Funky work schedule this week/weekend so I didn't get as much done on VI as I would have liked. But, I feel I completed enough for another update :)

I tried to focus on marrying my saw blades to the ANSI 40 3" cogs that will drive VI's weapon axle.

The first image is where I started out. VI/RV HQ. <--- sentence from acronyms... go me!

My desk is a complete disaster area this weekend. My wife and girls have been out of town for the past week, allowing me to get away with pig-like behavior for a few days. They get back tomorrow evening (woohoo!) so you KNOW what I will be doing tomorrow leading up to their arrival: Cleaning House

Notice the Complete Control image I use for my desktop wallpaper. Been there for a few months. Derek knew what he was doing when he edited his friends legs out of the image and sized it 800 x 600 :) I use 1024 x 768, but it still looks groovy.

I remembered seeing in Jim Smentowski's Nightmare build diary where he printed out a pattern and layed it over Nightmare's disc to make holes in it. I figured it should work for boring holes through a cog too :)

So I used PSP to make a overlay for the cog (diet dew for size reference and thirst suppressant) to aid in drilling (that's why I started out at the desk).

I needed a way to properly align the blade with the cog. I decided to cut a small piece off of the 1" diameter shaft that will make up the live axle for VI's blades (it's too long anyway).

I used a hacksaw to keep noise to a minimum as it was about 2am when I started working. Neighbors tend not to like the sweet sounds of power tools in the middle of the night. Weirdos.

Permanent 1" diameter alignment/holding tool.

I used the cogs setscrews to secure the cog to the shaft.

(see Carlo, they ARE good for something ;)

Here is a pic with the paper overlay on the cog with the shaft secured in the drill vise. Just getting ready to make some starter holes.

A shot with all the starter holes bored.

I followed the starter holes with a 3/8 bit, then tapped them out with a 7/16 - 14 tap. Here's a pic in mid-tap.

Notice another Diet Dew bottle in the background? Between the exposure they get on this site and my addiction to their product, you would think that the good folks at Dew would have called for sponsorship by now :)

An image of the two freshly tapped cogs.

An image of the fat tired dude who just finished tapping the cogs.

No, that's not the "Wasssssssup" look I have going. I hate those commercials. It's the, "Man... I'm out of shape, and turning that 7/16 tap, through 8 holes, in a couple of hard butt cogs, was hard." look.

Next I needed to make matching hole patterns through the saw blades. Saw blades are hard.

Here's a shot of the blade with matching hole pattern on the groovy test/alignment shaft.

Another shot from a different angle.

One last shot from one last angle.

I hope to finish the frame next weekend and work on some drivetrain components. Keep an eye out for another update soon ;)

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