Construction
Six out of eight parts for this project went through a milling process, with the only exception being the two wheel axles. For this, 50 thousandths of an inch was cut off at a time using a ½ inch, four flute milling bit until the desired length was achieved. This manufacturing process was the most time consuming due to the vast amount of material that was needed to be cut off. In some instances, upwards of over 1 ½ inches needed to be milled, calling for a total of 300 sweeps to get the final part. For this reason, the parts for both trucks were milled simultaneously in order to save time by manufacturing up to 4 parts at a time.
The main axles, seen in pictures below, are manufactured using only a few steps. The 2024 Aluminum hex bars were cut to size using a bandsaw, followed by gaining the chamfers and indents on the mill machine. The only manufacturing left to do after this process was to drill the three pin holes located at the center and each end.
Two out of the eight parts required a lathe machine in order to provide clearance between the wheels and the connection plates. For this process, both connection plates were milled to the base size leaving a 0.6 inch square sticking out of each plate to allow a cylinder to the be turned. Using a 4-jaw chuck, the parts were secured in the lathe and aligned with the center of the square. The part was then turned at 450 rpm and shaved down to the required diameter being fed slowly by hand to avoid contacting the plate.
The two wheel axles only had to be cut down to size and threaded using a 5/16-18 die. Pictured below, each axle was threaded approximately ¾ inch down the 3.5 inch rod.
There are two sub-assemblies that must be welded together to finish the manufacturing of the NG-Truck. This includes the truck base plate to the truck extrusion, along with the wheel axles onto each connection place.
Below you can see the pictures of the machines used to manufacture this project, videos taken during the construction, and parts along with drawings for each.
Hover your mouse over each image for an overview!
