the middle and is held with a bolt that screws into the center sleeve of the axle - and the frame is connected to the rear axle by 4 bolts (connects the extensions to the frame). It is a little bothersome to tighten the 4 bolts for the swan neck and then put on and tighten the 4 nuts for the rear axle - the single bolt in the axle is cake though. I am working on a design to use a single motion clamp with a coder pin to hold it in place - 1 for the swan and 2 for the axle to connect to the frame. Instead of taking 5 to 10 minutes to put together it would be more like 30 seconds. Every second counts that's keeping you from kiting.

Mine unbolts but the main frame is kind of unconventional and rather large. The hardest part to handle and transport though is the front fork/tire/swan neck assembly. Big and heavy. A more conventional design would still have this issue, but frame rails and rear axle would be fairly compact. If you will be running BF's, they are going to be bulky. Kind of part of the reason I have had a little trouble going riding lately- some dummy went and got himself a Kia hatchback. Oops.

BF's?

bigfoot tires.

Thanks furb. I don't think I'll be running BF's then- wheelbarrow wheels are the way to go!

Just nice to have the option if ever you will ride in taller grass or soft sand.

$ on the bigfoots?

$100 for 3 nanco n800's if you buy them locally, +$40 if by mail. They will fit barrow wheels, but I run mine on golf cart wheels (SCREWYFITS idea) for a big soft sand footprint.