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Under Construction: The Streetluge |
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| Background: |
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Since quite some time I was thinking of building a streetluge...it looked like something that I would like to have a go at...It looks safer than standing on a longboard at high speeds...and there's a breaking facility named shoe soles...
As I was busy constructing those longboard decks and the press system, the luge idea went into the fridge for a while...until PVC and JO came up with their luge project...These pages show you what I did and isn't exactly a instruction...
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| First: |
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I had to decide what type of luge I wanted to build...this was done by checking the site of Team Hardcore Pavement: http://www.teamhardcorepavement.com ...There was a good equipment explanation but not anymore. Because I don't have any means to weld aluminum, I decided to build a rail type...bolted together with some glue added...
Next came the model...I've checked for good pictures to make some design...it is inspired by a Dregs luge...gathering the right aluminum U channel near home proved un-do-able over here...so I went for 8cm by 4 cm rectangular tube with a 4 mm wall thickness...this would be stiff enough...the aluminum for the seat was easily found...I took a sheet of 4mm...
Then I had to check for trucks and wheels, as I would need them to make proper measurements of the luge...I ended up at Daddies Board Shop to buy the stuff online...splendid service I can say!!!
Let the works begin...here's a impression of what I did
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These are the basic measurements that I used on the luge...they were traced by experimenting and will be different for everyone...Some ends were cut at 45° angles...so the exact length of some of the aluminum tubing is actually longer than mentioned...
The luge is built up by 5 separate elements and those were bolted together on-top of each other...This was not done definite as I still had to cut slots in the top ones to take the trucks...but bolting it all together gives a good starting point to design and build those side panels that will strengthen the construction... |
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I ended up with this as a starter...The tubing on the upper side,that will hold the trucks, was left longer than needed, they would be cut down to needs afterwards...Now I started to make those side panels by designing and cutting 4mm aluminum sheet, same stuff that would become the seat...again all experimental...I didn't draw a template but traced and measured straight onto the 4mm alu sheet... |
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| This panel stuff is quite a straight forward way to strengthen the structure...those at the front are simple to make...the one's at the back are a bit more shaped... |
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| The rear panels are also part of the head-rest...I made them high enough to hold some batteries as rear lights have to be fitted for late evening runs...In the second picture all panels are mounted...The trucks are not yet at the right spot...I made a opening in the underside of the alu tube and mounted the trucks by attaching them to the upper side of the tube... |
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As you can see, the truck and wheel setup didn't work out straight away...I added riser pads to get a ground clearance of about 12mm...just enough for smooth roads...
There is no immediate need to be able to alter the position of the trucks if you are just building a luge for fun use...so those holes are kept just large enough...People that are into competition will build another type of luge I suppose, and will make those truck positions adjustable... |
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I used that 4mm aluminum sheet again to build a seat...It has 2 bends where it is attached to the center tube...This was done at a metal center using a automated press...The bending took place before the shape of the seat was cut out...
You can see that there's space enough for the shoulders to rest on, bending those 2 flaps at the front was quite some effort...I used some metal tubing as guidance...
After I had the seat ready, I mounted the whole luge together for good...this means applying "nut-lock" to secure all the nuts and bolts...I did apply nutlock to the side panels also to get no movement of them at all...The luge became a very rigid structure with no torsion or bending possible... |
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What you see here is padding work and the finishing of the head-rest...you just have to apply aluminum sheeting in a good way and be precise...the end results were like I wanted it...
It all started to look like real when that padding was added...I still had to think about handlebars or something... |
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Although not finished to the right standards, I took it for a run at Wissant in France...it all behaved extremely well and the luge was running like on rails...
We found out that the French police was also quite interested!
They even asked us to go down again to see all this...
The maximum speed attained for the moment was about 80Km/h...or 50 miles/h...
these are moderate speeds in luging but impressive if you haven't got any experience with the sport...Next came cornering the 17Kg of aluminum construction...and that was something completely different!!! |
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| I did cut some handlebars in the side flaps...but they are not sufficient...I've bent them outwards and that improved it all a lot...that was done after some way cool Brits, that I met in Chamrousse, told me to do so...thanks dude's!!! |
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| Weight reduction: |
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| There is some weight that has to be lost on my luge...it's ok for pure speed runs but it should be lighter for downhill meetings on roads with quite some turns in them...This is what I've done so far...I started with the front beam that holds the pegs... |
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| I've chosen a triangular pattern to cut out so that the beam wouldn't have torsion problems...after drilling holes with a 12mm drill, I used a jigsaw with a shortened blade (the beam has only 32mm space on the inside) to cut out those shapes...finishing touch was done by filing and some Dremel work...the result looks good, regarding the fact that I haven't got one of those programmable metal working machines :-) |
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| Some new luge project: |
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While I was preparing to build the luge above...I bumped into luge pictures of the BodRodz Racing Team...I wasn't capable of building a type lake that because of not having the right tools...Those luges are so beautiful that I have to build one no matter what...With the help of some friends that have the right machinery I will get there...
As mentioned in articles...every luge has different measurements according to the size of the rider...by this, and the fact that I'm using their main design feature, the end result of my homebuilt luge will look similar to the superb one's the dude's from the BodRodz racing team developed...but it will have a completely different size...
The amount of bends and angles will also be different...
By constructing a luge of this type, I hope to get a lighter luge...the other one I've built turns out to be heavy...17Kg!
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| The luge in use: |
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| This one was taken from an article about the downhill meeting in Houyet (Belgium)...this was the second time I raced the thing on a road with bends...and it performed very well... |
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| These pictures were taken at the Downhill Jamboree at Chamrousse in France...I would like to know who has taken them so I can put the right credits over here :-) |
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| The luge revised: |
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I revised the luge again before going to Chamrousse Free-Ride....was this a good idea?...Not exactly...after removing 15mm fom the underside of the main spar that runs underneeth the seat, I found out that the thing became to flexible...So, I filled that spar with plywood to get it rigid again...All was glued with PU, 2component glue that glues anything to anything :-)
Same stuff as used in the aluminum longboard I've done in the dark age...
http://gallery.stegg-inc.com/albums/ToothlessMovies/Motor_luge_small.wmv!
Ive 'Toothless' Vandewalle |
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