PROGRESS!!!

So spring break has just occurred in our school district.  It allowed all the students to recover from the madness of school and take a break right before the mental breakdowns of May.  During this one week of no school, I took a long car ride down to the steel shop.  Now it being on the south side and me living on the north side, it was a long trip.  Just about 30-40 minute drive just for steel! But I was alright with this.  My dad, not so much...
Coming up to the place, it seemed a little sketchy.  However, the people over at Warner Steel helped me gather what I needed and got me in and out in only about 5 minutes.  They also helped me cut it down so it could fit in the van!  So it was a good day.
The steel in total cost $74.05.  I also paid $100 for the rear axle and the 20" wheels.  The motor was free off the side of the road; however, it cost roughly $10 to repair.  In total, I have spent about $184.05 and I still have at least $110 left in parts still needed to purchase.

Parts list

Well my progress so far today has be minimal and not exciting, but much needed.  I started to do a parts list of everything else I need to buy to complete this project.  This is what I have so far:

• MBS ATS Pro Truck 49.95
• http://shop.mbs.com/accessories-241/mountainboard-trucks-suspension/mbs-ats-pro-truck.html
• Complete 8" Knobby Wheel x2 49.90
• http://shop.mbs.com/accessories-241/mountainboard-wheels/complete-8-knobby-wheel.html
• 1 x 1 x 11ga steel
• http://www.warnersteel.com/Tubing.html
• 2 x 1 x 11ga steel
• http://www.warnersteel.com/Tubing.html
• 1" Cold Rolled Rounds
• http://www.warnersteel.com/ROUNDBAR.html

So now it's time to go to the mall and go shopping!!! YAY!!!

Never mind about making progress soon...

Last week I said that I may start making progress forward, well that never happened... I didn't have time this week again.  With robotics and schoolwork going on, I have not completed much.  I have been learning a lot from robotics and have been applying most of my knowledge I have gained from robotics to work on this project.  Hopefully my trip to buy steel will turn out ok!

Progress!!! Ish...

It has honestly been a while since I have worked on the skateboard.  It may be just from me not having enough time, but also not wanting to work on it.

But now, I finally have some time so I may get some work done!  I have been working away at the 3D mock-up on Autodesk Inventor and it has been going very well (except for the fact that Inventor wants to kill my project but that's besides the fact).

 I still got to order metal and few more parts, but it's going along!  Hopefully it will be complete by May.

Documentation of Project

Today, our teacher asked us about documentation and I went like:

I didn't now what to do, I was just like the left shark at the super bowl half time show.  Along the way, I have been taking photos every now and then when I remember to.  Besides that, I have my blog which has been documenting most of what I have been doing.  When it comes to actually building the skateboard, I will be taking more photos.  By then, I should have more control over the project just like the catch of the year from the super bowl.

Progress Update

Well I have been chugging along recently on the motorized skateboard project.  I recently ordered the rear trans axle.

 It is a rear axle off a MTX riding lawn mower.  I did not know that it came with 20" tires, but that's what I got to work with.  Main reason why I want to use this trans axle is that it converts horizontal shaft to vertical motion, needed for my horizontal shaft engine.  Hopefully, I will be making a trip to the local steel supplier here in town soon to get the steel that is needed.  As long as death does not come down on me because of this project, this will be a beastly skateboard.

Hanging out with friends, online.

Instead of going off on our projects solo today, we actually got to socialize a little bit and see what others in English class were doing for their projects.

First stop was Sarah's blog.  For her project, she is learning HTML5 and writing about what she knows.  I sit next to her in English and see everything she codes and it's just plain amazing.  Every time she does a blog, it is written in HTML before it is posted.  Code is just something amazing I have never bothered to learn and is witchcraft to me.
Next stop was Matthew.  In his project, he is researching the brain and how it's nerves/emotions work with it.  Now let me say first, his use of GIFs was brilliant and fun to read.  I have always been interested in the brain and its functions in social situations.  It will; be interesting to see what he finds.
Last was my little/older sister Beth.  I do not get to see her much but it was nice to see what she is doing for her project.  She is looking into female role in video games and to see what effects they have on people.  It is very interesting topic and very under-rated in my opinion.  Not many people look into the psychological effect of video games on people, but people play them constantly.  Even kids as young as 5 play them.

Back to School

Well we had a good three week break for Christmas.  Time to go back to school!  Over break, I actually ended up changing up my project a little bit.  Now I decided to go for a motorized skateboard.  After much time looking into the purchase of the a old car, the harsh reality hit me that I would never be able to afford a project like that for a while.  I ended up settling on a lower-budget project that would still correspond to what I want to do.  I settled on either creating a go-kart or a motorized skateboard (both of which are super sick).  Over the break, through some deals I made, I got my hands on a small trans-axle from a riding lawnmower.  Why my friend had one sitting around, who knows, but I have it now!  With this and the engineering skills I have learned from friends and through Blueprints to Brilliance, hopefully I will be able to make one of these dreams a reality.  Future, here we come!