Grinhill III - "Supercommuter" featuring Recumpence RC drive

I'm overdue for an update here.

My package from Matt arrived last week, so I'm into it again. Goodies include an Astro 3210 installed in the drive, freewheel adapter, ISO to 130BCD adapter and Fechter box (Fechbox???). Thanks very much again to everyone who contributed to this and voted for my entry.

IMG_0154s.jpg

I test fitted the Dicta freewheel on the output adapter, this will work best in a left-hand drive setup otherwise the freewheel may spin off. Right hand drive system will have the freewheel on the driven sprocket.
IMG_0157s.jpg

First impressions are that this is indeed a beautiful piece of work, and solid as a rock! I will definitely need to get the rack as rigid as possible, and will probably make it stronger than I first had in mind. Tips the (kitchen :D ) scales at around 2.1 kg (4 1/2 pounds).
 
mmmm CNC goodness good to see the project is moving on again mate
those Astros are a short motor aint they!

best of luck

KiM
 
Hmmm...must be time for an update, this thread was now on page 2 of my own posts. :oops: (thanks for the bump Matt)

It's coming up for two months since I have done any work on this project, mostly due to busy work/family/holiday life, but all is good.

The Grinhill 2 has been working reliably as daily transport (dry weather only), and I have decided to leave it as is for now. This means I must find another bike to build.

In order to set up the geometry, I decided to do a prototype in steel before moving on to aluminium.

Before Christmas, I dragged out the stick welder (inspired by Aussiejester :) ). Unfortunately my automatic helmet had stopped working, so this was done one-handed with a hand-held mask (yes I know thats a lame excuse for some very ugly welds!)
IMG_0202s.jpg
IMG_0203s.jpg

On the electrics side, I have some new LiPo but haven't built the packs yet. Hopefully the new GGoodrum boards will be available soon, he seems to have sold out of the old ones. I have also ordered a Meanwell 350W Power supply to do the charging.
 
Grinhill said:
Hmmm...must be time for an update,
Click to expand...

YA THINK! hehehe...good too see you back on track matey :)

Grinhill said:
Before Christmas, I dragged out the stick welder (inspired by Aussiejester :) ). Unfortunately my automatic helmet had stopped working, so this was done one-handed with a hand-held mask (yes I know thats a lame excuse for some very ugly welds!)
Click to expand...

Stick + thin tube=much harder than MIG buddy, you have done well there...FLAP disks are you friend now and noooobody will ever know they werent visually appealing to start with :)

Grinhill said:
On the electrics side, I have some new LiPo but haven't built the packs yet. Hopefully the new GGoodrum boards will be available soon, he seems to have sold out of the old ones. .
Click to expand...

AGH...so he is :-( I thought the new boards he was making were the balancers only and the LVC boards
were still going to be used...? They are fantastic lil board makes a Lipo pack possible for
even an electricity challenged retard like me hahaa...

Hop to it now mate we want Videos ASAP of you tearing up the neighbourhood!!!

Best of luck mate, great to see you back

KiM
 
recumpence said:
I love welding. For me, it quickly became addicting!
Click to expand...

DC Inverter TIGS are getting ridiculously cheap these days, i been doing a lil research last few days both the Weldsmart and Alltrax models
get a pretty good rap, Transformer welders are old and outdated, inverters is the new trend. WeldSmart even have a local store to me! 595 for 160amp DC TIG...Better again Welders Direct 500 bucks 200amp DC pulse TIG for 500 even 24 delivery to me... OK so they can't do aluminium but for 500 bucks nice neat welds in steel, stainless and chrom is possible...guess what im getting next Mr R :)

KiM
 
Did you catch my earlier post?

I have a customer with a Miller liquid cooled aluminum TIG I am getting (swapping for some work). :D

I will be fully setup soon!

Oh, we have a huge CNC lathe coming tomorrow (my landlord has it coming). We may soon be manufacturing finned motor cans and other bits.

Anyway, sorry for clogging up Grin's thread.

Back on topic!

Matt
 
I'm still chipping away, Todd, but don't get much time to spend on it these days, only a few hours each weekend.

Here's an update on my battery pack parallel connectors (first mentioned here: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16219&p=239742&hilit=+bus+bar#p239742 )
IMG_0662s.jpg
With a bit of dremel work, I got the red sleeves to fit over which is great for preventing shorts.

