The Wood Go-Kart: Not Just A Simple Platform, But a Head Turning Wonder
When mentioning the wood go-kart, the best we can muster in our
minds is the simple sled looking like platform with a bogie style
steering and wooden hand brake. And to top that off it is only as good
as the hill that you can find. After about five tries on the hill, you
are exhausted and wishing there was some way to mechanize this device to
ease your back pain, and get your breath back.
But that is just one side of the wood go-kart that is plain and boring. With today's technology and the ample materials at hand, radical designs can be developed using the basic metal go-kart principles but made out of wood.
What really opened the door to the wooden go-kart world is the monocoque design, or unibody style. Indy and Formula One cars paved the way for a different kind of go-kart, one that utilizes composite technology, versus the tubular frame work.
The real technology came from World War II Wooden Airplanes made by the British and the Americans. More specifically the De Havilland Mosquito and the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose showed that light weight and strong airplanes could be developed out of wood.
There is some science to developing a wood go-kart using say, plywood, and two by fours. The idea is to get the forces to flow through the frame work efficiently, while maintaining flexural integrity and overall strength.
The idea is to make a light weight, strong, safe, durable, and performance orientated go-kart. The balance of all these elements makes for some interesting wood-material choices. For example the go-kart should flex in one axis, but not in another. The go-kart should be able to handle vibration and not crack or cause the drive train to come out of adjustment. The go-kart should have a 50/50 weight distribution for maximum cornering, so that the go-kart does not just go straight but responds to steering inputs.
The question you may be asking is "Why even consider a wood go-kart, when there are plenty of metal go-kart frames to choose from?"
The answer is fundamental, you may not have access to metal working tools, but you have plenty of wood, and wood working tools.
Instead of paying for an expensive kit, that someone put together out of wood, you can make your own using simple wood tools such as a scroll saw, drill and a few hand tools such as a simple wrench set.
The basic layout involves a person space, and an engine compartment. The steering system can be made entirely out of wood, save the steering wheel mount and steering shaft. From a safety standpoint having a solid metal shaft transferring the steering forces to the steering linkage is simpler, more efficient and durable.
The rear wheels are mounted via a live axle that is mounted to the frame work via some pillow block style bearings. The forces for the pillow blocks are then transferred solidly to the frame work below which consists of 2x4's and plywood.
The overall frame structure consists of plywood runners that run the length of the kart. Depending on the size the 2x4 structure can be minimized in width to save on weight. Also, exotic woods such as oak can be used instead of pine to maximize strength, while at the same time minimizing the cross section of the runners.
The braking system instead of being a primitive rubbing stick, or rubbing brake system can be made into a readily available disc brake system.
The steering system can be developed into an advanced Ackerman system using 4x4's as the wheel spindles. The temptation is to keep the pivoting action real simple and not support the other side of the spindle, but you will soon find out that the two by four mounting structure won't be sufficient to keep the spindles from cracking out. Like in a car, or on a go-kart, both sides of the spindle need to be supported. Typically one side needs to be supported more than the other, and that can be the trade off, and trick to discover.
And finally keeping the center of gravity low enough to the ground is a challenge in an of itself. The object is to keep the go-kart as low to the ground as possible, without dragging on the ground and also being able to allow enough clearance for grass terrain.
That all being said, the go-kart is pretty simple, durable, and can be made to perform like a metal framed version that corners on rails.
But that is just one side of the wood go-kart that is plain and boring. With today's technology and the ample materials at hand, radical designs can be developed using the basic metal go-kart principles but made out of wood.
What really opened the door to the wooden go-kart world is the monocoque design, or unibody style. Indy and Formula One cars paved the way for a different kind of go-kart, one that utilizes composite technology, versus the tubular frame work.
The real technology came from World War II Wooden Airplanes made by the British and the Americans. More specifically the De Havilland Mosquito and the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose showed that light weight and strong airplanes could be developed out of wood.
There is some science to developing a wood go-kart using say, plywood, and two by fours. The idea is to get the forces to flow through the frame work efficiently, while maintaining flexural integrity and overall strength.
The idea is to make a light weight, strong, safe, durable, and performance orientated go-kart. The balance of all these elements makes for some interesting wood-material choices. For example the go-kart should flex in one axis, but not in another. The go-kart should be able to handle vibration and not crack or cause the drive train to come out of adjustment. The go-kart should have a 50/50 weight distribution for maximum cornering, so that the go-kart does not just go straight but responds to steering inputs.
The question you may be asking is "Why even consider a wood go-kart, when there are plenty of metal go-kart frames to choose from?"
The answer is fundamental, you may not have access to metal working tools, but you have plenty of wood, and wood working tools.
Instead of paying for an expensive kit, that someone put together out of wood, you can make your own using simple wood tools such as a scroll saw, drill and a few hand tools such as a simple wrench set.
The basic layout involves a person space, and an engine compartment. The steering system can be made entirely out of wood, save the steering wheel mount and steering shaft. From a safety standpoint having a solid metal shaft transferring the steering forces to the steering linkage is simpler, more efficient and durable.
The rear wheels are mounted via a live axle that is mounted to the frame work via some pillow block style bearings. The forces for the pillow blocks are then transferred solidly to the frame work below which consists of 2x4's and plywood.
The overall frame structure consists of plywood runners that run the length of the kart. Depending on the size the 2x4 structure can be minimized in width to save on weight. Also, exotic woods such as oak can be used instead of pine to maximize strength, while at the same time minimizing the cross section of the runners.
The braking system instead of being a primitive rubbing stick, or rubbing brake system can be made into a readily available disc brake system.
The steering system can be developed into an advanced Ackerman system using 4x4's as the wheel spindles. The temptation is to keep the pivoting action real simple and not support the other side of the spindle, but you will soon find out that the two by four mounting structure won't be sufficient to keep the spindles from cracking out. Like in a car, or on a go-kart, both sides of the spindle need to be supported. Typically one side needs to be supported more than the other, and that can be the trade off, and trick to discover.
And finally keeping the center of gravity low enough to the ground is a challenge in an of itself. The object is to keep the go-kart as low to the ground as possible, without dragging on the ground and also being able to allow enough clearance for grass terrain.
That all being said, the go-kart is pretty simple, durable, and can be made to perform like a metal framed version that corners on rails.
Robert Gamble is a go-kart designer and fabricator. He has
developed many go-karts from scratch and has lately been perfecting the
wood go-kart into an art form. Visit the Caleb Coupe wood go-kart design
and see how you can make your own head turning wood go-kart in just a
few weekends. Visit Http://gokartguru.com/caleb_coupe.php
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Robert_Gamble/237723
Comments
Post a Comment
thank you