Fulbright in Nagoya » welding

Grass and a Fence on The Lawn Bike

admin — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:28:07 +0000

The Lawn Bike now has a very sickly looking layer of brown sod on it. I also roughed in the fence posts to get an idea of the final appearance. Now I have to level out the grass and water it a lot. Where is my green thumb?

Put Chain on Lawn Bike

admin — Fri, 02 May 2008 11:00:21 +0000

Today I finished up the routing of the two chains that will power the “grass bike.” The first chain goes around the chainring on the cranks to a rear cassette bolted below. From that cassette a separate chain makes the long trip to the rear sprocket on the rear wheel. The central cassette serves as a power transfer between the two chains. I took it for a test ride around the parking lot outside the welding studio. Everything seemed to work fine. Now I will cover it in sheet metal and grass.

Lawn Bike Steering

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:55:51 +0000

Since the portable lawn bike is a tricycle it required complicated steering linkages similar to a car. This is not a difficult thing to fabricate. It merely takes more time than a simple bicycle. The next step will be pedals, chain and a hasty test ride.

Birth of the Portable Lawn Bike

admin — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:39:56 +0000

Now that I have completed Big Red, I am taking a short break from my sewing machine. I still have a lot to sew for my show in Kyoto in June but I have been thinking about a bicycle project for awhile now. I have made countless bicycles in all shapes and sizes including an Invisible Bicycle. My bicycle ideas germinated during my first stay in Japan after university. This time of exploration in fabrication and public use allowed for the foundation of the projects that I undertook in Texas during graduate school. I moved away from bikes and created other public situations involving video and recently inflatable structures.

This time the project is hardly about being a bicycle at all. It is a new absurd situation. I want a portable yard since I live in an apartment in Japan. I need a place to kick back and barbque. I could be flipping steaks while waiting for a traffic signal or rub my feet through the grass in rush hour traffic. Those activities are a ways off but the foundation has been laid. There are a few milestones in bicycle fabrication. The first is the connection and alignment of all the wheels so the bicycle can roll. In this case it is a tricycle and therefore has an intermediary milestone of fabricating the steering system. After this the connection of the chain and pedals nearly completes the bike. Usually the flimsy seat and inadequate brake are hastily fastened at this time for a premature test spin. Then everything is finalized and disassembled for painting and final greasing and assembly. This project is at milestone one.