Radical change in VI design.

I was talking robots with my wife a week ago mulling over the best way to mount VI's blade and she suggested, "Make the top flat". I thought, great idea! :) At the time we were thinking use the existing design but just make the very top flat.

The next day a new design popped into my head and I couldn't shake it... The "make the top flat" suggestion really opened my eyes to a better design.

Last week was a real parts-come-in week for me. Honestly, I don't have a lot left to purchase at this point! That's a good thing :)

Here's a pic of my 4" x 1 1/2" Colsons I ordered from Dan @ Team Delta. (teamdelta.com Dan ROCKS!!) I ordered these at the front of the week and got them by the end. Thanks for a super quick turn around Dan!

I made a trip to Grainger last week too where I picked up:

• Eight 3/4" bore mounted bearings for drivetrain
• Two 1" bore mounted bearings for weapon
• 20" of 3/4" Diameter round bar for drivetrain axles
• 20" of 1" diameter round bar for weapon axle
• Four 3" diameter ANSI 35 sprockets with 3/4" bore for drivetrain
• 10' of 35 chain for drivetrain

Here's a look at one of my EVs with the back off. In this image I had just soldered a capacitor across the motor leads to reduce electronic noise.

Check out the shampoo lid I used to hold the brushes in place when I removed the back. Without the lid, the brushes pop out of their spring loaded holes :) If you have EVs, I suggest looking around the bathroom for a lid that is the right diameter to hold the brushes in while you work inside. You might be surprised the amount of lids that live in the TP room ;)

I have been practicing with my MIG as time permits. Here's a image of some recent practice work I did. Any feedback from experienced welders is VERY welcome :) I am improving, with a little more practice I think I'll be ready to put some VI frame together.

Here's the flip side of the above welds. I did a little better on the long run in this one. There's a big difference in welding a straight line like this and the butts of two 1" pieces though :)

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