Part 3: Unsolicited Deck Pics
The deck starts as a balsa core for the center, plywood core for the rear drop section, and paper core for the flanges
A printed tube is embedded along the underside to carry the torsion rod
The fabric is vac bagged onto it in situ, so the flanges mesh perfectly onto the frame
The torsion rod is a sheet of +/- 45 degree carbon fiber rolled around an 8mm fiberglass tube, up to a diameter of 20mm
The footpad is built on a balsa core as usual
A carbon forging is made with double flatted hole to lock onto the torsion rod, and a bunch of M6 inserts to select the leverage ratio of the mechanism
That control horn is glued up to the front of the deck, and uses a thrust bearing to keep the whole assembly from shifting back under acceleration
The rear end gets radial needle bearings to support my weight, encased in what is totally a professional bearing housing and definitely not a bunch of epoxy putty that I smooshed into arch shapes
The footpad gets some printed blocks with teflon thrust bushings to keep the assembly from sliding forward under braking
The pushrods need to be springy, since the 4bar links don’t move left a right symmetrically, so the distance between them changes as you steer. Using compression preload will also give a centering force to the front wheel, so I made springy turnbuckles with rod ends, M6 inserts, and 1mm spring wire.
If you have enough JB weld and string, you can solve most problems.
Finished deck!
