Now it is time to start on the wheel beam assemblies.
These beams are made up of 3x3 steel tube (.083" wall), Each beam was machined to house 3 wheels each.
The 4" roller bearing wheels are from McMaster-Carr.
The V-groove wheel is designed to ride on the inverted angle iron.
Here I am starting the holes that will house the rollers.
Since I do not have a milling machine, I used a Harbor Freight grinder with a cut off wheel to start the holes.
I Started each cut with the grinder but to finish the corners, I used my Sawzall.
The Sawzall is one of the most versatile tools that I have.
Nancy bought the Sawzall for me after seeing one on a "Home Improvement" show.
As an Engineer I did all the calculations on the holes that I would be drilling in the tube.
My calculations showed that the tube would hold the bolt that was supporting the roller without a problem.
As a Mechanic who has seen lots of elongated holes, I welded a 1/4 inch doubler on each side of the tubing to make sure it was strong enough.
I wanted to make sure that the holes for the axle bolt were square and all the same distance from the edge of the tubing.
I squared up the drill press making sure the table was at 90 degrees to the drill bit.
I clamped a piece of angle iron to the drill press.
Then I used "C" clamps to make sure the tubing was flat on the table before I drilled the axle holes.
Here is one of the finished rollers.