And it's a complete frame!
Today was a really big day. I finished welding up the last couple of welds, added the tongue box frame, and the bike rack post. It's probably over-engineered, but I think the welds are solid, and the design is good.
A couple of things I decided not to do:
Bash guards on the sides of the trailer. Originally, I'd thought about adding bash guards to protect the fenders if I got too close to a tree or whatever. But this isn't going to be an off-road trailer, so extra weight, extra work.
I'm also planning to omit the rear hitch. I could still change my mind, but to what end? I will have a bike rack over the tongue box, so the only real reason for it would be an extra bike, or a tray. I'm open to opinions, but I have to decide by Sunday - Monday I have a date with the sandblaster and powder coater.
Before I could weld it on, I had to modify the rack mount post. It's slotted to fit over the frame tube which took an excursion into the machine shop to mill out the sides. This is an older mill, positioned by hand. I haven't run a Bridgeport in a couple of years, and it took some time to remember which way to turn the cranks, how much to remove in a pass, etc. Only a few little oops moments, none of any importance. Besides - the welds would cover up any sins!
Bike rack receiver installed. Welds at the bottom deliberately omitted so that water can run through!
Since a couple of people have asked about an earlier comment that I would 3D print end-plugs, here's a sample. I had a roll of TPU already in the printer, so I did a quick proof of concept last night, and printed one this morning. I'll refine this a bit - chamfer/radius the top edge, and make a version with a hole for a clearance lights.
They can be made in a variety of sizes to match a variety of tubes.
I'll make these available for sale later. PM me if interested.
That's all for today. Next up - mounting the Timbren and reaching 'done'!
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