Make A Power Tool Drag Racer

Make a Power Tool Drag RacerThis weekend, you can make a power tool drag racer! With some time, an old power tool,and some ingenuity, you’ll be set to race in no time!For my racer I went to Goodwill and bought and edger for 10 and two sets of inlineskates for 5 each. For everything else I just used scrap from around the workshop anda squirt gun! I found inspiration for my racer from Jeremy Franklin- drag racerinstructable which he has allowed me to reproduce in the pdf. You can follow these or getas far out as you like! Jeremy is a co-founder of hazard factory and culturemob and hisinstructions for putting together a basic racer will get you on the track in a weekend!Although the Seattle and San Francisco races have already happened this year, you cancompete in the competition in Amsterdam at Robodock. Go check out the companionvideo to this PDF at http://makezine.com/podcast!

Power Tool Racer. Quick & On The Cheap!By Jeremy Franklin-RossFounder of hazardfactory.org and culturemob.comOriginally published at: http://www.instructables.com/id/EHXD774F23Z35HCThe 2nd annual Seattle area Power Tool Race & Derby is just around the corner and racetool kludgineering is in the air! Folks are building racing machines out of leaf blowers,grinders, vacuum cleaners, drills, and of course circular saws.This instructable is meant to share just how quick and sloppy simple it can be to build aracer from a circular saw and stuff you likely have kicking around your garage. Toconstruct such a racer you need only some old skates, scraps of wood, screws, bolts, adrill, and of course a circular saw.Jeremy ready to race!Photo Credit: Mike McCracken - http://flickr.com/photos/loneconspirator/

step 1 - Collect MaterialsThis can really be built from 100% scrap. In my case though I went out and bought a pairof skates and some tub/shower door rollers. In total I spent 12. If you had to buy thewood, saw, and everything you might be able to spend 50 bucks on this project.Bill Of Materials:* In Line Skates (8 bucks)* Scraps of Plywood and 2x2 or 2x4* Tub/Shower Roller (3 bucks)* Screws* Bolts* Stiff wire or a Zip Tie* Circular Saw

Tools: Drill and Circular Saw (the same one!)Step 2 - Harvest Wheel Units From SkatesI like to use the entire wheel unit from each shoe, as it simplifies assembly.In line skates have been evolving for 2 decades. your skates will likely be different thanmine. How easy/hard it is to harvest the wheel unit is something to consider if your goinghunting at garage sales.If you have skates with the wheel unit riveted to the shoe, you'll have to drill out the rivets.* Use your drill with small bit to make a centered divot in each of the rivet heads.* Switch to a larger bit to drill the heads off each of the rivets.My wheel unit had a lower front portion so I had to use a bit of wood to as a riser to makethe unit (mostly) flat.

Step 3 - Assemble Front Wheel PlatformThis racer will be about 2 foot long. It will consist of a front freewheel platform and a backdrive platform.A rear mounted engine (ahem. circular saw) is one approach which puts most of theweight of the racer over the drive wheel (ahem. blade) for maximum friction.With that goal in mind we're going to construct the front freewheel platform first.Cut Two Cross Pieces to About 11.25 inches.The track dimensions for the Seattle race is 12 inches from rail to rail. I like to have a littleover a 1/4 inch clearance on each side to prevent the racing machine from wedging itself.Align wheel unitsThis step is best done with the whole platform upside down* Measure front width between wheel units* Measure back width between wheel units* Adjust and repeat until wheels are in parallelAttach wheel unitsDon't add too many screws until you've tested for track fit!* Using a few screws attach, doing your best not to misalign the pieces.Check fitYou can mock up a track by placing two 2x4s in parallel 1 foot apart.* Place in track* Inspect from all angles for binding

* Roll back and forthAdd more screwsAdd s'more screws so it'll keep shape!Step 4 - Add the Rear Drive (Saw) PlatformThe circular saw's metal base needs to be within a couple inches of the track to make goodcontact. The freewheel in line skate platform is usually a little too high. To make up thedifference we'll attach the rear platform to the front platform offset with some pieces of2x2.Cut 2x2 offset piecesTake your trusty circular saw and cut some pieces that will be used to attach your rearplatform to your front platform. In my example I've cut two 1 foot long pieces and two 3inch long pieces, as you can see in the picture.Cut rear platform

I've cut a rear platform of plywood. Dimensions are about 2 foot by 6 inches. The rearplatform will fit under the front platform and extend out 1 foot behind it.Attach offset pieces to rear platformThis step is best done with the racer upside down.* Make sure your offset pieces are aligned well with your front platform.* Place your rear platform on the offset pieces* Attach with liberal use of screwsAttach rear platform to front platformThis step is best done with the racer right side up. It's advised that you rest it on 2x4s sothat the offset pieces are snug in place where they are supposed to be.* Align so that rear platform extends back about 1 foot.* Attach with liberal use of screws.

Step 5 - Mounting the SawWe'll attach the circular saw to the rear platform with through bolts. This is an area that Ifeel screws will let you down, but if that's all you've got go with 'em!Drill holes in saw baseI haven't mentioned yet that I intend to use my saw again after the race. Totally plausible.I've selected my mount points carefully to avoid damaging the saw's metal base.* Mark holes, consider what's on the top side.* Drill holes, usually best to drill a smaller pilot hole before the final hole.Drill holes in platformYo! Heres a hot TIP: most saws need to be mounted backwards to make the racer moveforwards! Crazy, huh?* Transfer hole alignment marks to the rear platform with a sharpie.* Drill holes.* Mount saw

Step 6 - Add Side RollersYou don't want all the racer's energy being consumed by friction. We're going to round thefront corners and add some side rollers to keep this saw in the track and off the rails.Round Corners* Cut the corners off the front.Add sider rollersMount your side rollers toward the front. You should have a means to adjust them once inplace.I've opted to modify my shower door rollers to bend the bracket into a bit of a right angleand attach them to the wheel units.loading.

Step 7 - Add Cruise ControlIn the Seattle Power Tool Race you'll get a foot switch to active your racer. But it's notgoing anywhere if you don't add some cruise control technology.Take that stiff bit of wire or a zip tie and convince the trigger button to stay depressed!

Step 8 - Final FitTime to see how well the racer fits in the track. Again, you should set up two 2x4s 12inches apart to simulate your track.Lower BladeUse the depth adjust on the saw to find the sweet spot where the blade makes solid contactwith the track.Bend Side RollersI make my final adjustments with a pair of vice grips to convince the roller wheels line upjust shy of binding.* Fit in track* Roll forward* Adjust rollers and repeat until minimal friction occurs rolling forward.

Step 9 - Name and DecorateIf you're anything like us folks of Hazard Factory, you've spent the afternoon drinkingpabst and narrowly avoiding cutting off your digits. That's the perfect time to name, paint,and decorate your racer.Pick a Great NameImagine sexy bombastic announcers calling out the name of your racer. Imagine a crowdrooting for you. Now pick a name that they'll be embarrassed to say aloud!DecorateHonestly your racer doesn't have to move an inch for you to walk home with a trophy.Fantastic imagination in the decoration department can just as easily secure a prize asfantastic engineering.Of course you'll probably have to do better in decorating than stapling a glove to yourracer. but you get the idea.I hope you've enjoyed this and will be joining us for the race!

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This instructable is meant to share just how quick and sloppy simple it can be to build a racer from a circular saw and stuff you likely have kicking around your garage. To construct such a racer you need only some old skates,