Also made a balance parallel connector from a piece of veroboard:
IMG_0663s.jpg

I discovered that my proposed drive mounting position will have chain clearance issues, so I need to push it further back on the rack.

As an alternative, I decided to make use of some kerbside-find bikes, and am now doing a mount for the back of a BMX. This is made from a cut-up frame, which has a 1.5" tube. This will let me mount the drive easily using Matt's custom made drive mounts for round tube. This will also allow me to keep my daily ride on the road while sorting out the new drive.

Here's a mockup, note the rear 53-tooth sprocket is held on by cable ties at present, but there's plenty more room for chain with this setup than I had on the MTB.
IMG_0680s.jpg
 
Don't worry, still gonna happen, Kim!

This one's just a 3D model to get things sorted like chain location, wiring loom lengths etc, then can all be transplanted to nice aluminium rack.

I still haven't found the right aluminium yet, there are a few fabrication places near where I work, will try and get access to their scrap bins at some stage.
 
Its taken you 7 months to find 'the right' aluminium? tell me EXACTLY what you need ill send it to you free of charge
i want to see this project up and running buddy, i have good suppliers 10 minutes down the road from me.


KiM
 
Thanks Kim, the main tube is still on the scrounging list, which would ideally be 40 x 40 x 3mm square tube say 400mm length. I have no use for the other 5 1/2 m of a length which is why I am balking at buying it off the shelf - if you can find such a small piece, I will gladly pay for any costs to send it over.

All my other ali is lightweight angle and mouldings 1.5mm, 3mm etc, so I would also like some offcuts in 5 or 6mm thickness for making brackety bits, even chunky 10mm stuff would be handy.

The ali seems to take me 3 times as long to cut and shape as the steel, I only want to do it in ali once. :D

(the main missing ingredient for me at present is SPARE TIME :cry: )
 
Having to buy by the length is a bitch all the steel tubing i use for frames is by the length sometimes they
will do half lengths, 6meters is usually the norm though..I shall see what i can do later today and get back to you.
I have no doubt i can get it whether its in that short length is another story... :: fingers crossed ::

KiM
 
How much 10mm did you want? Ive got heaps of small plates 6" by 4" or so I'm not using, decent stuff too. I'm in charlestown btw.
 
thnks - pm sent :)
 
From EVtodd on my Frankenscooter thread:

Not to be an ass but that kind of sucks. I don't remember the exact details of the contest but didn't you get Matt's drive for free to build that original design? Maybe the drive should be sent back to Matt so he can run the contest again. Heck, I'll build a version of your "super commuter".

I was really hoping to see what you came up with. I voted for you! I demand satisfaction!!! Ok, maybe it's not that big of a deal, I'm just sayin'...
Click to expand...


Yep, fair call Todd. Sorry to any members offended by the lack of delivery. :(

The contest-winning design is of course "open source", so it's available for use by anyone who thinks there's some merit in it, but note it is only that, a design. :D

The great thing about ES is that there are so many different approaches for members to reach their various goals. It doesn't always work out as we first hope it will. My present (more humble) efforts are aimed at getting this drive running one way or another. The following is not intended as excuses, but this is simply my evaluation of whether or not the Supercommuter would work for my existing MTB:

A RHS drive setup would cost an extra $500 (dual-drive, shifter, two WI freewheels), and this would reduce the available pedal gearing ratios, a sacrifice I'm not prepared to make. I had a couple of attempts at getting a LHS drive setup going. Firstly I machined 2mm off the top-hat adapter, but still the disc rubbed on my frame. I do not want to risk frame failure by crushing to provide clearance. I also discovered that the calipers did not clear the adapter either. So, I wouldn't be able keep the existing hydraulic discs. Again, it would be a backwards step to go to v-brakes on the rear. At this point, I didn't proceed with work on the drive setup.

The bike I had intended to install the Supercommuter on is presently still running the Grinhill Mk2.
 
Just to clarify, my point wasn't that I wanted to make that design just to make it. My point was that the design is why the drive was given out for free. I'd love to get my hands on one of Matts drives for free which is why I said I would complete your contest winning entry. And I was really more joking around about that. Well, kinda...

My intent isn't to make a big deal of out it anyway. No skin off my back. I really just liked your previous work and I guess I'm pissed that it wasn't me that got one of his reductions for free. :cry:

I'll shut up about it now. lol
 
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