Aluminium Viking Tandem

I would think the Viking was one of the least likely candidates for being made in aluminium. Aluminium makes terrible beams and that's a long one holding two people.
 
Maybe, if you use the right alloy, the right welding technique and the right -large size- tubing, you can do it.
But the weight savings will be minimal.
 
Popshot, Maddock and stormbird
Happy New Year. thanks for your replies. I was just curious if anyone had adapted the Viking design and used mainly Aluminium. I do understand as I found in the Stage Lighting Industry that aluminium trusses and gantry when beefed-up, the weight saving is minimal but they don't rust!

I did start cutting steel and preparing it for welding but my long-in-the-tooth Pride and Clarke MIG has failed.

My adopted Son-inLaw is a specialist Alloy & Stainless Steel welder for Princess Yachts, Plymouth and would and would weld anything I fabricate in those materials.

One tip I was given some time ago was to insert a round tube with a close-fit inside a square tube. A friend who made a Hase trike copy from a job lot of 1-1/4" sq aluminium tube but he fitted a steel tube inside it! Of course the inner tube never gets welded!

Steve
 
I went through two Clarkes before I bought a secondhand Cebora. I've had that about a quarter of a century without issue. Stainless makes decent beams but is very hard on drills. Buy only the best drills. I did my last tilting trike with stainless.

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Hello popshot . . . That's an amazing Trike you've made from SS.

Still not sure about the tandem trike. It will come together eventually. Just not sure in what format atm.
The Pride & Clarke has done well. It even lived on my Yacht for a number of years after moving to Cornwall. It was probably the salt Air that killed it!

Steve/G4MJW
 
Are these "cobalt steel" bits ?
I found only these are good for SS ( 304 or 316 )
Dont understand why filing 316 by hand goes ok, and hss bits dont bite and seem to go blunt.
 
Ferrous oxide coating but it's primarily the shape that allows them to drill. Even high end std profile drills died immediately. The Dewalt Extreme 2 has a pilot point and then goes flat and would easily tackle a 10mm hole whereas even quality std profile couldn't tackle anything over 6mm.

As you say filing and grinding stainless offers no issue. Drilling is entirely different.
 
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Thanks, I learnt something there. The filing but no drilling of SS had been a mystery so far. I was feeling like a paleolithic man trying to spark a fire with the wrong silex and great frustration.
 
I regulary drill titanium and AR sheet. Not a cheap thing. But I use full carbite drills and a very rigid mounting.
 
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