revchris

Saturday,

misteropinion came over to help with the cart assembly. We got the lower shelf attached, and mounted the legs. Then we build the lifters, and then we threw them out, and built ones that lines up better (the first set were a little crooked). We also started building the main box.

Sunday morning, Misteropinion left around noon to go to work, and I continued with the assembly. I skinned 5 sides of the box, including cutting the holes for all the drawers and the storage bin, and then

teeka and I mounted it on the lifters so that

she could test drive the cart
to see how it would handle. She says it's easier to maneuver with the cart attached because it keeps her bike more stable.

We also spackled the chassis and started sanding, and I cut the top to size. I've got the wings cut out and mounted on the hinge blocks, but those aren't attached yet (I need to adjust one end of the top because it's about 1/16" too long). After those go one, then I need to set up the swing-out braces that hold up the wings (a triangular piece of 1/2" plywood hinged to swing out as a support for the wing).

closeup of the cart.
The top is clamped on while I figure out how to cut it down to the right size so that the wings open properly. We also added a second pair of "travel blocks" - the wood blocks on the lower shelf. They support the chassis when it is in the lower (traveling) position so that the hinged lifter assemblies don't get bent. We also determined that we need to add a pair of eye bolts on each side. These'll keep the upper chassis from bouncing around too much when in transit and provide an easy way to keep the legs from dropping into the open position when in transit, which would make for either a bumpy ride, or an abrupt stop if they caught on something.