The box truss is over size for the load that will be put on it. The truss was built this way because the material was cheap, and with a project this big having something you don’t have to worry about is nice.

I also finished Milling the end of the drive shaft for the Spider Coupler and got the Gear Box mounted to the frame.

This week I finished a lot of the Drive Train Frame. This part will hold the electric motor, gear box, and the 10ft diameter front wheel. Welded onto the back side will be the Box truss that supports the rest of the ship.

I made two videos showing how I did it. I’ll let the videos explain.

Now that they are doing their part to build the ship we can get back to doing ours.

I have laid out a rough timeline of construction. You can see it below. I expect to see a lot more progress on the ship in the next few months.

The first piece of material cut to build the Pirate Ship was the Wooden Cog. I consider this huge Gear the heart of the Pirate Ship, it seemed a really good place to start the project off. There was a bit of math and a few books used to design the Cog. You might be able to call this type of gear a “internal lantern pinion”.

I after designing the Cog I made a model to see if all the curves where correct. In the video you can see the model where the white nubs would represent the Wheel.

The blanks for the Wheel were cut out on a CNC router table. In the final Cog there would be 9 pieces of 1/2″ plywood with two 1/4″ pieces of Aluminium on the outside.

The process of gluing the Plywood was tricky, in one half 6 sheet of plywood have to be glued together while keeping everything in perfect alignment, and within a 8 minute working time before the glue starts to set.

This video explains more:

We worked fast and got the two halves of the Cog glued together.

A hole or recess was routed into the Cog so that the Drive Plate which will be attached to the Drive Shaft is attached inside the middle of the Cog.

Last the Aluminium plates were attached to the outside.

I still need to file the teeth for an exact fit and drill the holes to mount it to the drive shaft. I am also playing with the idea of etched copper side plates partially covering the aluminium…so many good ideas….so little time.

The inside of the wheel is made from 7/8” diameter round tube. To accommodate this, the rollers have a matching radius cut into them. Cutting the radius was not simple. I spent two days making a tool that would allow me to do this.

More photos of the Radius Turner’s construction.

The material the rollers are cut out of came from a counterweigh for a industrial robot. I torch cut them into rings then turned the outside edges to the right diameter.

The steel was then rechucked, holding the outside edge. From this position both the outer radius and the 1 1/2” internal bore for the axel can be cut without having to rechuck.

With four pieces cut we were able to throw some bits into place and get an idea of the scale of what we are working with.  It is always helpful to see these type of mock ups.  

The first pieces were cut from 4×4x1/4 box tubing.   The cross member required some unique coping and chamfering.

They were torch cut then cleaned up with a belt grinder and angle grinders.

This past week it just so happens I was given 46 feet of this 4×4x1/4 inch material. It is a little bit rusty but will work well. Aaron and I spent some time with a wire cup brush and some big grinders cleaning the rust off.

We can now move forward with the frame.

This will take a lot of heavy stick welding (SMAW). I am looking forward to some beefy welds.  I am also playing with the idea of upgrading my welding table for the frame construction.

I plan to have the Pirate Ship finished for Burning Man 2010. This is where I need your help. My current budget has me spending $4000-$6000 on electronics, and consumables (I already have most of the materials).

I don’t want you to “just” give me money, I would feel better if you got something in return; so let me tell you about the “Tripods”:

This year (2009) my Art project is making 140 small Tripod creatures.

More Photos on Flickr

They will be gifted all over the Playa next week, some will go to predetermined homes, some will be left on their own to find a home.

When I get back to Oregon a new batch will be made that will be for sale to help raise money for the ship. If you would like a Tripod and would like to help build this ship please send me a message.

The new batch of Tripods will be more sophisticated: They will have on-off switches and battery trays; they will be clear coated to prevent rusting.

I will take ten pre orders for $50 each, and then the price will be $65 (shipping will be extra). This is an awesome chance to support two Burning Man art projects at once, one you can point to on the Playa, and one you can take with you on your travels.

I hope everyone has/had a great Burn. Thank you for your support.

Andy
LostMachine@gmail.com

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