Yeah man, I think it’s the way to go. You’d get the strength-to-weight advantages of fiber without the hassle of epoxy and vacuum bags. Hit up @trampa about that flex bridge, he’ll fix you up.
I might buy one myself for my own board build.
Well, the flex bridge is curved and not flat. To be honest, single sheets of aluminium and good flex are probably like Hilary and Trump. I think they will never go hand in hand. Even if you would find a suitable and flexy reinforcement, the aluminium would very soon get cracks. We will soon release a longboard battery box from our material. The slim version could fit underneath your built. I doubt it would avoid damage to your alloy though. We also plan to offer some raw longboard decks, so you could cut your own shaped decks.
If aluminium, you need a 3D shape (concave). This way you nail your problem.
Frank
@trampa great info, I appreciate it. The whole concave issue is the key, I think. I don’t see anyway using a break to get a concave on a water jet cut aluminum deck without breaking the substrate, a press would probably do the job, but that would require a jig the dimensions of the deck…so I guess I am back to drawing board on this one. thanks
Step bending… If you have access to a bending machine, you ad in some kinks. Unfortunately you cut to many holes into the sides, so concave would have no effect. You would need a stiff box to go underneath. Frank
Why not use rectangular aluminum tubing running the length of the deck to add structural rigidity and double as your enclosure?
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@jmasta That would probably work, but where do I get that :). I dont have access to a mill that will do anything over 2x2 in.
be carefull. Metal, batteries and electronics don’t mix well.
be carefull. Bread, mayonnaise and turkey don’t mix well.
carbon layer across the whole length. Then put the batteries on it and fiberglass them and the vesc onto the bottom of the board too! Figure a design where you can still cut them off with a dremel when they die. I’d like to believe with being solid state electronics the vesc should last forever and glue it down permanently. Probably last longer having less vibration or banging if its fully potted. Maybe potting it in a hard rubber. Damn I want to do this. Could be so easy to do and quick and solid reliable and awesome as the fiberglass You can do many things aesthetically. Put a pic of ur mom under ur deck or something. And scorpion inclusions in the wheel rubber. Pimp it out. That’s what I think you should do. Or maybe I will
No offense, but I really don’t think Metal Matrix Composites are the best option here
You could literally just bolt two strips of angle iron lengthwise and use them to frame your enclosure
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YES THEY DO…
some people like nuts and bolts and some glue.
Unidirectional, then thin glass, then the batteries then fiberglass. And pour some rubber on top. Sprinkle with sugar.
I think I’ve come up with a solution. I’ve got some .75 inch wide C channel that I’ll cut 18’ish inches and run down both sides as rails at 3.5 inches to the outside of each piece. I know that will resolve the flex issue, as I used 1 down the middle and it worked.
Then I can just screw the enclosure to the rails. Here’s the enclosure I designed…
Its a 2 piece enclosure where the batteries strap into the short side and it slides into the long side under the lip. The long side has slots for a power button, the MEB simple charging port, VESC/ESC heat sink, volt meter and motor phase wires. The enclosure is 3.5 in wide, 20 in long & 1.5 in deep.
Is there anything wrong with this? If it looks good Im gonna get it 3D printed next week and start building this beer can :).
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Looks like a great solution! That’s exactly the kind of thing I had in mind. Excited to see how it turns out
Definitely check to see how big the bed is on the 3D printer you plan to use. My Ultimaker 2 only has a 7.5" x 7.5" print area. You might need to break into 3 sections
From what I can see in your initial photo, what you have is a simple sheet of Aluminium, which has not been stressed, or reinforced to counter downward loads. Conceptually this is no different structurally from a flat sheet of paper or cardboard.
In order to reduce the flex, you could do one or both of these things:
- Fold up 20-30 mm of the sides/rails of the deck about 15 degrees, about from the edge, in order to create a concave profile down the length of your deck. I have been able to do this with a similarly proportioned 3mm sheet of aluminium, which will support my 85 kilogram weight easily (see the diagram below). Although, I concede this would be pretty difficult considering the design and shape of your deck.
- Alternatively, you could pop rivet (or bolt) 2 lengths of 90 degree Aluminium angle extrusion down the length of your board as support brackets. Arguably, the length of these brackets should be as long as possible between the trucks to reduce flex from your body weight, but the exact length is up to you, considering how much flex you want (if any). You could then use these bracket to fabricate your enclosure. You could make the enclosure quite easily out of sheet aluminum it you wanted; just make sure that the inside is well insulated.
build volume is 11.4x10.8x9.8