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NeilBlanchard · 10-19-2012, 10:35 PM

Okay, today was decidedly mixed -- I cut the last two sheets of foam! Woohhoo!! BUT, the toothed timing belt on the X-axis (which has the big job of moving the entire sheet of foam along the 8' length) started to tighten up, and then to "climb" off the side of the pulleys on the main rollers... It stretched and frayed, but it did not break, at least. What it did do though was skip a number of steps, which caused several parts to be cut incorrectly and one part to be totally messed up. :-(

I'll try to cut that one by hand (I have the mirror piece to trace) and I'll try to repair the 3 or 4 damaged pieces. That and my computer was pausing, which made me catch my breath every time. It did not go smoothly... Worst case, I buy a replacement belt and cut that one sheet again.

I may have caused this by not vacuuming out the dust, and it may have packed itself on the pulley causing it to over tighten. Or maybe the idler bearings came loose and then got out of alignment? I'll look at it as soon as I can.

Pictures from yesterday:

Here are the stacks of the last three 2" layers ready to be glued (portions of the rear wheels are on the right). There are five 1" layers then to be glued (because the tapers are much more abrupt). Those are on the 2 sheets I (tried to) cut today.

Here is (about) the 10th large bag of broken up scraps sitting next to enough foam sheet leftovers to fill an 11th:

I snap this all into 1-2" pieces so it fits more into each bag, and luckily they can be put out with the regular trash pick up; costing just $2/bag. Before I got into this process, I thought I would have to truck things away and pay a lot more than that.

I will likely finish the gluing on the main chassis over the weekend. Then the hatch door and the wheel skirts will need to be glued. And then the shaping begins... :-)

10-19-2012, 10:35 PM	#107 (permalink)
NeilBlanchard Master EcoModder Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maynard, MA Eaarth Posts: 7,907 Mica Blue - '05 Scion xA RS 2.0 Team Toyota 90 day: 42.48 mpg (US) Forest - '15 Nissan Leaf S Team Nissan 90 day: 156.46 mpg (US) Number 7 - '15 VW e-Golf SEL TEAM VW AUDI Group 90 day: 155.81 mpg (US) Thanks: 3,475 Thanked 2,950 Times in 1,844 Posts	Okay, today was decidedly mixed -- I cut the last two sheets of foam! Woohhoo!! BUT, the toothed timing belt on the X-axis (which has the big job of moving the entire sheet of foam along the 8' length) started to tighten up, and then to "climb" off the side of the pulleys on the main rollers... It stretched and frayed, but it did not break, at least. What it did do though was skip a number of steps, which caused several parts to be cut incorrectly and one part to be totally messed up. :-( I'll try to cut that one by hand (I have the mirror piece to trace) and I'll try to repair the 3 or 4 damaged pieces. That and my computer was pausing, which made me catch my breath every time. It did not go smoothly... Worst case, I buy a replacement belt and cut that one sheet again. I may have caused this by not vacuuming out the dust, and it may have packed itself on the pulley causing it to over tighten. Or maybe the idler bearings came loose and then got out of alignment? I'll look at it as soon as I can. Pictures from yesterday: Here are the stacks of the last three 2" layers ready to be glued (portions of the rear wheels are on the right). There are five 1" layers then to be glued (because the tapers are much more abrupt). Those are on the 2 sheets I (tried to) cut today. Here is (about) the 10th large bag of broken up scraps sitting next to enough foam sheet leftovers to fill an 11th: I snap this all into 1-2" pieces so it fits more into each bag, and luckily they can be put out with the regular trash pick up; costing just $2/bag. Before I got into this process, I thought I would have to truck things away and pay a lot more than that. I will likely finish the gluing on the main chassis over the weekend. Then the hatch door and the wheel skirts will need to be glued. And then the shaping begins... :-) __________________ Sincerely, Neil http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/ Last edited by NeilBlanchard; 10-19-2012 at 10:48 PM..