Building a Wooden Go-Kart

[CDoherty95]

Hey y'all!

I'm in my final year of school, and have big exams at the end of the year. One of the exam subjects I do is woodwork, and we're allowed to make anything we want (within reason).

I started off building a wooden bike frame, but I wouldn't have had enough time to finish it.

I then decided to make a wooden push go-kart.

I'm nearly finished building the rolling frame, then I just have to paint it (a la General Lee of coarse!), and maybe add a foam seat.

Here are some of the pictures from birth to current state.

The main frame.

The back and sides. I used finger joints to hold the three sides together, then screwed them into the main frame.

The sides and back screwed in place.

There's a long beam of wood running from the front to the back of the kart. This stops the wood flexing and reduces the possibility of it snapping in half.

The rear axle is basically a threaded bar in a copper pipe, held in place by a groove cut in a piece of wood. The two square pieces of wood are there to I've more surface area for the axle assembly to glue and screw to.

[CDoherty95]

The two wooden blocks with groves cut in them.

A picture showing how the copper is held in place by the wood.

The front axle / steering assembly is basically a rectangular piece of wood, with a hole drilled in the middle as a pivot point and a bolt with an eye piece on the end with some washers. Pretty simple huh?

This final picture shows the go-kart in it's most up to date condition.

There will be two more bolts with eye pieces attached to the front axle assembly, and a rope tied to each eye piece to enable the rider to steer.

[HossC]

It looks like you're following in the footsteps of Norm Abram, so just make sure you remember what he says about eye safety :

Maybe you could call your TV show 'The New Jackeen Workshop' .

[CDoherty95]

I think it's time for an update.

I took the wheels from old tricycles. By pure chance they fit snugly over the threaded bar, so they're very sturdy.

I now just have to sand the edges down, but I'm going to do that at home with a power sander when I'm painting it, instead of using sandpaper in school.

I finished the go kart two weeks ago, but instead of wander around the class and do nothing I decided to build a trailer.

The trailer is essentially a mini version of the go kart, except it only has two wheels, and a folding down tailgate.

I didn't take to many pictures of the assembly, as the process is identical to the go kart.

Here's one of the first pictures I took. The tailgate is hinged at the base with standard cabinet door hinges, and a chain (not attached in the picture) attaches to the tailgate and the two sides. The sides and front (not attached in the picture) are held together with glue and finger joints.

The long beam that runs the length of the go kart, and that holds the axle and mounts, also stops the tailgate from dropping down to far.

I've yet to shape the front end, but will probably just round off the edges.

Here's the latest picture I have of it. You can see how the long beam holds the tailgate in place.

It's also hard to make out, but you can see one of the links in the chain in the top right of the go kart.

Now for a riddle.

I went into town today, and bought these:

Two oranges, two whites, a black, a blue, a red, a silver, and two cans of clear gloss.

Can anyone guess what paint scheme I have for the go kart and trailer?

Hint: The go kart and trailer aren't going to be the same.

[CARLOS-ARGENTINO]

since I'm in hazzardnet have closely followed his work, in a very short time I have noticed a surprising overcoming their inventions. Most came to a successful conclusion and were worn by you!, I think before long you'll be contruyendo big things like Formula One chassis, or new passenger aircraft or something really big.

Congratulations, and many successes.

hug.

[HossC]

Two oranges, two whites, a black, a blue, a red, a silver, and two cans of clear gloss.

Can anyone guess what paint scheme I have for the go kart and trailer?

With orange paint, I'm guessing the General is involved . Having said that, with all the nice wood grain, it almost seems a shame not to just use a clear varnish, possibly on top of a wood stain.

[CDoherty95]

Thanks Carlos! I'm hoping to do mechanical engineering next year in college.

Now that you've said that Hoss, I'm beginning to lean towards varnishing instead of painting. The only problem is the large amount of pencil lines, which take a long time to sand off.

I might paint the underside of each black, to act as a sealant and rot protector, and clear coat the rest. I bought two cans, but they're for paint, not wood, so I'd have to get a special wood varnish aerosol.