My Huky Cart Build

[JerryB]

My Huky Cart Build

Hello my fellow Huky roasters,
   After reading so many posts here and seeing so many roaster set-ups, I've been trying to figure out what will be the best set-up for myself.  After I placed the order for my Huky, I began the process of designing my Huky Cart.  First of all I want to tell you a bit about how I derived to my design as it evolves.

   I'm an old school, hands on, Machinist/Manufacturing Engineer supporting industries from Oil Field to Aerospace, utilizing metals, plastics, and composites.  My nature is to strive for perfection which is  governed by time, knowledge, and the availability of MONEY.  With enough Time and Money, you can do anything you desire.  I will proceed with a desire of having it completed in a couple weeks and a budget of two to three hundred dollars.  Keeping my fingers crossed on both of these...

STAY TUNED TO THIS THREAD TO SEE IT ALL COME TOGETHER.

☕ Cheers and happy roasting, my friends.

[brew]

...the ole teaser!

[easygene]

JerryB:

Bought my 10" wheels/tires from Tractor Supply just after New Years.  Submitted my prints and $105 check to county career center Friday for cost of the metal.  This will be a two level portable cart with roaster assemblies on top with 20# propane and supplies on the bottom.

Originally intended aluminum but changed mind as paint would look much nicer IMO.  The teacher said he would do this one himself as he had middle schoolers this semester.  He will do the basic cart and then modify or add features anywhere we can dream up.
36" height and 32 X 28 is preliminary dimensions.  Plan to have wheels at very front edge with 5" clearance both ways to easily do steps if necessary.
Perhaps should wait on you to get more ideas.

Thank you and hope this is not hi-jacking your exciting thread!
gene

[Johnny4lsu]

...the ole teaser!

Lol..I know right?!

[JerryB]

Hello everyone,
Sorry for my delay here, I thought I'd be back sooner but it wasn't the case.
   Well as you can tell by the name on this thread, I decided that I would like a portable workspace so it could be moved to desired locations.  A workbench (approx. 34" tall) on wheels, hence a Cart.  It would need to roll across rough terrain easily (larger wheels are best).  It needs to be able to fit through a 36" wide doorway.  It requires enough work space for the Huky, computer, propane tank, and other required roasting paraphernalia (approx. 48" to 54" long X 24" to 32" wide).
   Sense I now work as an engineer where we make Carbon Fiber Bicycle Wheels, I naturally thought of bicycle wheels.  And looking on Google at other Carts that support the coffee industries, I was able to gathered some stylish ideas.  And then of course there is my wife that also tweaks the concept a bit here and there.
   Now I believe I have the design concept stable enough to model it all up on a CAD system and make the necessary drawings to move forward. I have attached a screenshot of the design from my CAD system.

STAY TUNED
☕ Cheers, and happy roasting!

[JerryB]

   Well I can see now that I will be taking notes and writing this a bit at a time and then posting it when time allows.  Between time for money making work, time spent on this project, and family functions, I don't have time to post this as things occur.  I will have to update it as time permits.  Hope I can keep your interest.
   Well after my wife saw the frame design and then reviewed the pictures that I got my ideas from, things had to change.   I explained to her that I was just after a Work Bench on wheels and to use wheels that I could get my hands on.  And perhaps, it would provoke "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT" when people saw it.  Well it wasn't until we went out for a burger and a beer that we saw something that stood out.  Almost at the same time, my wife said (and I)  "You could make it look like THAT!"  We laughed and agreed that with a little tweak here and there, it could resemble the item in front of us.
   No, I'm not going to tell you what we were looking at.  You'll have to wait and see if you can guess what the item was.  If I do this right, the cart should speak for itself, as it materializes.

   Now back to the CAD system to make the changes...

   Attached is another screenshot of the updated Frame.

☕ Cheers and happy roasting, my friends.

[JerryB]

The Modeling and Drawings are done enough that we can proceed with building the Frame.  I went down to a Steel Supplier and purchased the Steel Tubing.  My wife and I spent a better part of a day cutting and deburring all the pieces that will be welded together.
   On a side note on our life right now.  We sold our house last September in pursuit of a new house.  And making a long story short, we have been living in our 23 foot RV Trailer sense September 2015.  All our tools and STUFF are in 4 storage units right now.  This will be impacting what I can do myself and then having to pay someone else to do my work.  My Cart budget just went to $$$T!
   I dropped off the cut tubing at a weld shop to be assembled (welded).  I have used this shop for business needs and they do great work at a reasonable cost.  After they got the tubing all tacked together, they called me down to review everything before completing the welds.  This was a good thing because I had a couple (small) new changes that I got to implement.  Two days later, I was able to pick up the assembled frame.
   I have attached a picture of it all tacked together.  My changes were just moving a couple tubes a little further apart for securing my handle.

☕ Cheers and happy roasting!

[jyalpert]

Awesome!

Question for you: how come you settled on a welded steel frame, vs. say T-slot extruded aluminum (http://www.mcmaster.com/#t-slotted-framing/=113yo3k)?  I've had great experiences building carts quickly out of T-slot aluminum, no welding required.

[JerryB]

Awesome!

Question for you: how come you settled on a welded steel frame, vs. say T-slot extruded aluminum (http://www.mcmaster.com/#t-slotted-framing/=113yo3k)?  I've had great experiences building carts quickly out of T-slot aluminum, no welding required.

I've used that type of material your referring to (like 8020) on other projects and it works well for many things.  However, it can work loose over time moving across rough terrain like my yard and/or other places I plan on taking my cart. And when your done buying all the special fasteners, you really don't save much.  Also, I find milling the ends of that material makes a much better assembly and I don't have the available time on our machines to mill them.

I work with a few engineers that will now agree with me after using 8020 on some projects they wanted completed quickly.  Quick and dirty, I call it.  Don't get me wrong, it has its place, just not in this project.

It really wasn't something I considered because it's not my first choice.

[JerryB]

   Well I feel like I'm catching up a bit today.  I worked a few hours yesterday on installing some Roller Slides for a Drawer that the Cart will have in the front.  I also have previsions to support a board to slide out for more space.  I affixed some nylon slide pads to the areas that the board will slide in and out of.  I think this board may work well for my Keyboard & Mouse.  I have attached some pictures of these areas below.
   This coming week I hope to have completed the following items.  Again they will be done by other outside vendors because most of my tools are in storage.
   1. Rear Axles machined.  Nothing off the shelf really worked well here.
   2. The Tops and Siding will be installed. Something a bit unique and with fingers crossed.
   3. Front Wheel Mounts modified.

   And if all that goes well, next weekend I'll be able to start assembling the wheels and installing the computer inside.

I JUST LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER! 

☕ Cheers and happy roasting!

[jyalpert]

Ah yes, the carts we were building with 8020 were only rolling over concrete and carpet, were meant to be partially disassembled quickly, and had bracketing from a parts bin for free.  You've got a totally different use case here.

That thing is gorgeous, I'm jealous!

[Daave]

This is looking awesome. Way above and beyond what I could do! Can't wait to see how it ends up in the end.

How long do you expect it will take to finish up to a usable state?

[JerryB]

This is looking awesome. Way above and beyond what I could do! Can't wait to see how it ends up in the end.

How long do you expect it will take to finish up to a usable state?

Hopefully within a couple weeks. But I'm waiting on others who must complete other work as well as mine. Trying to get special (reduced) pricing usually puts you at the bottom of the priority list.

[MJ5150]

How much does it weigh at this point?

-Mike

[JerryB]

I haven't weighed it but I can pick it up  by myself. If you compare it to my empty roller tool box, I would guess it's comparable.