I guess I have not updated for a while ... so here we go!
The bolt-together frame (1.25 inch aluminum tube, 0.125 inch wall) pieces were cut to length and the burrs removed 2 weeks ago (referenced to the June 15 update).
Today the tube gets drilled and bolted. The bolts are 3/8 by 3 inch, and I want a tight fit. The nuts and lock washers should be there to keep the bolts from moving, but the bolts should lock into the holes, and the 3 directions of the bolts should keep everything solid.
As usual, things did not go quite as planned. The drill press did not drill vertical compared to the base, out of the box. I thought I did an OK job of adjusting, but the holes did not align between tubes, so I must have done something wrong. I got things close with the drill press and had to use a larger bit (3/8) to clean out more material on most of the holes.
The center punch did an OK job marking the holes, but I did not have enough light to accurately HIT the punched pilot, so several holes were obviously not in the correct place.
After checking for square and plumb on the frame, with a minimum number of bolts in place, the remainder of the bolts were put in. A 2 lb sledge was used to 'convince' some of the bolts to go where they should. The nuts are not required - the bolts are not going anywhere! I didn't bother to put lock washers on.
Something I came up with after the video. I used 2.5 inch bolts (instead of the 3 inch) where the heads would interfere. 2.5 inches goes through the two 1.25 inch tube but does not come out on the bottom side, like where the slides sit on the 4 inch tube. The 2.5 inch bolt from the top ends just before it exits the bottom of the tube. To keep the bolt in place, a nut is used on the inside of the bottom tube, around 1.5 inches from the head and not on the outside of the bottom tube. ... I guess I should have taken pictures!
I was worried that the aluminum frame would not be sturdy enough with bolts only and no welding. There is usually slop in every bolt hole, and it does not take very much slop to make a frame wobbly. I was pleasantly surprised - this frame does not wobble at all, even with 220 lbs (me) standing on it and trying to make it wobble. With the 40 x 40 on the floor (normal) it was the most stable. I tried with each of the 20 x 40 sides down as well. There is a bit of wobble ... but that could have been because only the bolt heads were contacting the concrete.
I've *REALLY* got to get into the habit of watching the rendered video before I post. The settings for the sub-titles get messed up sometimes and what looks just FINE on the screen when I'm editing ends up with the words cut off on either side.
Normally after I finish editing I don't want to see the video any more ...